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Europe
The Guardian

Trump’s consumer protection head has earned grudging respect – but does he have the authority to do his job?

Chris Mufarrige said doubters should look at his agency’s record and expect more tough consumer-friendly moves this summer. Composite: The Guardian/FTCView image in fullscreenChris Mufarrige said doubters should look at his agency’s record and expect more tough consumer-friendly moves this summer. Composite: The Guardian/FTCConsumedConsumer rightsInterviewTrump’s consumer protection head has earned grudging respect – but does he have the authority to do his job?Heather TimmonsChris Mufarrige has taken aim at Facebook scams and junk fees, but consumer advocates say he has an uphill climb As the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection bureau, Chris Mufarrige is the top enforcer protecting Americans against predatory companies. The Trump administration’s push to defund and dismantle the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, carve-outs for Trump-friendly companies, pardons of white-collar criminals and the firing of FTC commissioners raise doubts about how effective his agency can be. And recent data about Donald Trump’s stock trading and crypto windfalls undermine the anti-corruption push. Mufarrige told the Guardian that doubters should look at his agency’s record, and expect more tough consumer-friendly moves this summer. Since taking the job in early 2025, he has pledged to expand oversight of finance companies and settled with Amazon, StubHub, Instacart, Shutterstock and others on deceptive subscriptions and pricing. An April FTC report spotlights the role Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram play in scams that cost consumers $2.5bn in 2025. This week, the FTC joined five states to force Deere & Co to allow farmers to repair tractors and other equipment, a push started by the Biden administration. “The Facebooks of the world, they have a responsibility here to deal with … clearcut fraud on their platforms,” he said. Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act into law in 1914, creating an agency with dual anti-trust and consumer-protection mandates to tackle “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce”. The FTC’s five-member commission is down to just two Republican members, after Trump fired two Democrats in 2025, a move the supreme court backed. The agency has cut 287 employees overall since the end of 2024, according to government data. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity, from interviews conducted before Trump’s latest financial disclosures. This administration has been criticized for siding with business over consumers, and the president and his family for business deals that benefit from his position. Does that impact how effective you can be at your job? It has not impacted my job one bit. I would put our last 15 to 16 months, our record, up against anybody’s. We’ve been extremely active with cases against LA Fitness, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Uber, Amazon. How does your approach contrast with your predecessors in the Biden administration?

Trump’s consumer protection head has earned grudging respect – but does he have the authority to do his job?
Europe
The Guardian

Licensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into Greenland

At a meeting in Ittoqqortoormiit, a settlement of 300 people, Robert Price said he believed $1tn of crude lay beneath Jameson Land. Photograph: Adrian Wojcik/Getty/iStockphotoView image in fullscreenAt a meeting in Ittoqqortoormiit, a settlement of 300 people, Robert Price said he believed $1tn of crude lay beneath Jameson Land. Photograph: Adrian Wojcik/Getty/iStockphotoGreenlandLicensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into GreenlandGreenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude could lie beneath territory and claims it has permission to bring drilling kit ashore – a claim denied by Nuuk On 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. “So,” Robert Price said via an interpreter, “we have a project to drill for oil here.” The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit. “We have the permit to put the equipment on the land,” footage of the gathering in Ittoqqortoormiit shows Price saying. “And then we’ve filed our permits – pending approval – to drill.” But Greenland’s resources ministry said that contrary to Price’s claim, there were “no actually active permissions for any exploration activity or permissions for preparations for these activities”. The dispute threatens a showdown between the Trump-linked backers of Greenland Energy and the authorities in the vast, sparsely populated territory. Trump’s lieutenants are using the prospect of an American oil find in Greenland to bolster their case for an American takeover. View image in fullscreenJeff Landry, right, on a visit to Nuuk in May as Trump’s special envoy to Greenland. Landry said the territory ‘could be exporting 2m barrels of oil a day’. Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/GettyThe US president’s special envoy to Greenland, the hard-right Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, returned from a visit in May to declare on Fox News: “We need a deal. Greenland needs a deal. We could be – Greenland could be – exporting 2m barrels of oil a day right now.” Landry, who says his task is to “make Greenland a part of the US”, added: “We could have those barrels on production within 10 months or so.” Greenland Energy appears to be the only company making plans to drill in the territory. Despite seemingly not yet having permission, it has chartered an Arctic-going vessel to ferry its equipment 4,000km through icy waters to Greenland’s eastern coast. Price, an energy industry veteran who has become the public face of the company, said the vessel would depart in two months, on 12 September, with drilling to begin in October. Halliburton, the giant Houston-based contractor once led by the former Republican vice-president Dick Cheney, will run the logistics. Ever since Trump made his imperial desires for Greenland explicit, US business interests have been gaining footholds in its vast expanses. The ventures range from rare-earth minerals and hydroelectric power to bottling “luxury” spring water. Greenlanders have watched nervously as Trump has exercised US military power and toyed with doing so in the Danish territory. The day after he sent special forces to snatch the leader of Venezuela, Trump said: “We do need Greenland, absolutely.” Trump cited oil as the reason the US needed to stamp its authority on Venezuela. The US has since extracted oil revenues of about $8bn with scant oversight.

Licensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into Greenland
North America
CNBC Economy

China consumer price growth weakens in June while producer inflation rises to near 4-year high

China's consumer prices grew slower than expected in June, while wholesale inflation accelerated, as elevated energy costs continued to sap domestic demand. Consumer prices rose 1% in June from a year ago, missing economists' estimates of 1.1% growth in a Reuters poll, and slowing from 1.2% in May, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also rose 1% in June from a year earlier, edging down from the 1.1% increase in May. Food prices declined 1.6% from a year earlier, easing from a fall of 1.7% in May. The producer price index jumped 4.1% from a year earlier, in line with economists' forecast and outpacing May's 3.9%. That marked the strongest growth since July 2022, according to LSEG data. On a month-on-month basis, however, PPI declined 0.3%, official data showed. "Oil prices are by and large on an easing course, and this will prevent PPI from going higher," said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at Economist Intelligence Unit, while attributing the year-on-year strength to the low-base effect. "Factories can't fully pass on cost increases to downstream clients," Xu added, highlighting the entrenched weakness in domestic demand. The producer prices recorded its worst decline in almost two years in June last year, falling 3.6% from the prior year, as a deepening price war rippled through the economy. They returned to growth in March with input costs rising on the back of the Middle East conflict, helping end one of China's longest deflationary streaks in decades. Besides higher commodity costs owed to war-led supply disruptions, wholesale prices have also been lifted by a growing demand for artificial intelligence computing power, pushing up prices for tech equipment and semiconductors. China's manufacturing activity expanded faster than expected in June, with experts citing external demand including for AI-related tech as driving the momentum. Many investors in China increasingly view the two-speed growth — marked by robust exports versus weak consumption and housing market — as a defining long-term feature of the Chinese economy, said Neo Wang, China strategist at Evercore ISI. Consumer sentiment remains subdued as households continue to grapple with the negative wealth effect stemming from the prolonged housing downturn, Wang added. The export and manufacturing-led economic resilience is expected to reinforce Beijing's reluctance to roll out stimulus to revive tepid consumer demand. "Policymakers are likely to refrain from major new stimulus unless the slowdown persists beyond the conflict," said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at Teneo. Wildau points to a top policy meeting by the 24-member Politburo of the Communist Party in late July as "the next opportunity to escalate policy stimulus."

China consumer price growth weakens in June while producer inflation rises to near 4-year high
Europe
BBC Business

How Aldi is taking on US supermarkets with its $4 almond butter

When Mary Porter walked into Manhattan's newest Aldi store hunting for bargains, the long-time resident found what she considered a retail miracle in plain sight: a $4 jar of almond butter that costs $22 in her own neighbourhood. "Aldi has the reputation for being inexpensive, so I thought I would come and check it out, and by golly, it is amazing," Porter, 79, told the BBC, marvelling at the savings alongside the fresh spinach and organic raspberries filling her basket. To the unassuming passer-by, the storefront is completely hidden, tucked away in an underground parking lot beneath The Ellery, a luxury apartment complex where the cheapest rent starts at nearly $5,000 (£3,725) a month. In fact, the building's own website completely omits the grocer from its curated online neighbourhood guide, choosing instead to highlight pricier nearby options like Whole Foods and Brooklyn Fare. But step past the luxury façade into the basement, and the quiet disappears. Even on an early Tuesday afternoon in July, the brightly lit, bustling space hums with high energy as a lunchtime crowd of New Yorkers tightly navigates the narrow aisles with oversized canvas bags. Porter's discovery is part of Aldi's $9bn US expansion plan to add 800 new stores over five years, specifically targeting dense urban hubs like Manhattan. It marks a massive scale-up for the German supermarket, which first entered the US in 1976 and has steadily grown its footprint to nearly 2,800 storefronts. The aggressive real estate blitz signals a bold shift for a brand traditionally associated with suburban strip malls and lower-end consumers. Incumbent US grocers may look with some concern at the insurgency Aldi pulled off since it entered the UK market in the 1990s. Alongside fellow German supermarket Lidl, Aldi picked up huge swathes of the market by offering cheaper prices for high-quality goods. The traditional "big four" grocers at the time - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - were slow to respond to the new competition, leaving the challengers to gradually pick off their shoppers. Its rapid growth is being mirrored across Europe, its rise aided by easing perceptions of it as a strictly lower cost grocer as shoppers became increasingly impressed by the quality of its products. The cost of living crisis of the 2020s further fuelled its ascent. However, while Aldi is rapidly ascending the ranks of American grocery consciousness, it is not, and may never aim to be, Walmart. Aldi currently holds just 2.9% of the US grocery pie, while Walmart controls about 20%.

