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While multiple P2P lending startups which have recently got licensed by the central bank have shown promising growth, industry insiders say that they are not being able to expand business quickly because of capital constraints.

ET takes a deep dive into the new cash-out mentality that’s gaining ground to see what 2019 holds for those who don’t stick around

Apple is in talks with the Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Revenue to seek certain sops for its component manufacturers

The RBI had asked the bank to stop adding new customers about six months back in June.

ET asked some of the country’s top founders and investors to pick their startup of the year. They also summed up how 2018 panned out for them

While online-exclusive brands such as Vu, BPL, TCL explore ways to push sales, Flipkart and Amazon are unlikely to change their hiring plans

Amazon is said to be seeking legal opinion on whether Amazon Retail India Pvt. Ltd (ARIPL) can continue selling on its marketplace or has to stop from February 1, when the new guidelines take effect.

Since it cannot give heavy cashback or discounts like others, it has embarked on multiple merchant tie-ups to offer attractive discounts to customers.

E-commerce attracted several small and medium traders, giving them an additional sales avenue and a larger market base in the beginning.

An examination of the Facebook files revealed numerous gaps, biases and outright errors.

Now the biggest challenge is to dispose inventory worth Rs 2,000-2,500 cr that Amazon India and the Walmart-owned Flipkart have.

While Facebook made headlines for failing to protect our privacy, Apple rolled out parental control features to curb smartphone addiction

The new norms on non-discriminatory pricing has the potential to be extended to exclusive partnerships that e-commerce platforms strike with banks and payment companies on specific products or with specific retailers only

Amazon's statement comes after rival Flipkart had on Thursday appealed to the government to put in place a broad market-driven framework through a right consultative process.

Coinciding with Flipkart's acquisition by Walmart and Bansals' exit, a new crop of internet unicorns emerged in 2018. They have disrupted the pecking order of most valued private internet companies, ushering in a new era in Indian startups

Some lawyers who work closely with e-commerce companies said one option is to move court to get their existing business structures such as joint ventures excluded from the new policy

Amazon, Facebook and Google are unlikely to sign up for self-regulation fearing this move will set a “dangerous” precedent of regulating the internet and interfere with creative freedom

The national food regulator said it's stepping up scrutiny of e-commerce food companies because there can be no compromise on last-mile delivery and safety of food products.

The new e-commerce policy could entail provisions for a regulator in the sector dominated by U.S. tech giant Amazon.com and homegrown Flipkart.

Walmart-owned Flipkart said the new government policy changes will have long-term implications for the evolution of the promising sector and whole ecosystem

Bureaucracy’s instinct to retain discretion & control has created the most perverse disincentive to invest in startup

Big sellers like RetailNet, SuperComNet and OmniTech Retail on Flipkart and its fashion affiliate Myntra besides Cloudtail and Appario on Amazon India form over 60% of these platforms' sales.

In an exclusive interview to ET, Singhal – now a Delhi High Court advocate – called the home ministry notification allowing government agencies to intercept data on computers “shocking”

Biyani called Centre's new ecommerce policy a game-changer for offline retail firms.

Brands like BPL, TCL’s iFFalcon, MarQ, Blaupunkt TV, Sanyo, Tenor, Thomson, Amazon Basics and Meizu are operating as online exclusives in India through either Amazon or Flipkart.

The decision comes in the backdrop of several complaints being flagged by domestic traders on heavy discounts being given by e-commerce players to consumers.

Here's a lowdown on the people, companies, and institutions, which dominated the headlines this past year.

Infrastructure developed under every urban renewal scheme will be geotagged and a unique app will enable any citizen to access information on its implementation, said officials.

Between chefs, or gourmands with different tastes, or neighbours with shared interests, cooking ideas and recipes are flowing freely through food groups on WhatsApp

High-tech tools for immigration crackdowns.Fears of smartphone addiction .YouTube algorithms that steer youths into extremism.An experiment in gene-edited babies .

With UPI now for IPO and instant online demat account opening that can enable anyone to apply for IPO, hopefully good Indian companies will look at our capital markets for fundraising

PayU has over the past two years seen rapid growth in the payments business and also pushed its credit business through LazyPay.

