Preeti Kulkarni

Rising demand for weight-loss drugs, cosmetic procedures and wellness treatments is creating a growing out-of-pocket healthcare expense category in India. Most such interventions—including Botox, anti-obesity drugs, LASIK and thread lifts—are excluded from standard health insurance unless deemed medically necessary. Experts advise understanding policy exclusions and avoiding EMIs for elective treatments.

It has been close to two years since Narayana Healths wholly owned subsidiary, Narayana Health Insurance—which has adopted a ‘managed healthcare model— launched its maiden health insurance product. At a time when hospitals and health insurers have been at loggerheads over cashless claim settlements, Viren Prasad Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman, Narayana Health, speaks to Preeti Kulkarni about the managed care model (where both the insurer and the healthcare provider belong to the same group), the growing friction between hospitals and insurers, and the need to reimagine health insurance product design.

It has been close to two years since Narayana Health's wholly owned subsidiary, Narayana Health Insurance—which has adopted a ‘managed healthcare' model— launched its maiden health insurance product.

The I-T Department’s growing scrutiny, using AI and data analytics tools, leaves little room for omissions and errors, making accurate tax return filing more important than ever.

The deadline for filing income tax returns for FY2025-26 has arrived, with new rules and forms in effect. Notably, ITR 3 and ITR 4 filings now have a staggered deadline of August 31st, offering some relief. Significant changes include updated disclosure requirements for Futures & Options trading and revised capital gains tax reporting, signaling a move towards more data-driven scrutiny by the tax department.

The I-T Department's growing scrutiny, using AI and data analytics tools, leaves little room for omissions and errors, making accurate tax return filing more important than ever.

Preeti Kulkarni With 31 July just over a month away, the countdown for filing income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) has begun.

For most taxpayers, filing an income tax return (ITR) is an annual ritual that is tedious but unavoidable. Despite the income tax (I-T) department’s efforts to simplify the process with prefilled return forms and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) — a summary of income earned and specified financial transactions during the year that serves as a verification tool — data-driven scrutiny using artificial intelligence (AI) and other tools has become stricter, leaving little room for error.

Returning Indians face new tax filing complexities. Foreign retirement accounts now necessitate the more detailed ITR-2, moving away from the simpler ITR-1. Tax authorities are leveraging global information exchange to track overseas assets and income. Accurate reporting in Schedule FA is crucial to avoid penalties under the Black Money Act. Taxpayers must diligently disclose all foreign holdings, including dormant accounts and employee stock options, to ensure compliance.

Non-disclosure or under-reporting of foreign income has emerged as a key pain point for many Indian taxpayers in recent years. The income tax (I-T) department’s data-driven scrutiny and information exchange with foreign tax authorities have triggered tax notices for inadequate or flawed foreign income disclosures in recent years.