Motown Buzz

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and Oliver Clive & Co’s audits of London Capital & Finance Plc will face investigations by the UK’s accounting regulator. The Financial Reporting Council said its enforcement unit will investigate the audits of now defunct mini-bond lender London Capital & Finance for the periods ending April 30, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The lender issued mini-bonds, taking funds from about 14,000 customers. at Rs 17.60 lakh.

The BS6 diesel engine powering the Hyundai Elantra is the same 1.5litre U2 CRDi unit fitted to new Hyundai Creta and the new Hyundai Verna. The motor produces

115PS and 250Nm of peak torque and has 6-speed MT and 6-speed AT options.

E-commerce companies have agreed to the government suggestion of including details about ‘country of origin’ in the product description. They have asked for some time to make necessary technology changes and seek the views of sellers.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had held a meeting with the ecommerce companies. including Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Tata Cliq, Pepperfry, Grofers and BigBasket, on Wednesday to discuss the matter. The government itself had decided to include ‘country of origin’ in the description of products on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) which is a platform for procurement of goods and services by the ministries and departments, PSUs and other central government bodies.

The e-commerce companies agreed to make the technology changes on their websites and asked four to five months to implement the changes. They also wanted to consult with their sellers who have to include the details in the product description, industry sources told Financial Chronicle.

The e-commerce companies also informed DPIIT about the challenges in naming the country of origin without knowing the quantum of value addition happening in that country. DPIIT wanted this issue to be kept aside for the time being.

Further, sellers would find it an additional burden and are likely to pull out a particular product from the online platform if the margins do not support the extra effort. DPIIT made it clear that the government wanted sellers to provide the details to help the consumer make an informed choice rather than penalising them.

It might not be possible to make such informed choices in the case of pharma products. Hence, e-pharma companies are likely to get an exemption from this rule.