The ministry of overseas Indian affairs has received nearly 400 complaints from women who have been deserted or harassed by their NRI husbands. The NRI Cell of the National Commission for Women has also received 532 complaints since 2009.

Of all the Indian states, Punjab had the most complaints filed by Indian women victims, followed by Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

[ Back to Top ]

The Gems and Jewellery Federation has asked for a substantial reduction in the amount of gold that NRIs are allowed to bring with them into India. They recommend that reducing the quantity from 10 kg to 1 kg will help check illegal imports of gold.

The Federation also called for making duty on gold imported in hand baggage at par with customs duty levied on imports, which is two percent on gold and six percent on silver.

The request comes against the backdrop of a rise in bullion prices and changes made to bring duties in line with market prices.

[ Back to Top ]

The Reserve Bank of India has permitted the sale of electronic postal orders to Indian citizens living abroad through their debit and credit cards, in order to make payment of fees under the RTI Act. The facility is available only for NRIs at this point but is expected to be extended to domestic citizens shortly. The cost for filing an RTI application with a government department is around Rs.220.

Till now, NRIs were allowed to file with Indian embassies and high commissions only, which put a crunch on the missions hard put to handle the large volume of applications.

To enable the system to work efficiently Central Public Information Officers will be required to reply through email.

[ Back to Top ]

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who met with Indian envoys while on a visit to Egypt, asked Indian embassies and consulates to evolve new mechanisms and be more proactive in addressing the grievances of NRIs who are in distress.

He said Indian ambassadors have been asked to designate two hours a week to Indians who are in trouble, so as to interact with them more promptly. Embassies will now have a 'welfare officer' so their complaints will be responded to quickly in a new accountability system that will monitor such complaints and responses by officials.

During his visit, Minister Krishna also unveiled a portrait of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore at the House of Poetry in Cairo, accompanied by Egyptian Minister of Culture Shaker Abdel Hameed.

[ Back to Top ]

While on the one hand India wants its diaspora to invest in the country, seek medical tourism, hold their children’s marriages in the country, its proposed DTC Bill seeks to eliminate this very initiative.

The government proposes to revise the laws in the Direct Tax Code Bill (DTC) that stipulates it will tax the global income of NRIs if they stay in India for over 59 days in a year, and 365 days over a four year period.

Now leading businessmen from the Gulf region have submitted a memorandum to the ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, asking her to intervene and eliminate the proposed revision. Currently an NRI is liable to pay tax on his global income if he is in India for a period of 180 days.

Businessmen also believe the Double Taxation Agreement that India has with over 70 countries may also change to align with the new Tax Code.

[ Back to Top ]