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Groww FY25 profit triples; Qcomm growth beyond metros

Groww FY25 profit triples; Qcomm growth beyond metros

Time of India13-06-2025

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Groww FY25 profit triples; Qcomm growth beyond metros
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Groww triples FY25 profit, raises fresh funds at $7 billion valuation ahead of IPO
By the numbers:
Net profit rose 3X to Rs 1,819 crore in FY25.
Revenue grew 31% to Rs 4,056 crore.
Closed $200 million funding at a $7 billion valuation, led by Singapore's GIC with Iconiq Capital joining. ET first reported about the funding round on March 26.
Catch up quick:
The reverse flip impact:
Why it matters:
Also Read:
S
Quick commerce fuels niche D2C boom in smaller cities
Uptick in revenue contribution:
Shift from ecommerce:
Qcomm expansion:
Also Read:
Centre's no MDR stance derails fintech's UPI monetisation plans
Driving the news:
Despite operating without MDR for several years, the payments industry hadn't given up hope that it would be reinstated, at least for large transactions, the chief executive of a major payment processor told us.
A senior banker noted that reintroducing MDR was always going to be challenging after the government accustomed the merchant ecosystem to free digital payments.
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Indian digital businesses are innovating faster with Data + AI: Databricks founder
India market:
AI backing:
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Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
India needs infra to train larger AI models: Krutrim exec |
Paytm, Mobikwik shares tumble after finance ministry rules out MDR on UPI transactions:
HCLTech bags engineering deal from Volvo Group:
Global Picks We Are Reading
Happy Friday! IPO-bound fintech major Groww has reported a three-fold jump in its net profit for FY25. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ No MDR: Fintechs face revenue loss■ Databricks founder on India■ Krutrim launches AI agent(L-R) Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, Lalit Keshre and Ishan Bansal, founders, GrowwBengaluru-based wealth platform Groww posted a sharp jump in profitability ahead of its public listing.Groww confidentially filed IPO papers with Sebi in May, aiming to raise $700 million– $1 billion. Its valuation has more than doubled from $3 billion in 2021, when it last raised a major round. In FY24, Groww had posted a net loss of Rs 805 crore due to a one-time Rs 1,340 crore tax payout linked to shifting its domicile from the US back to India.Groww has pulled ahead as India's largest stockbroker by active NSE clients (13 million), outpacing rivals Zerodha and Angel One. Its financial performance makes it one of the most profitable IPO-bound fintechs in India.Rapid expansion of quick commerce into smaller cities and towns is fuelling demand for niche direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in categories ranging from intimacy products and sexual wellness to curly hair care and fitness accessories, where convenience and discreet delivery are key drivers.MyMuse, which sells intimacy products, gets almost a third of its revenue from non-metro regions, while men's sexual health and wellness brand Bold Care derives over 40% of its total revenue from tier II and III cities, company executives said.According to Satish Meena, adviser at Datum Intelligence, a set of customers who previously shopped on ecommerce platforms are shifting to quick commerce for certain categories of products for instant gratification. Many consumers who haven't used ecommerce before are also trying rapid delivery because of its ease and accessibility.As brands focus on smaller cities, quick commerce platforms are also ramping up their presence in these regions. BigBasket said it is recording about 50,000 orders per day from tier-II cities, with tier-III cities contributing around 7,000 daily orders.After the finance ministry clarified that there was no plan to reintroduce the merchant discount rate (MDR) on payments via Unified Payments Interface (UPI), fintechs' monetisation plans went for a toss Stocks of listed payment firms dived a day after the ministry said such speculations were 'completely false, baseless and misleading'.This comes months after industry chatter grew about the government considering bringing back MDR, but only for large purchases. Industry insiders also pointed out that fintech firms have been encouraging customers to move to instruments like mobile wallets or prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) and credit cards, i.e. MDR-generating instruments.Ali Ghodsi, founder, DatabricksDigital businesses in India are AI-hungry and ahead of global peers in terms of innovation with data and artificial intelligence (AI), Ali Ghodsi, founder and chief executive of Databricks, told ET.On the sidelines of the company's summit in San Francisco, Ghodsi said Databricks is bullish on Asian markets India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, which are moving faster than the rest of the world on AI because of the relaxed regulatory environment.To close the AI talent gap, Databricks also announced the free edition of its platform, along with a $100 million global investment in data and AI education. This initiative gives students, professionals, and institutions free access to Databricks tools and training.Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, KrutrimOla's AI arm Krutrim is looking at getting the base infrastructure , from semiconductor to hardware, to be the fast and cost-effective model as the company scales up its AI services, said A Navendu, senior vice president and head of business.Investors sold Paytm and Mobikwik shares on Thursday, a day after the Finance Ministry denied reports of charges on UPI transactions. Paytm shares dropped 10% in trade today, before recovering later. Mobikwik's market value dropped to Rs 2,121 crore, before recovering slightly to Rs 2,128 crore.Incumbent IT player HCLTech bagged an engineering services deal from Swedish truck maker Volvo Group, the third largest software services exporter announced on Thursday.■ The problem of AI chatbots telling people what they want to hear ( FT ■ Vibe coding is coming for engineering jobs ( Wired ■ Are we ready to hand AI agents the keys? ( MIT Technology Review

