MAM
The Advertising Club initiates ‘Twitter Townhall’
MUMBAI: The Advertising Club in partnership with Twitter Inida has initiated a unique concept called Twitter Townhall in India starting 12 February 2016.
Under this initiative, The Advertising Club will provide a platform to industry leaders to interact and inspire young and inquisitive minds across the country.
The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “The world is going digital and India remains a major player in this realm. Conducting a first-of-its-kind virtual Twitter Townhall in the midst of all this, is an extremely exciting prospect for us. I would call it a ‘digital reach-out program’, because with this new initiative we are comprehensively erasing the narrow boundaries of time, geographies and hierarchies, and making it possible for inquiring minds to connect with business leaders in a unique and meaningful manner. We hope to continue breaking ground with the Advertising Club and initiating programs that foster growth for digital India.”
The platform provides a chance to engage with the best minds from the industry.
“Twitter Townhalls have been used by global business and political leaders to connect with their followers and audiences at large, for quite some time now. Bringing the Townhall to India is a huge step for digital India. I can say that we, at Twitter India, are excited to be associated with the Advertising Club to launch this initiative that is going to further encourage interaction and foster ambivalence for the ever growing digital audience in India”, added Twitter India vice president – media for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Rishi Jaitly.
The Twitter Townhall will kick start with Unilever VP – media for Asia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Russia Rahul Welde. The townhall will be chaired by eminent business personality every week, including CMOs, CEOs, agency heads, media journalists and media honchos. Some of the stalwarts chairing this engaging initiative include Madison World chairman and managing director Sam Balsara, Publicis India managing director and chief creative officer Bobby Pawar , DDB Mudra Group CEO and managing director Madhukar Kamath, Dentsu Aegis chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin , amongst other.
With a pre-decided schedule of townhalls, the Advertising Club Twitter handle will invite its followers and the Advertising Club members to send in their questions via the social media platform. If the question is shortlisted, it will be answered by the business leader every Friday at a pre-decided time from The Advertising Club Twitter handle (@TheAdClub_India).
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.
