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Sreetama Sen

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Partner in the General Corporate Practice at the Delhi NCR office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Sreetama’s practice area covers areas of corporate commercial laws including acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures and business transfers. She has also worked on advising clients on day to day compliance for business operations, regulatory issues, FCRA matters and undertakes drafting and review of operational contracts. She works extensively in the hospitality sector and has undertaken acquisition deals across varied sectors of education, technology, and energy. She can be reached at sreetama.sen@cyrilshroff.com

A Closer Look at India’s Pet Care Sector and Regulatory Grey Areas

In Part I of this series, titled ‘The (Pawsome) Pet Care Sector: Through a Legal Lens’, we provided a broad overview of the registration and compliance requirements for entities in the pet care industry. We also discussed factors like the entry options, the sector’s migration to the online mode, and relevant judicial pronouncements.

The legal framework for pet care in India is spread across a host of rules and legislations. The relevant regulatory duties are also divided between various regulators including the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”), the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (“CDSCO”), and the Animal Welfare Board of India, among others. Therefore, industry players will have to keep track of a wide range of legislations (along with relevant State rules and municipal laws) to ensure proper compliance.Continue Reading Barking up the Right Tree: A Closer Look at India’s Pet Care Sector and Regulatory Grey Areas

The pet-care sector has seen a massive growth in India, particularly during the pandemic. The sector is estimated to touch INR 10,000 crore by 2025[1], with the number of pets increasing at a rate of 11% per annum[2]. Healthcare services, nutrition, drugs, and pet-grooming form the core of the overall pet care sector.

Alongside growth, the pet care sector has witnessed a noticeable increase in competition with the entrance of several established as well as nascent players. Large organisations (like Emami) view investment in the pet-care sector as a favorable avenue for corporate diversification[3]. Owing to the specialised nature of the sector, the market trend appears to be one of strategic collaborations between large industry players and smaller organisations with niche focus areas. There are also collaborations between smaller organisations which aim to increase their reach and market share in the pet care sector – an example is the recent acquisition of Capt Zack (specializing in pet accessories) by Wiggles (specializing in pet food).Continue Reading The (Pawsome) Pet Care Sector: Legal Insights

Online Reviews

The world today thrives on online purchases[1] and recommendations. Most of us have relied upon or submitted online reviews for a product we have purchased, food we have consumed or even a service we have availed at some point or the other. From a service provider or seller’s perspective, there are several monetary incentives attached to such online reviews and ratings. Service sectors that get the most online reviews are food delivery services, restaurants, hotels, home cleaning or repair works and the likes. In case of products, there aren’t many that are indifferent to online reviews.Continue Reading Are Online Reviews Regulated – The Indian Narrative

LSF – The Journey

The uniform ‘late submission fee’ (“LSF”) is a relatively new concept in the Indian exchange control regime. The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (“FEMA”), as originally introduced by the legislature, did not envisage the concept of LSF. Resolving a delay in reporting of equity or debt transactions under FEMA would necessarily require compounding of offences before the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”). Given that compounding is not the most time efficient or simple process, it implied that even for insignificant or genuine delays, parties would have to undergo several steps, thus making the system clogged with late filings and filings becoming more cumbersome than they needed to be.Continue Reading Uniformisation of Late Submission Fee under FEMA: A One Stop Shop?

The Epidemic Ordinance, 2020 - An ‘opportune’ armour for the protectors

The world is grappling with an unknown virus that has escalated to a global pandemic in no time. At the very forefront of this battle against the unknown, are the medical healthcare professionals who have been working relentlessly to treat the rising number of patients across the globe, sometimes even without adequate protective gear[1]. Therefore, it is disheartening when one comes across news regarding them being subject to unprovoked violence from the public[2] in this time of crisis. The need to protect these frontline healthcare professionals was felt strongly by the Indian government in order to ensure seamless treatment of patients during the current pandemic. With these objectives in mind, the President of India on April 22, 2020, promulgated the Epidemic Diseases Amendment Ordinance 2020 (“Amendment Ordinance”), to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (“Epidemic Act”).
Continue Reading The Epidemic Ordinance, 2020: An ‘opportune’ armour for the protectors?

Hovering over us - Drones in civil use

Drones are the game changing marvel of technology representing boundless possibilities for innovation and utilisation. In the initial days, they were primarily used by governments across the world as a way to supplement their militaristic operations. However, given that the technology has immense capability for application in the civil sphere, different jurisdictions have already come up with frameworks to regulate the subject matter.

Drones can indeed be used for multiple purposes, including, (a) monitoring and inspection of infrastructure like railways[1]; (b)  improvement in agriculture through crop and soil health monitoring system[2]; (c) ‘general use’ by civilians; (d) media and entertainment; (e) conservation of wildlife[3], etc.  The multi-use capability of drones has become even more apparent in light of the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Authorities are increasingly opting to use them for monitoring the situation as well as ensuring contactless operations and services to the public at large.

With use of drones set to only increase over time, it is important that such uses be regulated in an effective way to ensure that the right to privacy is respected, and the safety and security at large is not compromised.
Continue Reading Hovering over us – Drones in civil use