As part of the pivot, Baxi will rebrand as B-fresh, and will deliver goods, across the dairy, fruits and vegetables, drugs and other household items to consumers spread across Gurgaon and certain parts of Delhi

Companies with five million users will have to set up shop in India, leading to higher tax liability and greater financial scrutiny from the government, under the proposed changes.

Earlier this month, representatives of banks had a meeting to discuss the issue of fintechs getting unbridled access to bank borrower information.

Booking.com's Ritu Mehrotra says entrepreneurs need to obsess about their users and not what the competition is doing

The proposed rules are expected to hit firms such as WhatsApp hard since they have so far declined the government’s demand for traceability of messages citing end-to-end encryption.

Kalra said MakeMyTrip, which commands a market capitalisation of $2.09 billion as of Monday, deals directly with its partner hotels — standalone or chains

Facebook India's total revenue surged 53% to Rs 521 crore while profit jumped about 40% to Rs 57 crore in FY18.

Scripbox launched the UPI payment option on the platform on December 15 and expects half the customers to adopt it over other payment modes.

From SoftBank appointing its first country head to new investment firms being set up, some of the most prominent names in the investor community sought fresh challenges and investment vehicles.

The 37-year-old, is in advanced talks to invest $100-150 million in ride-hailing platform Ola, as ET first reported in October.

The SoftBank-backed company, which is in the process of raising $1 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) from a clutch of investors, doesn’t have any plan to raise further capital

Proceeds from the investment will be used by DesignCafe to expand its footprints in the country, its cofounder, Shezaan Bhojani, said in an email response to ET.

Not just national political parties, but even regional parties like the Shiv Sena have taken to the platform to engage younger audiences.

UIDAI's efforts around offline modes like eAadhaar and QR code are likely to gather pace in 2019.

A Wipro spokesperson confirmed the move, saying that was to incentivise high-performing individuals in niche domains and technologies and employees hired from campuses.

Ministers defended the move, saying it merely fulfilled a requirement under Rule 4 of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Description of Information) Rules, 2009.

After slapping 'angel tax' notices on startups, the taxman's attention seems to have turned to FDI in multinationals and Indian companies where a 'premium' was paid over and above the 'fair market value' of shares.

Experts argue that rules backing the order are too broad, lack judicial oversight and need a fresh review in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark privacy judgement given earlier this year.

In a decision that could have wide ramifications in the country, the government has allowed 10 intelligence and investigating agencies and the Delhi Police to intercept, monitor and decrypt "any information" generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer

Logistics startup Delhivery is likely to announce $415 million funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund shortly

With an increasing number of app-based firms pulling out, the public bicycle-sharing (PBS) scheme, which is yet to be formally launched in the city, has already run into hurdles.

The apex court’s September 26 ruling barred private companies from accessing the biometric database.

The keyword block is based on recommendations submitted by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Portea operates across primary care, chronic disease management, elder care and post-operative care.

Flipkart cofounder's investment in Amazon-backed insurance firm Acko is expected to be be his largest so far

With the current round, Swiggy has seen its valuation swell by close to 5 times this year. The company was valued at $1.3 billion in June this year and $700 million in February.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is examining the angel tax issue and could issue a clarification that lifts the threat of this levy and associated penalties hanging over startups

E-pharmacies have moved a division bench of the Madras High Court challenging a recent order banning sale of medicines online

Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu also acknowledged the issue but directed it to the finance ministry to resolve, as per sources.

The country’s second largest software services exporter has reported 7.1% growth in dollar revenue in the six months through September and forecast a 6-8% expansion for fiscal 2019.

WeWork India currently operates 3 million sq ft office space across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon.

The court had asked e-pharmacies to stop business, raising alarm among private equity funds that have invested nearly Rs 300 crore in them.

Over the past few weeks, several early-stage startups have received notices from the tax department to clear taxes on the angel funding raised by them

Facebook said what it did was to help users access their Facebook accounts or specific features on devices and platforms built by other companies like Apple, Amazon, Blackberry and Yahoo

These firms are hoping for the restoration of Aadhaar-based verification for their customers, a service they had to curtail after the Supreme Court, in its September 26 judgement, struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act.

