MAM
Carat Fresh integrated to become psLIVE
MUMBAI: To be the first in the region, Dentsu Aegis Network’s experiential marketing agency, psLive, which was recently launched in APAC, will be rolled out in India.
Carat Fresh Integrated, which has built itself to a strong 95 experiential professionals, across eight offices, over the last five years, will transform to psLIVE in India, giving it a great platform to build upon.
Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman & CEO Ashish Bhasin will take on the additional role of chairman APAC, Posterscope and psLIVE – Asia Pacific.
In India psLIVE will be focusing on experiential marketing, PR, rural marketing, branded entertainment, sports marketing, creative and consultancy as the key areas of operation in the initial phase. psLIVE India will be the first truly global experiential marketing agency, offering the entire gamut of services, which is built for the digital age.
Commenting on the development, Bhasin said “We are very happy to transform Carat Fresh Integrated to psLIVE because this puts us in a unique place of having a strong ground based operation, backed by all the global knowledge and tools. All aspects of experiential marketing, particularly activation and rural, are becoming extremely important in India. Having a world class operation like psLIVE as part our offering, will give the Dentsu Aegis Network clients a unique opportunity to tap these areas, through a professional set-up.”
psLIVE India will commence its operations with 95 employees, in eight offices. These offices are located in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Guwahati. psLIVE has a ground network of over 3500 people. It is expected that by end 2015 the ground network will touch 10,000 and over 1,00,000 villages would have been covered by then.
R Ravi Shankar will head psLIVE India while Sidharth Ghosh, vice president, Keshav Chandorkar, rural markets national head and Ajay Rao, vice president, will form the core management team of psLIVE.
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.
