The Navhind Times I Monday October 26, 2015

Magazine for
Business &
Consumers

navhindtimes.com

vox populi

A case of dirty linen

By Adv. Jatin Ramaiya

andhya Mantri approached

the Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum, North
Goa, with a complaint of
deficiency in service against
Prince Dry Cleaners. She said that
she had given in total 19 curtains
for dry cleaning between October 1
2011 and October 18 2011.
After checking the condition
of each curtain the Dry Cleaners accepted all
for dry cleaning
with a promise to
clean them well.
Mantri said that
an amount of Rs
7100 was paid to
the dry cleaner for
their service as they
were suppose to deliver all the curtains
in clean and proper condition. However after receiving the curtains
and on checking it was found that
all liners of the curtains were damaged due to poor job done. Hence
the dry cleaners collected seven
curtains at first instance to replace
the liners and agreed that subsequently they will take the remaining curtains for replacing the liners.
According to Ms. Mantri for
more than four months the dry
cleaners did not hand over the
curtains to her and hence she
wrote them a letter, which though
received by the dry cleaners wcas
neither complied nor denied.
Mantri said that the dry cleaners were negligent and hence she
was claimed redressal of her grievance from the Forum. The curtains
were very expensive and the cost
of all are approximately around Rs
three lakhs, she said.
On being issued a notice the dry
cleaners refuted the claims made

by Mantri and denied that she was

consumer. They said that all the
curtains were damaged and torn
and it was made clear to Mantri that curtains appeared to be
beyond repair or cleaning. The dry
cleaners informed of their inability
to accept the said curtains. However the curtains were accepted on
insistence of Mantri, who was their
regular customer but with no guarantee and appropriate note in the
invoice with regards stains. It was
further contended
by the dry cleaners they themselves
wanted to return
the curtains which
Mantri did not pick
up from their shop.
On perusal of
records the forum
observed that the
bill of purchase of
curtains was issued in the name
of one Desarch Enterprises and
not Mantri. Moreover Mantri did
not explain how she is connected
to the said company and hence it
was clear that she did not purchase
the curtains. Whilst dismissing the
complaint, the Forum held that the
opposite party on the bill remarked
that the curtains were torn with
fungus mark, yellow stains and
rest stain. This also proved that
the curtains were not in a worthy
condition.
The complainant failed to prove
that the said curtains are not purchased by the company and are
purchased by her. Therefore we
are of the opinion that the said
complainant does not come under
Consumer Protection Act as the bill
of purchase of said curtains is in
the name of company. And there
is absolutely no deficiency on the
part of the opposite party the District Forum announced.

farm produce prices

Vegetables Retail rates at GOA STATE
HORTICULTURE Corporation Ltd. (Rs per kg)*
hhLadyfinger 32.00

hhCauliflower (piece)

23.00

hhCabbage

14.60

hhChilly 28.00

hhCluster Beans

20.00

hhOnion

hhFrench Beans

45.70

hhPotato 18.00

hhCarrot

39.80

hhTomato 18.80

25.00

*Rate as on Oct 24 2015

Farmer Produce: Purchase price of Goa

Bagayatdar Society, (Rs per kg)*
hhAreca Nut (old)

2,450

hhCoconut (1,000nos) 14,000

hhPepper 625

hhRice- Jyoti

hhJaiphal 540

hhRice- Karjat

12.50

hhJaipatri 1000

hhRice- Jaya

hhDalchini 100

hhBanana (Sakhardandi) 30.00

hhGinger 60

hhBanana (Elaichi)

40/45

hhRed Chilies- Canacona 300

hhChickoo

25-30

9.00
10.00

*Rate as on Oct 25 2015

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Very soon it may be possible for you to order your Mutual

Fund investment from Flipkart

Mutual Fund
investments on line
By Tensing Rodrigues*

ery soon it may be

possible for you to
order your Mutual
Fund investment from
Flipkart. Yes, I am not
joking. In addition to regular and
direct plans SEBI is looking to
introduce a third plan in mutual
funds called E-commerce plan
to be sold through e-commerce
websites like Flipkart, Amazon
and Snapdeal.
What this means in your and
my language is that up to now
investments in MF schemes were
through an agent or directly
through the MF branch office.
In future MF investments can
be through online vendors like
Flipkart, etc. Why then call them
this plan or that plan? Isnt it
all the same potatoes with only
the shopkeeper being different?
There is a small difference.
To understand the difference
we have to understand how a MF
operates. A MF collects money
from different investors in a
given scheme in a common pool.
It meets its operating expenses
from this pool. The balance gets
invested in whatever assets it is
to be invested in. The profits, if
any are shared proportionately
among the investors. The
operating expenses that are
deducted include the marketing
expenses which include the

commission paid to the agent.

