BT Podcast: Tata Motors overtakes Honda, Bitcoin enters new phase

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Telcos misuse Aadhaar, dupe consumers
Recent reports show how some telecom companies have taken ignorant consumers for a ride by opening payments bank accounts on behalf their Aadhaar-linked numbers without their informed consent and are allegedly flouting rules set by the Aadhaar watchdog, UIDAI, and the RBI. This deserves further scrutiny. Customers felt cheated when they realised the subsidy amounts didn't reach their regular accounts and were instead redirected to the payment apps backed by telcos. Many of them have registered complaints with the UIDAI and telecom watchdog

Lenders ask for extension of deadline
With time running out for a resolution of the second list of non-performing assets (NPAs) on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) list, lenders and corporate bodies have approached the central bank for extending the December 13 deadline. If debt resolution is not finalised by December 13 for the 28 companies on the list, insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) will be initiated.

Tata Motors overtakes Honda
Helped by three products launched in 2017 - the Hexa, Tigor, and Nexon SUV and the Tiago, Tata Motors has overtaken Honda in domestic volumes sold during July-November. Tata Motors sold 80,191 units during the last five months, against Honda's 78,760.

Amazon, Flipkart neck and neck
Amazon India has claimed it zipped past Flipkart as it grew much faster than its closest rival in the period between April and September. Its gross sales volume rose 67% from a year earlier in the September quarter. Neither Amazon nor Flipkart disclosed their exact gross sales figures. For Amazon, its Prime subscription service has also proved to be a massive driver of growth. But according to Flipkart spokespeople, the company has continued to outpace the industry.

Bitcoin enters a new phase
The bitcoin, once viewed as a tech gimmick and a money laundering tool, is finally ready to join mainstream finance. The first Wall Street exchanges have emerged that will make bitcoin subject to government oversight. Both exchanges deal in futures, which are complex financial strategies, but essentially are bets that something will move up or down in price in the future.

Airtel, Jio in the running to provide cloud services
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are in the running to become government-empanelled cloud service providers. But it will not be a cakewalk as Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, BSNL and HP are also in the running. The government will be giving empanelment to 15 firms for providing cloud services. Jio and Airtel have already built the infrastructure to provide cloud services

Future Group finds new ways to unlock consumer data
Future Group has realised the importance of customer data and is looking to unlock data of around 500 million consumers who have shopped on its offline stores across 255 cities. This would provide a basis for technology start-ups  to build models and solutions to increase engagement with them. The end goal is to ensure there is data to cater to every possible analytical insight across the organisation and increase customer spends to over Rs 2.1 lakh through a combination of offline and online interactions in a year.

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