The reason behind Uber India’s restructure; Govt flags digital payments risks amid WhatsApp breach

Uber recently restructured its India business. The government has expressed concerns over allowing social media companies into digital payments space. 

The story behind Uber’s India’s rejig

Last month, Uber had unveiled its India-based business, Uber India Systems and brought in the food delivery and ride business under its India-based entity. 

Uber says tax deductions were the reason behind the restructure. The corporate clients of ride-hailing major Uber faced issues regarding tax deductions to Uber's foreign entity, which resulted in delayed payments to Uber, the Economic Times reports.

The old business structure had also been a roadblock in getting new large clients on board, the report said.

Earlier, Uber’s rides business and food delivery arm was a part of Uber BV, a private limited liability company registered in the Netherlands.

Govt flags concerns over the risk of payments through social media companies 

The government has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) over the risks in allowing social media platforms into the digital payments space, the Economic Times reports.

The reason behind flagging the issue was the recent hack of the messaging app Whatsapp.

The Economic Times, citing a senior government official, reported that the reason to reach out to NPCI and RBI is to discuss safety features of the apps and to notify them about adding some extra steps to ensure the security of financial data.

The hacking issue is being monitored at the highest levels of government, the report said.

The latest development may further delay the launch of WhatsApp's payment feature, which is yet to pass the test of compliance with India's financial authorities.

Future Group’s founder expects the deal with Amazon to close soon

Future Group’s founder Kishore Biyani says the company is close to selling a minority stake to Amazon as the country’s competition watchdog has sought more information from the US-based retail giant, according to a report by the Economic Times.

Biyani said that the process is to comply with all the guidelines of CCI.

Last month, Amazon had sought CCI approval for its proposed Rs 1,500 crore deal to acquire 49% of Future Coupons through its investment arm, Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, which in turn will give them 3.5% stake in Future Retail, Biyani’s flagship company.

Livspace opens up its first design centre in Hyderabad

Online home decor startup Livspace has unveiled its first design centre in Hitech City, Hyderabad.

The design centre is spread across a total of 2200 sq.ft. It is structured as a three-bedroom hall and kitchen (BHK) property and will be a show apartment for consumers exploring home interiors design and renovation in the city, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement. 

The startup claims to have officially established its presence in Hyderabad in 2018.

It further said that it has 200 interior designers to date, making it the largest design studio in Hyderabad, the statement added.

Apart from Hyderabad, Livespace has design centres in Mumbai, Okhla, Gurgaon and Bangalore.

Milkbasket downscales operations in Bengaluru, NCR

Daily grocery delivery platform Milkbasket has reduced its operations in around 250 societies across the national capital region (NCR) and Bengaluru, according to a report by Entrackr.

Milkbasket has shut its operations in as many as 170 societies in Bengaluru, the report said.

“These societies are where we were not able to maintain our delivery standards and hence, very high refund rates. They represent less than 2% of our customer base. So, we decided to move,” said Anant Goel, co-founder and chief executive officer of Milkbasket, according to Entrackr.