MAM
Surcharge removed for card and online payments for government services
MUMBAI: In a major development, no surcharge for card and online payments has been removed for government services.
A government notification to this effect follows a recent cabinet note in which towards the government has suggested removal of the surcharge as its commitment towards less cash economy, formulating a differentiated MDR framework, introduction of a formula linked acceptance infrastructure for different stakeholders, and incentivizing digital transactions.
The government has also suggested mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only in card/ digital mode, rationalization of telecom service charges for digital financial transactions; promotion of mobile banking; and creation of necessary assurance mechanisms for quick resolution of fraudulent transactions and review the payments ecosystem in the country.
The majority of these recommendations had been made by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Payments Council of India (PCI).
The Association has welcomed the positive and comprehensive steps taken by the government. It expressed the hope that a speedy implementation of all these recommendations will usher in more accountability, transparency and efficiency in the economy.
The industry body in its recommendations to the Finance Ministry – ‘Draft Proposal for Facilitating Electronic Transactions’ – had focused on government departments bearing MDR cost like other merchants, differentiated MDR framework for certain cash dominated sectors, having significant ticket sizes and generating considerable volumes of transactions, installing POS devices in proportion to cards issued and incentivizing the customers and merchants for adoption electronic payments among other things.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
