Expansions, layoffs, funding, leadership moves, and policy shifts — with our take on what it means for hiring in India, today and over the next five years.
India's Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has determined that profits employees receive when a company repurchases their vested but unexercised stock options are subject to capital gains tax. The ruling clarifies a previously grey area in how ESOP-related income is categorised and taxed. This decision has direct implications for how employees at startups and listed companies account for gains from ESOP buyback programmes.
The Reserve Bank of India is set to limit non-banking financial companies to disbursing term loans only, blocking them from providing revolving credit facilities without explicit regulatory approval. NBFCs already authorised to issue credit cards remain unaffected, but standalone players will need fresh permissions and substantial capital backing to enter that space. The central bank is currently in a consultation phase, inviting industry feedback before finalising these rules.
India's telecom regulator TRAI levied a combined penalty of Rs 1.9 crore on major operators including BSNL, Airtel, MTNL, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio for failing to meet prescribed service quality benchmarks in FY26. BSNL bore the steepest individual fine at Rs 57.5 lakh, followed by Airtel and MTNL. The penalties signal that regulators are actively enforcing quality standards across the sector rather than treating them as advisory.
Dabur India has joined a growing list of consumer goods companies challenging the food regulator FSSAI in court over its ban on '100% pure' product claims. The companies contend that their labelling practices are fully compliant with existing Indian law. The dispute is part of a broader regulatory push by FSSAI against what it considers misleading product representations across food and beverages.
India's central bank has placed Tata Sons, the holding company of the sprawling Tata Group, into the 'Upper Layer' category under its scale-based NBFC regulatory framework. This classification subjects Tata Sons to significantly stricter oversight, governance, and compliance requirements. The move has broad implications given that Tata Sons sits at the apex of one of India's largest and most diversified conglomerates.
The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has amended the Drugs Rules, 1945, introducing provisions that can bar manufacturers and distributors from future licence applications if they are found to have submitted false or misleading information during the approval process. The Licensing Authority now has explicit powers to debar non-compliant entities. The move is aimed at raising the integrity of drug approval evidence across the industry.
India's coal ministry has streamlined the process for bringing explored coal blocks into operation, sharply cutting the time between auction and actual production. Both captive and commercial mines are now contributing more meaningfully to national coal output as a result. The government is continuing to hold auctions and engage with private players to deepen their involvement in the sector.
The India Bullion and Jewellers Association has proposed a revamped Gold Monetisation Scheme that would allow jewellers to earn an additional commission of up to 1% for collecting old gold from customers and routing it to refiners. The incentive structure is designed to motivate jewellers to actively promote the scheme rather than remain passive participants. If the government adopts the proposal, it could significantly change how the jewellery trade operates at the ground level.
The Indian government has formally notified an operational framework for ecommerce exports, following its recent move to exempt B2B ecommerce exports from FDI restrictions. This policy creates clearer regulatory pathways for businesses looking to ship products to international markets through digital channels. The framework is expected to encourage both established players and small sellers to scale their cross-border trade operations.
The Reserve Bank of India's governor has indicated it is too early to finalise any decision on introducing merchant discount rates on UPI transactions, even as legislative groundwork appears to be underway. The government is reportedly moving to amend existing laws to permit such charges on select UPI payments, a shift that could alter the economics of India's dominant digital payments ecosystem. The central bank, meanwhile, continues to prioritise expanding UPI's reach across the country.
Financial regulators in India are considering bringing insurance surety bond exposures into a central credit database, currently overseen by the RBI's CRILC framework. The move aims to give banks and rating agencies a fuller picture of how much corporate debt is actually outstanding, including contingent liabilities that previously flew under the radar. Government departments have increasingly been accepting these bonds in place of traditional bank guarantees, making the regulatory gap more consequential.
India's telecom regulator has proposed quality-of-service guidelines specifically for 5G network slicing, requiring operators to treat each network slice as a separate tariff category and disclose the measured speeds tied to each. Operators are also now allowed to price 4G and 5G services differently. These rules are designed to protect consumers from service degradation as 5G networks scale up across the country.