04 KALEIDOSCOPE
Ask your query
During the FY 2007-08 I was deducted extra
tax amount from my employer. I then provid-
ed the investment proof and received
Form-16 with tax refund mentioned. My SA-
RAL with the tax refund Rs. 5876 is filled, but I
am yet to receive my tax returns. How long
does it take to get this amount? In last few
years, I used to get the refund within six
months.
Hemalatha Jayakumar, CTC
There is a lot of delay in the reimbursement.
But the government does pay an interest for
the period. Things can be expedited if the val-
ue of reimbursement is very high, by paying
something extra. Your auditor/ tax filing assis-
tant may help you with this.
For amounts lesser than 10,000, the best
thing to do is wait. So have patience.
(For queries related to personal finance, mail
your queries to finergo@goergo.in, with ‘doctor’ as
the subject line)
Quiz
1: Annuity is paid to the customer in what
intervals
Daily
Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly
2: AUM stands for
Average Unit Margin
Annual Utilization of Money
Assistant Unit Manager
Asset Under Management
(Send your answers to finergo@goergo.in or
SMS to 92813 98889. For example, if you choose
A as the answer to question 1 and B as the
answer to question 2 type it as 1A2B and send it.
Winner will be chosen by lucky draw from all
correct answers and get a free book on mutual
funds)
Answers for last week’s quiz
ADR – American Depository Receipt
ATM – Automated teller machine
Word in Word
HDFC is Most Valued Bank
Private Sector lender HDFC recently over-
took ICICI Bank as the country’s most valued
private sector bank, this was after its shares
surged over six per cent on the Bombay Stock
Exchange.
The market capitalisation of ICICI Bank, the
top private sector lender in terms of asset size,
fell to Rs. 39,516.58 crore against Rs. 40,001
crore of rival HDFC Bank.
Comparing the share price of ICICI with that
of HDFC, the shares of HDFC settled up by
6.31 per cent at Rs. 940.50 on BSE. Whereas
ICICI bank gained 2.44 per cent at Rs. 355.10
and ICICI Bank moved down to 18th position
in terms of market cap, against a place among
the top 10 companies till last year.
ERGO Monday, March 30, 2009
The house at 20%
discount goes to...
Now, get your dream home at a rate lower than the market price
PRADEEP YUVARAJ
pradeep@finerva.com
T
he above reference is the sale
(by means of auction) of a
seized property. By seized we
mean real estate property
which has been taken over by the
bank or a financial institution from
the owner for defaulting on the loan
repayment. Till 2002, when the SAR-
FAESI Act (Securitisation and Recon-
struction of Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security Interest
Act) was enacted, banks had no ways
to recover value out of NPAs (Non
Performing Assets) or those who take
loans but do not repay.
With SARFAESI banks can recover
these assets without the intervention
of the court. If a person does not pay
back his loan on a housing property,
vehicle or any other mortgaged as-
set, the bank can seize the same and
recover its dues by three means:
Take possession of the security; sale
or lease or assign the right over the
security or manage the same or ap-
point an individual to manage the
same.
More recently many banks have
started seizing houses/commercial
properties and selling them to
buyers by means of auction. If you
could get into one of these auctions
and bid successfully then you could
be the owner of a house at a price
considerably lower than the market
value.
Why this cheap?
This kind of auctions are usually
priced at the distress sale value,
which is 20-30 per cent lesser than
the current market value. During the
auction if the bids are not too ag- Auctions for home should pick up in these current times. PHOTO: AFP
gressive you could get a saving of 15-
20 per cent depending on the bid- stage in India, but with the turmoil tices in the newspapers/bank web-
ders and the property. seen in the economy there will be sites for such auctions. You should
more and more defaulters and lucra- attend a few to get a feel and then if
How do I get involved? tive property could come up for sale. you real find a property, go ahead
The concept is in a very budding Keep your eyes open for bank no- and bid for it. ■