In India, venture capital fund Kalaari Capital is in talks to close a $10-million investment round in scooter-rental startup Vogo, according to multiple people aware of the development.

The demand for data localisation stems from Indian government concerns about security of its citizen data outside India or delayed access to it when requested from foreign soil.

Alteria Capital and Brand Capital, the strategic investment arm of the Times Group, also participated in the funding round

Technology companies such as Infosys are witnessing an increasing number of digital contracts where the solutions are often created with clients, unlike the traditional deals where the specifications were drawn by the clients and outsourced

Byju's stake sale will be one of the largest exits clocked by VC fund Sequoia Capital in the recent past

The move comes at a time when political parties, after the recent state assembly elections, are plotting their digital strategies for the general elections to be held sometime in April-May 2019

Google is scouting for incubators and accelerator partners with a proven track record to scale the programme in India.

“The minister will internally review the e-commerce policy but this would not be a stakeholder meeting,” said an official in the know of the details.

Moglix plans to use the proceeds to ramp up its supply chain infrastructure and double down on its SaaS product suite

Byju's has aggressive plans for international market expansion and will make bold investments in technology that will help to further personalise learning for students, the company said in a statement

Sharing economy-focused startup Drivezy is close to finalising a $60 million funding round, as it looks to double down on its vehicle sharing platform

Those familiar with the details told ET that the proposal includes an amendment to the Aadhaar Act to recognise the virtual token that is used to prevent sharing of the actual Aadhaar number.

The government’s push for internet companies to host data of Indian users in local servers is also due to concerns that they deliver services mostly from overseas, outside India’s tax jurisdiction.

An association of online vendors has written to the government asking for applying the guidelines laid out by the court to all e-commerce marketplaces in the country.

The Modi government is set to ink a deal with France-based information technology corporation Atos on Saturday

Facebook said the problem was fixed but it may have affected up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers.

Earlier, any decision related to change in parcel delivery rates or matching services of private players required approval from top officials, which was time-consuming.

Data from Counterpoint Research showed that 118 million and 134 million smartphones were sold in 2016 and 2017, respectively, in India.

Bengaluru commuters continue to suffer as BMTC squats on real-time data, refusing to share it on its platforms. When such info on Delhi buses are available online, what stops BMTC from sharing it

So far, ISRO has begun using 3D-printed components in spacecraft in small volumes.

xto10x will address scaling-up issues for growth-stage companies

Electronic signatures, used by consumers to sign legal documents digitally, could stop soon, causing massive disruption in the financial services space

Sellers like Licious are trying to bring convenience and hygiene to the unorganised business

Reliance Retail will undertake assisted sales of sugar, pulses, soaps and biscuits to apparel and shoes from the Jio Point stores to be delivered to doorsteps using the existing Jio distribution network

Walmart had acqui-hired micro-app startup Appsfly in September, merging that six-member team with its customer experience engineering group.

Swiggy is currently running pilots for the Launchpad in universities including Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Hyderabad, Lovely Professional University in Punjab and Chitkara University, also in Punjab.

On Binny Bansal’s controversial exit from Flipkart last month, Krishnamurthy said it was a “very difficult time for all of us.”

A senior official at the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) confirmed receipt of the RBI letter

All India Online Vendors' Association has accused e-commerce marketplaces of following unregulated and anti-competitive business model even as the Indian arm of Amazon is hosting a 'Small Business Day' online shopping event next weekend

Roposo will use the proceeds from the latest round of funding to further build up its product technology and acquire talent, while also look to expand its community of users.

Flipkart fintech head Ravi Garikipati and chief marketing officer Shoumyan Biswas are moving out of the company

The transaction is expected to value Byju's at around $3.6 billion, making it the fifth most valued private internet company in India after Flipkart ($22 billion), Paytm ($16 billion), Oyo ($5 billion) and Ola ($4 billion).