This is how the Regular Plan
operates. In case of the Direct
Plan, since there is no agent
involved and therefore agents
commission is not deducted from
the pool. So the profits available
for distribution are supposed
to be a little more, at least in
theory.
The new e-commerce plan
is supposed to be between the
regular and direct plan in terms
of the cut to the investors pool.
Now the question is should you
go for it? There is nothing wrong
with buying from online vendors.
Most of us do it. I do it myself.
There are pros and cons. Two
years back I wanted a fridge. I
had never bought anything from
Flipkart beyond a mid-range
cellphone. Things like books or

pen drives I order from Flipkart

without a second thought.
Fridge was a different ball game.
However the difference in price
was almost 15- 20 per cent. I
mustered courage and ordered
one but could not be at peace
till I could feel the freezer really
chilling. Sometime later I ordered
some travel bags from another
site because the offer was too
tempting; the bags looked too
good for that price. When they
arrived, I realized they will
not carry more than two kilo
tomatoes. And so on.
The experience with online
purchases can vary. But the
important point here is that there
is a real difference between
buying a fridge and an MF
scheme. The fridge comes with
a warranty; the MF scheme does
not. And, I suppose, Flipkart
will not offer its usual 10 day
return facility for MF schemes.
In case of MF schemes I do not
expect Flipkart to either return
or refund.
My principle is in matters of
investment, keep it simple and
keep it personal. Give thought
to the investment that you are
intending to make. It is your
money and it has to work for
you. So study the investment
well. Do not deceive yourself
with the false belief that you do
not understand much about it.
You may not be an automobile

engineer, but still, when you

buy a car, you consider all
aspects of it. Though you are
neither a fisherman nor a chef
you do not buy mackerels
like a dumbo. So invest some
time in your investment. Let
me put it this way the return
from an investment is directly
proportional to the time that
you invest in it and the risk
in an investment is inversely
proportional to the time that you
invest in it.
Once you have done that
go to an agent you trust. Yes,
even though you consider all
aspects of a car before you buy
it still you consult your trusted
mechanic there is no substitute
for experience. If you do not
have a trusted mechanic, at least
consult someone who has had
a longer affair with cars then
you. But in no case get carried
away by all that fuss about the
commission earned by the agent.
You do not worry about the car
dealers commission or the fisher
womans margin; you go for the
best, viz. a reliable product and
a trustworthy seller. Why should
you cut corners only in case of
investment? And regret for being
penny wise and pound foolish!
>The author is an investment
consultant. Readers can send
their comments and queries to
investment.ideas.shop@gmail.com

Items of middle class use still pinching pockets

nflation may have dropped

significantly from last year
but middle class people still
find high prices of goods and
services consumed by them,
growing beyond their comfort
level. Prices of pulses, prepared
meals, snacks, education, health
and clothing staying as expensive as before, an ASSOCHAM
study pointed out.
At the retail level, the
inflation as measured by the
Consumer Price Index (CPI), has
been very high close to 30 per
cent for pulses with some of
them reaching Rs 200 a kg while
spices which go into preparation
of the curries have witnessed
price rise of 9.2 per cent, the
study added.
Despite fuel prices coming down and moderate rise
in wages, the cost of education and health services, the
two critical areas of interest to

the middle class has gone up,

much higher than the headline
number of CPI for September of
4.41 per cent.
The CPI inflation for education was up close to 6 per cent
and health 5.4 per cent for
September, 2015. With severe
shortages of education and
health facilities in the public
sector, the middle class has to
depend on the private sector
schools, colleges and hospitals
and their costs have become
quite high.
While the annual increase
in prices of these services may
not show huge rise, the base
price of such facilities is so high
that it is becoming increasingly
difficult for a large number of
people in the cities and small
towns to afford them. Some
of hospitals in Delhi charge as
much as Rs one lakh a day, the
ASSOCHAM said.

