The intense competition in the Indian telecom sector moved a notch higher with Airtel, India’s biggest telecom operator launching a 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs. 1,399 to counter new-comer Reliance Jio, which aims to grab a bigger pie of the 50 crore feature phone users market in India with its low-cost Jio Phone. Airtel has partnered with domestic handset manufacturer Karbonn to offer Karbon A40 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs.

The intense competition in the telecom market is getting further heated up, thanks to incumbent operators and new entrant Reliance Jio. Telecom major Bharti Airtel is offering a whopping 50GB data in a special offer for postpaid customers, according to the official website of the company. The plan also offers unlimited local and STD calls, besides free roaming for incoming and outgoing calls. The data being offered is with 3G/4G speed and it can also be rolled over to the next month.

The linking of Aadhaar — the 12-digit unique identification number for Indian residents is about to become safer as new rules put the onus on government departments and agencies to safeguard personal data or information held by them. Departments handling the data will have to ensure that end-users are made aware of the data usage and collection and their consent is taken either in writing or electronically, according to new guidelines issued by the government for security of personal data.

The finance ministry on Monday said their subscribers of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) will have to link their Aadhaar to their accounts for availing up to Rs 1,000 government’s co-contribution. Any individual who is eligible to receive benefits under the APY will have to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo enrolment under Aadhaar authentication, the ministry said in a statement. Pension regulator PFRDA has identified nearly 12.

Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecom service provider, is now offering 3GBs of 3G/4G data per day for Rs. 799. Besides this, customers will also get unlimited local and STD calls under the Rs. 799 recharge pack. The Rs. 799 plan, which is valid for a period of 28 days, is only for prepaid users, according to the Airtel website - airtel.in. With the arrival of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, incumbent telecom operators have ramped up offers to attract customers.

Aadhaar is now mandatory for carrying out a number of important tasks. These range from investment in the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) schemes to opening of a Post Office account. Aadhaar number or Unique Identity Number (UID), the 12-digit identity number issued by the UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of India, is based on your biometric data - collected through fingerprints and iris scans.

SBI or State Bank of India provides the widest network of ATMs in the country (more than 43,000 ATMs across India) to customers. SBI account holders can transact free of cost at the ATMs of State Bank group and its wholly-owned subsidiaries like SBI Commercial and International Bank Ltd using their ATM-cum-debit card. Customers are allowed withdrawals of up to Rs. 2 lakh per day (both national and international) and online purchases of up to Rs.

The Permanent Account Number (PAN), which is a unique 10-character alpha-numeric number, is mandatory to be quoted for filing of income tax returns (ITRs). All your financial transactions can only be processed if you have a PAN. All bank accounts and the Aadhaar identity card of an individual must be linked with PAN. PAN helps the tax department keep a tab on all your financial transactions and also helps it nab tax evaders.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) today said it has added a new security feature of ‘time-based OTP’ to its mobile app mAadhaar. The mAadhaar app allows a person to have his Aadhaar on the registered mobile, without the need to carry physical copy of Aadhar card. The app - in its beta version - displays demographic data that is available on the Aadhaar card including name, date of birth, gender, address and photograph.

EPFO or Employees Provident Fund Organisation has been coming up with many initiatives for EPF (employee provident fund) subscribers. Recently, the retirement fund body introduced a composite form (Form 11) which will help in the process of automatic transfer of provident fund when changing jobs. Typically, both the employer and employee contribute 12 per cent of basic salary towards EPF. An employee’s 12 per cent contribution goes toward EPF kitty, while 8.