MUMBAI, Aug 12: Natarajan Chandrasekaran has stepped down as Tata Sons chairman. His resignation comes ahead of the company's annual general meeting, scheduled for August 18.

In a statement, Chandrasekaran said, "I have completed 40 years of professional life at the Tata Group. I am grateful for the immensely satisfying opportunity to contribute to this venerable institution. Leading Tata Sons over the past decade has been a great honour and a profound responsibility."

Chandrasekaran's current term runs until February 2027. In his statement, Chandrasekaran specified that he will not seek reappointment after his term ends. "I have asked the Board to decide on the succession soon to ensure a proper transition," the statement added.

Following Chandrasekaran's resignation, shares of Tata Group companies -- including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Steel, Tata Power Company -- tumbled. At 11:30 am, Tata Power was down 1.26 per cent, TCS fell 3.9 per cent, and Tata Steel dropped 1.83 per cent.

The resignation comes amid tensions with shareholders, and differences between Chandrasekaran and Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata.

In his statement, Chandrasekaran mentions that one of the board members (likely referring to Noel Tata) didn't support the extension of his term beyond 2027, and in absence of unanimous support, he decided to step down.

"Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust had unanimously resolved and recommended the extension of my next term for a period of five years (after February 20, 2027), which was recorded and recommended by the Tata Sons Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board. Subsequently, the resolution was tabled in the Tata Sons Board on February 24, 2026. However, the proposal was not carried through because one of the Board Members did not support it, and in the absence of unanimous support, I chose to defer the decision," the statement read.

Tata Sons and Tata Trusts have disagreements over board representation, group strategy and the proposed exit of minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji. Tensions intensified after Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata opposed the move to reappoint Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman. According to media reports, Noel Tata wants his son, Neville Tata, to play a more prominent role at the company.

Earlier, Chandrasekaran proposed that the reappointment decision be deferred until a consensus was reached -- a tradition upheld by the late Ratan Tata. Notably, Chandrasekaran joined the Tata group in 1987, became TCS' CEO in 2009 ⁠before taking over as Tata Sons chair in 2017. His tenure as the chairman saw the group tackling major crises, including the Air India crash, pricing pressure at TCS, and a cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover.

Tata Sons manages businesses including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Air India. With businesses spanning IT services, steel, airlines, defence, electronics and semiconductors, Tata is among India's biggest conglomerates.

UPI transactions to remain free, nominal charges may apply on limited merchant transactions, govt clarifies

NEW DELHI, Aug 8: The union government on Saturday clarified that transactions via UPI will remain free and attract no charges, after the passing of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 in Lok Sabha earlier this week.

Earlier reports had suggested that the Bill would allow the government to permit banks and payment companies to charge fees on UPI and other digital payments in the future.

However, in a press release, the Centre has now stated that a vast majority of transactions would remain free of charge for customers as well as merchants. However, it said that nominal charges may apply on certain limited merchant transactions.

“Consumers making payments will not face any transaction charges,” the government said, adding that all person-to-person (P2P) transactions would continue free of charge. “As and when MDR charges are introduced, they will apply only to a limited set of merchant transactions, above a certain threshold, at a nominal rate, far lower than debit or credit card MDRs,” it added.

The merchant discount rate (MDR) is the fee charged on a digital/ card payment made to a merchant. The MDR has been zero for UPI transactions till now, meaning merchants do not generally pay a transaction fee for accepting UPI payments.

The government asserted that while a vast majority of payments will be free of charge, MDR, if introduced, would only be threshold based and “not blanketly levied to all.”

“Once the Parliament passes the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes to amend Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the “UPI and Services Steering Committee” headed by NPCI will decide on the MDR, if any,” the government further stated.

The government further dismissed reports suggesting that “external pressure” might have been a contributing factor for the amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, calling them “misleading.”

“This is unfounded, completely false and misleading. If external pressure had been a factor, the government would not have introduced UPI in 2016 or made it free of charge for both merchants as well as citizens since January 2020 and ensured that it became the world’s largest real time interoperable payment system,” the Centre said.

It said that the amendment should be viewed in the context of the union government's “broader objective of ensuring that India's digital payment infrastructure remains sustainable, competitive, innovative and capable of serving the country's rapidly expanding digital economy."

Gross GST collections grow 15.4% to more than ₹2.11 lakh crore in July on higher imports, sales

NEW DELHI, Aug 1: Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew 15.4% to more than ₹2.11 lakh crore in July on higher mop-up from sales and imports, reflecting sustained domestic consumption. Gross GST collections were ₹1.83 lakh crore in July 2025 and ₹1.95 lakh crore last month.

Tax collection from domestic transactions grew 10.1% to more than ₹1.44 lakh crore, while gross revenues from imports were up 29% to ₹66,511 crore.

Gross Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) revenue during the month stood at ₹39,835 crore, while State GST (SGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) mop-up were ₹47,881 crore and more than ₹1.23 lakh crore, respectively.

Total refunds during July grew 13.1% to ₹29,968 crore. After adjusting refunds, net GST revenue stood at more than ₹1.81 lakh crore.