Top 10 biz headlines: Tiger Global's eye on B2B startups, Jet crisis & more

From Nilekani panel's recommendations to HUL MD Sanjay Mehta's pay cheque, Business Standard brings to you stories that made the headlines on Monday

Nilekani panel wants cheaper digital payment to improve financial inclusion

The high-level committee on deepening of digital payments, led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, has recommended a reduction in costs to widen the acceptance infrastructure and improve digital financial inclusion. Read more here

HUL CMD Sanjiv Mehta took home less salary even as profit grew

Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL’s) Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta took home a smaller pay cheque for 2018-19 financial year (FY19) even as the company’s sales and profit grew during the period. HUL’s FY19 annual report, released on Monday, shows that Mehta’s gross salary or total remuneration was 18.88 crore, down 2.52 per cent from a year earlier. Read more here 

RBI bars EY group's Batliboi from auditing bank books for one year

In the first such case, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday banned audit firm SR Batliboi & Co. LLP, member of global auditing firm EY, for one year from auditing bank books, after the central bank found lapses in the books certified okay by the firm. Read more here 

Jet Airways staff call on Nirmala Sitharaman and Hardeep Puri

A delegation of Shiv Sena MPs and Jet Airways’ employees met Civil Aviation Minister and Finance Minister on Monday seeking revival of the airline. Jet shut operations in April 17 leaving over 14,000 employees in lurch.  Read more here 

Airtel's ARPU driven largely by minimum recharge, not 4G subscribers

Conversion of 2G subscribers (subs) to 4G subs is not yet helping Bharti Airtel improve prices. The company indicated that the 19 per cent growth in the January-March quarter average revenue per user (ARPU) was driven largely by the minimum recharge plans. Read more here  

Why Tiger Global is betting on B2B start-ups in its second foray

A few weeks ago, Tiger Global Management announced it was going to invest in Indian tech companies again after a gap of nearly two years. But there would be one major difference this time round — it would invest only in business-to-business (B2B) start-ups. Read more here

Netflix, Hotstar may come under licensing norms despite Bombay HC ruling

Last week the central government came up with draft guidelines for amending the Copyright Act, 2013, aiming to bring internet and over-the-top (OTT) service platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Gaana, Saavn, Hotstar, and Spotify under mandatory licensing rules. Read more here

How Hyundai, Morris are reframing the advertising pitch for auto brands

What is common between the recently launched Hyundai Venue, a compact SUV and MG (Morris Garage) Hector, a premium SUV, which goes on sale next month? Both have chosen technology as their unique selling proposition (USP), aiming their campaign at tech-savvy auto enthusiasts, while hoping to steer in a brand story that is markedly different from their peers. The Hyundai Venue ad has a young couple showing off the car’s remote engineering prowess, calling it the ‘connected car’. Read more here 

SAT’s no order in PW case puts firms, SEBI, auditor in a spot

Even after the lapse of its own March 2019 deadline, SAT is yet to pronounce verdict, reports Hindu BusinessLine. 

SoftBank eyes smaller deals, early entry into startups in India revamp

SoftBank Group Corp., known for writing hefty cheques at sky-high valuations, is looking at smaller transactions and plans to invest in startups at an earlier stage as part of a revamp of its India strategy, reports Livemint.