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UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals
UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals

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UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals

Mumbai: In the lane to launder money, the skill to move cryptos to control companies and properties in Dubai has been honed over the past few years. But treading that alley would soon become tougher. Dual, albeit unrelated, developments in India and the UAE would force money movers to devise new tricks. First, Income tax (I-T) officials, hunting for illicit homes of Indians over the past six months, now strongly suspect that some property purchases were made with cryptocurrencies; second, a new regulatory regime in the Middle East country, would soon end payment in cryptos, other than stable coins, to freely buy goods and services. "When Indian residents use crypto to purchase real estate, they bypass Indian banking channels and FEMA scrutiny. But, under the new UAE regulations (expected from August), merchants would no longer accept crypto directly. Only entities licensed by the UAE Central Bank would be allowed to convert stablecoins to AED after collecting full KYC. While this framework ensures the buyer's identity is recorded, it remains unclear whether such data would be shared under the India-UAE tax treaty," said Purushottam Anand, founder of the law firm Crypto raiding a leading UAE developer having roots in Mumbai and clients across India, a northern office of the I-T department found that more than 460 buyers in the 650-odd property deals have no record of having remitted money through banks to acquire the properties. According to findings which were shared with other I-T centres two months ago, the arm of the UAE realtor which brokered the deals was aided by a network of 86 sub-brokers who later shared details with the tax office. According to tax circles, some of the clients had paid in cryptos, probably under the belief it would go untraced. Earlier this year, the department had found that hundreds of mule accounts were opened by a few persons in Kerala to deposit cash, use the money to buy cryptos -either on local platforms or through peer-to-peer transactions-and then move the coins to other wallets before encashing the them in UAE, or buying assets like properties, or transferring them to third parties. "When digital assets move from exchanges to P2P platforms or private wallets, monitoring becomes difficult, creating opportunities for illegal activities such as ransomware attacks, laundering, tax evasion, and potentially terrorist financing. Although the exchanges are required to report 'suspicious transactions', including withdrawals, with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India, such risks can be further addressed through stricter enforcement of TDS provisions, i.e. Sections 194S or 195, ensuring tax compliance for all crypto transactions, whether conducted on or off exchanges. Additionally, specifying the reporting entities and the format for disclosures under Section 285BAA will improve traceability," said Ashish Karundia, founder of the CA firm Ashish Karundia & Co. 'PAYMENT TOKEN REGULATIONS' The new 'Payment Token Services Regulation' lays down the rules and conditions established by the UAE Central Bank for granting a licence or registration for payment token services-which include payment token issuance, token conversion, and token custody and transfer. Under the rules no merchant or anyone in the UAE selling goods or services can accept a virtual asset unless it's a dirham payment token issued by a licensed issuer. Also, a bank cannot act as a payment token issuer. UAE is working on Dirham-linked stable coin (like USDT or Tether which is pegged to the dollar)."This would have implications for India which has close economic and financial ties with the UAE. By bringing digital assets such as payment tokens under a structured licensing and anti-money laundering framework, the regulation adds a layer of safety and transparency to cross-border digital financial flows. For Indian individuals and businesses engaging in the UAE's digital economy, on one hand this means greater clarity, reduced risk of fraud, and alignment with global best practices; on the other hand, the clear prohibition on anonymous crypto instruments like privacy tokens reinforces the global trend toward traceable and regulated digital transactions. This is something India is also actively pursuing through its own financial intelligence mechanisms. This would deter transactions in property, high value luxury products bought by Indians in UAE using crypto tokens," said Siddharth Banwat, partner at CA firm Banwat & Associates dealers said the UAE rules are not entirely fool-proof as coins can be routed through platforms in multiple jurisdictions whose cooperation would be vital to spot the trail. But the very presence of licensed intermediaries collecting and storing information would deter money movers.

