News in brief2

1. NEWS IN BRIEF
 Amazon cuts commission for sellers on electronic devices to attract
Indians: Multinational e-tail giant Amazon has upped the ante in the battle for a
bigger pie of the Indian ecommerce space with a reduction in commission charges
for sellers using its platform for marketing electronic goods such as smartphones
and computer software products used for educating schoolchildren. According to
market analysts, part of the reduction in commission charges is expected to be
passed on to consumers. The cut comes at time when arch-rival Flipkart is facing
trouble with sellers over high commission charges and Snapdeal is also looking at
ways to cut losses. The two companies have also seen a scaling down of their
valuation.
 Capping air fares on regional routes negative for airlines: Report: The new
civil aviation policy has an integrated approach to take flying to the masses, but
the move to cap fares for one-hour flights on unserved regional routes at Rs 2,500
is likely to be a negative for airline companies, says a report. Crisil Research also
said the 5/20 rule that barred new airlines from flying abroad has been replaced
with the 0/20 norm that "levels the field". As per the 5/20 rule, only domestic
airlines with at least five years of operational experience and a minimum of 20
planes were allowed to fly overseas.
 Aviation sector to see strong growth; air traffic to rise 14%: Domestic
aviation industry is likely to see a strong growth period with air traffic estimated to
grow at 14 per cent helped by a positive outlook for crude prices, says a report.
However, the report by ICICI Securities noticed that the growth rate of 14 per cent
is low considering that the average annual growth rate of passenger-traffic in India
has been more than 18-20 per cent since 2000. "India's aviation sector is set to
undergo a strong growth period, which should benefit all incumbent players,
particularly on a benign crude price outlook," the report said.
 Uber to expand presence to 50 cities by year-end: Taxi aggregator Uber will
have presence in 50 cities in India by the end of the current year and is looking to
partner with local companies to expand its business, a top company official said
on Thursday. Uber currently has operations in 27 cities in India and "we will try to
be 50 cities by the end of year. Our goal is to reach everybody and we have to this

2. in stages," said Eric Alexander, head of business, Uber Asia. He was talking to
reporters on the sidelines of an event where Uber announced partnership with
Tata companies to offer driver partners on the Uber platform a comprehensive
vehicle purchase and ownership solution.
 Tata, Uber announce partnership to create 20,000 micro-entrepreneurs:
Tata companies and Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday announced a
partnership to offer driver partners on the Uber platform a comprehensive vehicle
purchase and ownership solution. Under this partnership, the two companies plan
to enable 20,000 drivers across the country start their own businesses on the
Uber platform over the next one year. Owners and drivers on the Uber platform
will be able to buy cars like Indica and Indigo from Tata Motors, gain access to
financing solutions from Tata Capital Financial Services and Tata Motors Finance
and get insurance from Tata AIG.