Brands
Mother Dairy launches ‘SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’
MUMBAI: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable has strategically tied-up with State Bank of India (SBI) to launch ‘SBI – Mother Dairy SmartChange Card’ for Mother Dairy Milk Booths in Delhi & NCR.
The first-of-a-kind initiative in the dairy industry will facilitate consumers towards a more convenient mode of payment at Mother Dairy milk booths. These SmartChange Cards will allow the consumers to pay conveniently through this card instead of paying cash and particularly coins, for every purchase at the Mother Dairy booths.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable MD S Nagarajan said, “At Mother Dairy we believe in always keeping our stakeholders at the core of all our activities. We realised that we had a dual problem of tendering exact change to consumers after purchase from booths and also for cash handling hassle for concessionaire due to usage of coins. While it left the consumers peeved, it was also not always possible for retailers to tender exact change all the time. This made us realise that while consumers were looking at a solution to this problem, so are the retailers who even do not like seeing consumers returning unhappy. Hence, we decided to launch the SmartChange Cards at our booths. We are hoping this initiative will start a trend and will ease the life of consumers further in the long-run.”
Nagarajan further added, “While the solution to the problem was apparent our next step was to find the right partner for this project. The choice to tie-up with SBI was not difficult, keeping in mind its strength and capabilities to provide this initiative with the required back- end support and infrastructure.”
State Bank of India corporate strategy and new businesses deputy MD SK Mishra said, “State Bank has always been the principal Banker for Mother Dairy and has an association with them since decades. Introduction of a “SBI-Mother Dairy SmartChange Card” is a joint initiative to facilitate cashless payment across Mother Dairy Booth outlets. The Card is specifically designed to be easy to use and convenient to cater to the needs of Mother Dairy Booth consumers and is positioned as an alternative to use of small notes / coins at Mother Dairy Outlets. “
With this launch, the SmartChange Card service will now be available to 150 booths in its initial phase of three months.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
