eNews
Tax evasion investigations drag Chinese entertainment shares down
HANGZHOU, CHINA: The television industry in China – which is regulated by the State Administration of Radio Film & Television (Sarft) – is going through its own turmoil, regulatory restrictions aside.
Monday saw stock of many media companies involved in production drop between six and 10 per cent. Huayi Brothers Media, Zheijan g Talent Television & Film Co, Spearhead Integrated Marketing Communication, Huawei Culture Co, Ciwen Media Co – all saw market capitalizations vanish even as the media index fell 1.3 per cent. This is a near four year low.
The reason: the Chinese tax authorities are investigating whether the country’s media and entertainment firms are finding innovative ways to evade taxes, especially as far as payment to top talent is concerned (sounds familiar to us Indians right?)
It all started last week when a former TV host Cui YongYuan posted screenshots of several employment contracts (with names blacked out) on networking site Sino Weibo. He accused actors of signing dual or ying yang contracts with production studios. Cui attacked Chinese star Fan Bingbing claiming she was given 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) according to the contract which was shown to the tax authorities while she had signed another personal agreement wherein she was paid 50 million yuan for the same work. Fan is based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province province of China and with the social media abuzz, the local tax authorities swing into action, pronouncing that they would investigate the tax evasion charge thoroughly.
Local activists and researchers lauded the move as China has tried to regulate the alleged tax evasion abuse by top actors and talent in the past but has failed. The China Alliance for Radio, Film & Television had issued a circular in 2017 ordering producers to limit actors’ remuneration to no more than 40 per cent of the production costs, and that leading actors compensation should not exceed 70 per cent of total actors’ payments.
The hue and cry around Cui and Fan, lead to a broader call for the Chinese tax authorities to investigate all media and entertainment firms. Hence, the slump in share prices.
Observers see good in the tax evasion investigation. “Chinese media shares will be negatively influenced in the short term, but it’s a piece of good news in the medium to long term that film and TV stars will be more compliant about paying taxes and good film and TV producers will stand out,” said a representative of one the Chinese investment banking analysts to China Daily.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
