Top 10 biz headlines: Consumer spend falls, telcos woes continue, and more

From the first fall in consumer spending in 4 decades to a fall in ONGC's net profit, here are the top 10 business stories for the day

Consumer spend sees first fall in four decades on weak rural demand: NSO data

Consumer spending fell for the first time in more than four decades in 2017-18, primarily driven by slackening rural demand, according to the latest consumption expenditure survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Read more.

AGR impact: Voda Idea posts biggest quarterly loss in India Inc history

Vodafone Idea reported a massive pre-tax loss of Rs 36,959 crore for the July-September quarter after it provided for payments related to adjusted gross revenues, or AGR. The company took a hit of Rs 30,774 crore (including AGR) for the quarter. This led to a loss of Rs 50,922 crore at the net level, the highest-ever for an Indian company. The company had posted a loss of Rs 4,974 crore in the year-ago quarter while the loss in the June quarter was Rs 4,874 crore. Read more.

AGR provisioning: Bharti Airtel posts pre-tax loss of Rs 31,334 crore in Q2

Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 31,334 crore for the September quarter (Q2), after the company provided for outstanding payments to the central government on account of the Supreme Court judgment on adjusted gross revenues (AGR). The pre-tax loss in the year-ago quarter stood at Rs 1,998 crore. Read more.

Lenders may miss RBI's six-month deadline to approve debt-resolution plans

Lenders are likely to miss the six-month deadline set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to find a resolution of defaulting companies by December 6, thus putting another Rs 3.8 trillion of loans at risk. Read more.

Moving on from gloomy past: JetPrivilege loses the jet, gains new identity

JetPrivilege, the loyalty programme of now defunct Jet Airways, has a new brand identity. The programme has been christened as InterMiles and new tier benefits (based on frequency and class of travel) added for its members in a bid to delink itself from the airline’s beleaguered past. Read more.

Bank moves NCLT to initiate insolvency proceedings against McLeod Russel

Following Techno Electric & Engineering’s appeal at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)’s Kolkata Bench to initiate insolvency proceedings against McLeod Russel, a bank has followed suit. Read more.

ONGC net profit falls 37% in Sep quarter on lower oil prices, production

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday reported a 36.2 per cent drop in second quarter net profit as it faced double whammy of fall in oil production and drop in prices. Read more.

Suzlon Energy's Sep-quarter net loss at Rs 777 cr on subdued operations

Suzlon Energy on Thursday reported widening of its consolidated net loss to Rs 777.52 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2019. The company had reported a net loss of Rs 625.76 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, Suzlon Energy said in a BSE filing. Read more.

Parliament likely to exert greater scrutiny over functioning of RBI

Parliament may soon be exerting greater scrutiny over the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Standing Committee of Finance is proposing to examine issues that intersect with RBI. These include quality of supervision and oversight of financial institutions, inflation targeting guidelines and monetary transmission, and a performance appraisal of the banking system, reports LiveMint.

Developers Want RERA to be First Point of Redressal for Homebuyers

Property developers in the country are pushing for the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) to be the first point for redressal of complaints by homebuyers. Several projects have been stalled and developers and the industry body have called for changes in the law, given that most cases in the National Company Law Tribunal pertaining to real estate.Real estate projects form 65% of the cases in the NCLT, according to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, reports The Economic Times.