MAM
Honda’s ‘Great Eterno Yatra’ to promote scooter
NEW DELHI: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) recently conducted a promotional-cum-response generation event – `The Great Eterno Yatra’ for its four-stroke scooter Eterno.
The yatra traversed through 10 cities covering the north, west and central India and a total distance of around 2000 kilometres. The campaign was devised by HMSI’s roster agency Triton Communications, Delhi.
The idea behind the rally, designed exclusively for Indian market, was to prove its mettle in a minimum span of time in a demonstrable manner. The rally was conceptualised after considering researches which indicated that the key concerns/expectations of the consumer were mileage in normal riding conditions, ability to carry load, breakdown factor and stability while riding.
Triton’s brand services director Anchal Duggal says, “Our idea was to demonstrate in a real manner – and not through mock stunts – the reliability aspect of Eterno. This provided HMSI an opportunity to test the Eterno under actual riding conditions on parameters like mileage, endurance, loading capacity, the unique one-direction gear system and riding comfort.”
Along with these parameters, Eterno also scored on basic features of a Honda product like patented CLIC mechanism and Tuffup tube designed to assist during breakdowns Duggal states.
According to Vivek Srivastava, executive director of Triton, a 17-member team – including journalists from auto magazines, technicians from HMSI and a co-ordination team – the rally travelled from city to city, covering the entire distance in 16 days before coming back to their base, Delhi.
The ‘Great Eterno Yatra’ allowed the consumer to touch and feel the product locally and check out the performance. Each city witnessed a press conference with a local event organized by dealers along with HMSI.
“Keeping in view the conversion factors, a lot of focus was on test drives. Normally out of 1000 test drives, nearly 15-20 conversions would happen,” Duggal says.
The campaign is part of a promotional strategy for Eterno. Triton’s mandate for Eterno includes inculcating confidence among the target audience as the category is known for usage in rugged manner.
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.