1% stamp duty hike likely to overcome Q1 property revenue shortfall
1% stamp duty hike likely to overcome Q1 property revenue shortfall

Time of India

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1% stamp duty hike likely to overcome Q1 property revenue shortfall

Bengaluru: Revenue shortfall from property registration in the first quarter of this fiscal has prompted the Karnataka govt to actively consider increasing stamp duty by 1%. The stamp duty was last revised in 2013. At present, the govt levies 5% stamp duty on the guidance value (minimum selling price of property fixed by the govt), 1% registration fee, 0.5% cess, and 0.1% surcharge. In all, property buyers pay 6.6% in cess and duty. They might end up 7.6% if the govt clears the hike proposal. Chief minister Siddaramaiah, who holds the finance portfolio, convened a meeting on June 18 to review the performance of the department of stamps & registration. Taking a serious note of the shortfall, he reportedly directed both finance and stamps & registration departments to take measures to improve revenues. Finance officials suggested upward revision in stamp duty. Sources said the CM will take a final call once there is consensus between revenue and S&R departments. Karnataka has the lowest stamp duty among its neighbours, barring Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu levies 11% that includes stamp duty and registration fee, and Maharashtra imposes 7%. Underwhelming revenues from property registration have been a cause of concern, as it potentially implies a sluggish real estate sector. While Siddaramaiah fixed a target of Rs 26,000 crore for 2024-25, he was forced to downscale it to Rs 24,000 crore. But the department could collect only Rs 22,500 crore by the end of the year. This fiscal, the CM fixed a target of Rs 28,000 crore. Going by this, the department was to have collected Rs 7,000 crore on average in the first quarter that ends on June 30. It collected Rs 5,556 crore, logging a 35% shortfall. "The govt is obviously worried about the revenue shortfall, but a stamp-duty hike is not the solution. It should realise that the shortfall is mainly due to the ill-implementation of the policy mandating e-khata for registration and tech glitches in the Kaveri portal. The govt does well to rectify this instead of hiking stamp duty," said T Bhaskar Nagendrappa, state president of Credai (Real Estate Developers' Associations of India). He said the govt increased its guidance value by 39% in 2023, and any hike in stamp duty would make property purchase costlier and negatively impact the sector. "The irony is the govt decided to keep sub-registrar offices open on weekends. But what's the use if the portal is glitch-ridden and e-khatas are not issued," said one sub-registrar. Ends GFX Sagging S&R Revenues 2024-25 Original target: Rs 26,000 crore Revised target: Rs 24,000 crore Achieved: Rs 22,500 crore 2025-26 Annual target: Rs 28,000 crore Target till June 30: Rs 7,000 crore Achieved till June 19: Rs 5,556 crore Source: GoK

Rs 26 lakhs awarded to employee for not working a single day for four months. Here's what happened
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Time of India

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Rs 26 lakhs awarded to employee for not working a single day for four months. Here's what happened

A man in Abu Dhabi has been awarded AED 110,400 (approximately Rs 26 lakh) in unpaid wages, despite never having started work at the company that hired him. The decision came after a court ruled in the employee's favour, highlighting that the delay in his joining was entirely the employer's fault. Employee Signed Contract But Never Got to Work As per a report by Khaleej Times, the employee, whose identity has not been disclosed, signed a fixed-term employment contract with an Abu Dhabi-based company. The agreement promised a basic monthly salary of AED 7,200, with a total compensation package of AED 24,000. The contract covered the period from November 11, 2024, to April 7, 2025. However, despite this agreement, the individual was never actually permitted to begin work. Frustrated by repeated delays and the absence of any opportunity to start his job, the man eventually filed a lawsuit seeking his withheld salary for the contract period. The court accepted his claim and ordered the company to compensate him for four months and 18 days of unpaid wages, after deducting eight days he admitted to being on leave. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Comfortably: 60 m² Prefab Bungalow for Seniors in Tanza Pre Fabricated Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo Court Places Responsibility on Employer The Abu Dhabi Labour Court held the employer accountable for the delay in onboarding. Citing Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021, the court underlined that employers are legally required to pay wages on time, following standards set by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. It also referred to Article 912 of the Civil Transactions Law, which states that a worker's right to wages cannot be denied unless the employee has formally waived that right or acknowledged non-entitlement. The court examined various documents including the wage report, employment contract, and case file, and found that the fault clearly lay with the company. The evidence confirmed that the delay was not caused by the employee, as the employer had failed to provide any proof of misconduct or absenteeism. Employer's Argument Rejected by Court In response to the lawsuit, the company argued that the employee had taken leave and never reported to duty. However, the court found no records or documentation to support this claim. No formal investigation had been conducted into the employee's alleged absence. Consequently, the court dismissed the company's justification and concluded that the employee's failure to start work was directly linked to the employer's own inaction.

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