Over the years, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained broader implications in India not only from a philanthropic perspective, but also from a realbusiness standpoint. In this context, the first paper, “A Critical Analysis of the Provisions of Corporate Social Responsibility”, by Shiv Nath Sinha, performs a thorough analysis of the Companies Act, 2013, Companies (CSR) Rules, 2014, Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 and various other notifications issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 mandates that a company having net worth of 500 cr or more, or turnover of 1,000 cr or more or a net profit of 5 cr or more should spend 2% of its average net profit on CSR. This provision legislating social responsibility by companies in India started a debate regarding the logic behind such mandate because the meaning of the term CSR is itself not clear and different scholars and practitioners have defined the term in different ways. Undoubtedly, the mandatory CSR spending is a unique provision of law and has given rise to many concerns among the various stakeholders. These range from need assessment of stakeholders, formulation of CSR policies, issues of compliance and disclosures, capacity constraints, optimal utilization of CSR amount for the benefit of the target stakeholders, creation of effective mechanism for monitoring its implementation and impact assessment. Hence, this paper critically evaluates various provisions of CSR from the perspectives of business environment in India and also highlights the intent of the Government of India to incorporate provisions mandating CSR by firms in India.
A firm’s performance in terms of environmental impact, i.e., its environmental footprint or influence, is a concern to many stakeholders within the society. Corporate environmental disclosure is both a way for firms to show their environmental commitment and an information source for stakeholders that allows them to exert pressures on firms if it is deemed that their environmental performance is below expectations. In this scenario, the second paper, “Corporate Environmental Disclosure, Corporate Governance and Firm Characteristics: Evidence from Polluting and Non-Polluting Sectors in India”, by Abhijit Roy and Santanu Kumar Ghosh, focuses on environmental disclosure and examines the determinants of corporate environmental responsibility and the economic benefits attached to it. The study underscores the disclosure aspect of corporate environmentalism and how corporate governance practices of companies influence voluntary environmental disclosure quality of firms in the Indian context. Corporate environmentalism pertains to firm-level efforts to reduce pollution and resource use along with protecting natural habitats. Importantly, firms pledge to undertake these actions beyond the requirements of the law. Corporate environmentalism emphasizes the recognition of the importance of environmental issues facing the firm and the integration of those issues into the firm’s strategic plans. This empirical study comprises sample from polluting as well as non-polluting sectors, viz., cement, iron and steel industries and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES). A sample of 30 firms from each sector was collected for the period of five years from 2008-09 to 2012-13. The findings reveal significant impact of ownership concentration and public shareholding on voluntary environmental disclosures, and conclude that high ownership concentration and leverage are detrimental to voluntary environmental disclosures
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India
Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario
If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.
Indian Scenario
The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.