Here is a list of the top five domains of 2018 that are likely to impact the technology job market in India, according to Simplilearn's report

Kunal Shah talks about why he started Cred, how he is bringing the FreeCharge philosophy to it, the role of discounts in attracting and retaining customers and key mistakes that startup entrepreneurs make in India

But as smartphones have become ubiquitous and technology more accurate, an industry of snooping on people’s daily habits has spread and grown more intrusive.

Vendors on Amazon’s India and US platforms are also said to have faced underhand tactics by rogue sellers, resulting in blocked accounts or compromised product listings.

New forms of payments, entry of more players, higher adoption during festive sales big positives

The government has also asked eSign service providers such as eMudhra to come up with an alternate plan to enable Aadhaar-based authentication without the use of biometrics

A senior government official told ET that NITI Aayog has collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Patna, under director Pushpak Bhattacharyya to develop a natural language processor (NLP) for commercial use.

For the first time, new IITs like Mandi and Patna are seeing Japanese recruiters such as Fujifilm, Tonichi Insatsu, e-commerce company Mercari and SMS DataTech Corporation on their campuses

ET had reported that Google was set to acquire the Bengaluru based startup for $30-40 million as part of its 'Next Billion Users' initiative.

The latest capital infusion comes about three months after the company raised an identical amount in a round led by Bertelsmann and Vertex Ventures.

RBI is keen on XML-based Aadhaar authentication instead of offline QR code-based verification

UrbanClap employees set to rake in over 40x returns in three years

Walmart wants to globally deploy Flipkart's data analytics and tech knowhow

In 2018, Amazon launched its audiobooks platform Audible in India, Google Audiobooks opened access to Indian users, and last year Sweden-based audiobooks firm Storytel started an Indian arm.

Uber's IPO listing next year would be the largest in what is expected to be a string of public debuts by highly valued Silicon Valley companies, including apartment-renting company Airbnb and workplace messaging firm Slack.

Many financial technology companies were entirely dependent on Aadhaar-based electronic KYC, which was a quick, cheap and secure way to verify customers.

As per the chargesheet, which was filed on December 6, Dhawan, Jain, Devendra Kumar, also an employee of Paytm, and Rohit Chomwal have been charged under multiple sections related to theft, extortion and criminal conspiracy, among others.

As part of this deal, we are acquiring seven products from IBM, in areas such as marketing, commerce, security and collaboration, Vijayakumar said.

Kirthiga Reddy will be based out of SoftBank's Silicon Valley office at San Carlos and will be working closely with senior managing partner Deep Nishar focusing on frontier technologies

Amazon is looking at bringing its futuristic checkout-free store format to airports in an effort to win business from hungry, time-pressed travelers

Razorpay has attained an annual run rate of $30 million of disbursal so far and plans to bump it up to a $ 100 million run rate by March.

WhatsApp, which offers end-to-end encryption for users of its messaging app, has resisted demands by the Indian government to enable traceability of messages to curb rumours

HCL Technologies said that the products which HCL is acquiring are in large growing market areas like Security, Marketing and Commerce which are strategic segments for the company.

Amar Nagaram has been moved to fashion portal Myntra in a newly created role of chief technology and product officer (CTPO), while Myntra's chief technology officer (CTO) Jeyandran Venugopal has moved to Flipkart to head its engineering division

Will BookMyShow’s strategy to scale its non-movie businesses prove to be another blockbuster for the e-ticketing platform

An investment by Grab into OYO, both of which count SoftBank as one of their primary investors, comes at a time when the companies have identified South-East Asia, particularly, Indonesia as a key market for growth.

Internal Facebook documents released by a U.K. parliamentary committee offer the clearest evidence yet that the social network has used its enormous trove of user data as a competitive weapon

ShopKirana said the funds would be used to expand the business, with the aim of launching in ten cities next year, targeting one lakh retailers and connecting farmers with retailers

Workers urged the company to increase the per-order pay and restore the incentive amounts that had been reduced recently.

The documents, which had been sealed by a California court, led lawmakers to conclude that Facebook undertook deals with third party apps that continued to allow access to personal data.

Parliament's media committee seized confidential Facebook documents from the developer of a now-defunct bikini photo searching app as part of its investigation into fake news.

In November, Instagram took a step to cut down on third-party apps that were used to grow following of Influencers on the platform