The chamber analysis

shows that other items of use
for the middle class like meat,
fish, milk and milk products

have also seen significant increase between five and 5.5 per
cent. The headline number drop
has made interest rates somewhat softer, but the EMIs have
not significantly come down
either.
While the RBI has in the
last instance reduced the policy
rate by 50 basis points, the average transmission is not above
30 bps despite so much of prodding by the government and the
RBI.
While such things are
not healthy, a large number of
people do consume pan, tobacco and alcoholic beverages
and their prices have seen an
increase of about 10 per cent
year on year in September at
the retail level. However at the
WPI level prices of such a group,
barring intoxicants have come
down.
Agencies

investors guide

Volatile week
ahead

ith the Nifty having gained nearly 750-points

from its recent low last month volatility in
share prices is expected to increase in the
short-term. Moreover the October series futures
and options (F&O) expiry will also contribute to the
volatility. Further considerable stock-specific action
will be witnessed as valuations align to the actual
results delivered by companies for
the September quarter.
Traders are
also expected
to react to
news of China easing its policy further by cutting
its lending and deposit rate with the aim to support
its slowing economy. European Central Bank (ECB)
comment last week with respect to possible further
stimulus to prop up Eurozone growth is also likely
to support the risk-on sentiments.
During the previous week the stock market continued in its winning streak for the fourth consecutive week with the Nifty ending higher by 0.7 per
cent. Buying in equities across the globe helped
global indices gain 1- 7 per cent which aided sentiments in the BSE and NSE as well. Further while
last week saw the Nifty trade in a tight range of
about 100-points for most part of the week it did
conquer the 8,300 mark though ended the week a
shade below it.
HiteshAgarwal,
Head Research, Reliance Securities

weekly
market
outlook

sector watch

Pharmaceuticals

harma companies are likely to report

subdued performance in second quarter
2015-16 led by lack of big ticket launches and currency headwinds in European
markets. We expect companies like Torrent
(Abilify) and Cipla (Nexium) to continue their
satisfactory performance but forecast muted
performance from large-caps such as Sun
Pharma and Lupin to continue. The formulations segment continues to hold the fort with
sustained traction for most companies under
our coverage.
Recent global and currency movements have
exposed the risks to the growth profile of
pharma companies. The US market remains
mainstay for most companies under our
coverage contributing 60 per cent of total
exports. Several measures such as aggressive
R&D spend, scale up in complex ANDA filings
are touted as key re-rating triggers. However,
few operational metrics have exhibited lack
of momentum such as critical facilities under
USFDA lens, channel consolidation and slowdown in approvals.
The sectors operating margins are expected
to contract in second quarter due to a combination of slowing US growth and increasing
R&D costs. Given the sectors huge exposure
to emerging markets, cross currency movements remain critical since we expect companies to report lower sales and keep their
receivables under check as risk mitigation
measures.
Reliance Securities

scrip tip

The worst over

buy

ederal Banks (FB) second quarter net profit at Rs 1.6

billion was much lower than our estimate due to higher asset
quality stress. Key highlights of performance were increase in
slippages by 3.3 per cent with slippages from restructured book
playing spoil sport. The operating profitability was subdued and
loan growth remained under pressure due to decline in gold and
corporate loans. The banks performance over past few quarters
was marred by tepid revenue momentum and volatile asset
quality. However, with the incremental focus on building revenue
momentum (ammunition in place with Tier1 at 14 per cent and
strong liability franchise) along with a lower watch list suggests
that a large part of the pain is over, though we would tread
caution.
Edelweiss

Increasing volumes

industan Zinc second quarter earnings were above our

expectation. The beat was primarily driven by better than
expected silver and lead volumes and lower costs. Zinc
and Lead prices rebounded strongly on the back of production
curtailments announced by Glencore. We expect the strength
in prices to sustain as couple of large mines are scheduled
to close down permanently. Given the strong outlook on
Zinc, quality assets and attractive valuations we maintain
BUY. The positives are lower energy costs and benefits of
volumes. Further zinc prices are expected to remain firm for a
sustainable period.
Prabhudas Lilladher

Target Price

` 79

Current Price

` 56.90

Federal Bank

buy
Target Price

` 190

Current Price

` 157.85

Hindustan Zinc