What: These are credit cards with an embedded micro-chip, instead of a magnetic strip, that contains information.

Who: ICICI Bank was the first to experiment with it and ABN AMRO even launched a chip-based gold card in 2002. UTI Bank is now lining up one for its customers.

Why: "In a chip-based card, it is difficult to replicate data or information when a card is swiped or presented for a transaction," says an HDFC Bank executive. They are, therefore, more secure than regular credit cards.

How much: Chip-based cards are more expensive than magnetic strip-based ones and usually involve an additional expense of Rs 100-200 in fees. But given the competition in the market, issuers are unlikely to be able to pass this on to customers.

But...: They can be used only at establishments and ATM booths that have chip-enabled terminals; and there aren't too many of those in India.

Future: V. Vaidynathan, ED, ICICI Bank, says: "In the long run, the market will definitely shift to chip-based cards. Globally, these cards are popular in the US and Europe."

-Anand Adhikari

Catch a Song on your Mobile

What is it: It's a service that lets users download and set any song or tune that may be playing anywhere as their "hello tune" within 30 seconds. The scheme is called Song Catcher.

How: Subscribers need to place their handsets within a distance of one metre of the speaker on which the song is playing; then dial 393 and hold for 15 seconds to record any portion of the song; the service asks the caller for a confirmation, after which the song gets set as the "Hello Tune" on the subscribers' handset.

Who: All the 30 million Airtel subscribers-both pre-paid and post-paid-who have activated the hello tune facility, can avail the service. The technology comes from the South Korea-based SKC&C Co.

Cost: A successful download will cost consumers Rs 17.

Relevance: "Music consumption, especially on mobiles, is impulse-based. Research shows that our customers want music to be more accessible and they want it in the least possible time. Song Catcher caters to that intuitive need," says Gopal Vittal, Director (Marketing and Communications), Airtel.

-Kushan Mitra

ECONOMY WATCH

DIRECT TAX COLLECTIONS

Status: Rs 91,374 crore in the first seven months (April-October) of fiscal 2006-07, up 38 per cent compared to corresponding period of the previous year.

Impact: Rising direct tax collections will lessen the burden on the economy and make it easier to fund social sector schemes and shortfalls in sectoral budgets.

SUGAR PRODUCTION

Status: 7.53 per cent in November 2006.

Impact: A rise in the bond yields implies a fall in the bond prices and vice versa. Yields have been falling since September, indicating a possible softening of interest rates. If interest rates do, indeed, follow the lead of bond yields, it will spur the consumption economy further and fuel further GDP growth.

-Compiled by Anand Adhikari

P-WATCH
A bird's eye view of what's hot and what's not on the government's policy radar.

TRIMMING MOBILE CHARGES?

The telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has proposed a reduction in service charges for mobile phone users while they are in roaming mode. In a move that can bring substantial relief to users, TRAI has suggested doing away with the monthly rental for roaming services, and instead introducing a usage-based composite per minute tariff structure.

Currently, mobile operators charge subscribers about Rs 50 per month for availing such services. For SMS services, the authority proposes that there be no extra charges for sending SMSs other than what the consumer is liable to pay when in the home network, and there be no charge at all for receiving SMS in roaming mode. Alternatively, the regulator has suggested a "home pricing rule" under which the visited network area becomes the home network area for the subscriber and he pays accordingly. While the regulator is seeking to bring down the roaming charges, to what extent the operators blink remains to be seen.

-Shaleen Agrawal

TAX MAN'S LENS ON CASH

Travelling loaded with cash just got tougher. If you or your business were to bring in $22,000 (Rs 10 lakh) or more in cash from abroad, either as remittances or as capital, Big Brother would soon be keeping tabs on you. In a bid to crack the terror money trail, the government is all set to amend the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976, to allow the Finance Ministry to track all cash inflows of Rs 10 lakh or more. This move reportedly comes close on the heels of a recent meeting between the Finance and Home Ministries and intelligence agencies IB and raw.

The provocation for this is understandable. In recent times, there has been a sudden spike in foreign cash inflows into the country-with estimates for 2006-07 slated to be well over Rs 5,000 crore. Will it turn out to be a case of over-regulation or checking dirt money? Time alone will tell.

-Aman Malik

DOLING OUT TAX-COLLARS

This time around, the taxman will knock on your doors for a different reason-that is, if you don't have a pan card. The Income Tax Department plans to dole out pan cards en masse, suo moto. The idea is to check those having assets disproportionate to their income.

Currently, individuals without a pan card use Form 60 to declare their investments and assets. The government now wants to make Form 60 irrelevant. Evidently, it is not stopping at anything to ensure that tax revenues grow hand in hand with the GDP.

-Aman Malik

CURBS ON QUOTA

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry plans to introduce reservations in government-aided institutions, including IIMs and IITs beginning 2007, though those in the private unaided sector are likely to be spared.

It is unlikely that the government will table the Bill on reservation in these institutions in the current session of Parliament given the controversy surrounding the issue. Surely, an indefinite delay is welcome.

-Amit Mukherjee

Rigging: An oil rig

ONGC GETS A LEG UP

For public sector companies, a poor track record does not come in the way of getting business in the oil sector.

The government is all set to award the state-owned ONGC exploration rights to at least 24 oil blocks, even as the technical arm of the petroleum ministry, the Directorate General Hydrocarbons (DGH) has recommended against it.

-Amit Mukherjee