How Aldi is taking on US supermarkets with its $4 almond butter
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Indian team ranks first at International Physics Olympaid; all five members clinch gold

India put up a stand-out performance at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026, held in Colombia from July 5 to July 12, with five Indian students clinching Gold medals. In the country-wise medals tally, India was placed at the first position, jointly with China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. This is the second time that India has won five gold medals at the IPhO, the other occasion being in 2018. This was India’s 27th appearance at the IPhO. In all these years, nearly 44 per cent of Indian students have won gold medals, another 41 per cent silver, 10 per cent bronze, and 5 per cent honourable mentions, representatives of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, the anchor institution for the Indian team, said. In the last ten years, all Indian students at IPhO have won either gold (62 per cent) or silver (38 per cent) medals. The special prize for overall winner went to a South Korean student; the award for best in the experimental component went to a student from Iran. In all, 51 gold, 80 silver, and 97 bronze medals were awarded. A total of 381 students from 85 countries participated in the competition. The 5-hour theoretical competition featured three problems based on diverse topics like the thermodynamics of paramagnetic cooling, photoionisation of ozone, and dynamics of electron-positron pairs, among others. As per information from HBCSE, all the Indian students excelled in the theoretical examination, some reaching close to perfect scores. “The experimental competition, also of 5 hours, challenged students to explore several phenomena related to thermodynamic processes in fluids and heat transfer. The Indian students also performed remarkably well in the experimental component,” HBCSE representatives said. Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar of HBCSE - TIFR, who accompanied the team to the event, told businessline that across both theory and experiment round, the team displayed “exceptional diligence” leaving little scope to deduct marks. “According to the data that we have, 64 per cent of Olympiad medallists have chosen an academic career (defined by pursuing a PhD, in any subject)., and 32 per cent of medallists, academic or not, have settled in India,” he added, speaking about the career path of physics Olympians. The team comprised Kanishk Jain from Pune, Riddhesh Anant Bendale from Indore, Rishit Garg from Dwarka, New Delhi, Shresth Suraiya from Mumbai, and Svarit Joshi from Ahmedabad, who all won gold. Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar of HBCSE - TIFR, Mumbai, Dr Leena Joshi of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and two Scientific Observers Prof. Ananda Dasgupta of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, and Nisha Kelkar of Gogate-Joglekar College, Ratnagiri accompanied the Indian team contingent. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Indian team ranks first at International Physics Olympaid; all five members clinch gold
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Maharashtra starts ₹150-crore electric boat manufacturing hub for Mumbai Water Metro

India’s electric mobility push is expanding from roads to waterways, with Maharashtra government signing an agreement with Zoya Marine Services Pvt Ltd on Friday to establish a ₹150-crore electric boat manufacturing facility in Sindhudurg for the ₹6,067-crore Mumbai Water Metro. The first phase of the project is targeted to begin commercial passenger operations in December 2026, creating one of India’s first dedicated manufacturing ecosystems for urban electric ferries while supporting what could become the world’s largest urban water transport network. The agreement, signed at Mantralaya in the presence of Maharashtra’s Minister for Fisheries and Ports, Nitesh Rane, will see the company develop a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility over nearly 22 acres at Talawane in Sawantwadi taluka. The plant will manufacture advanced electric-hybrid passenger boats designed specifically for Mumbai’s water metro corridors, reducing long-term dependence on imported vessels while creating skilled employment and strengthening the state’s maritime manufacturing capabilities. The investment is backed by one of India’s most ambitious urban water transport projects. Approved by the Maharashtra government earlier this year, the Mumbai Water Metro will span up to 250 km in its initial phases, eventually expanding to a network of about 340 km of waterways connecting Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai and Panvel. The project is expected to comprise around 21 routes, up to 49 terminals and a fleet of more than 200 electric-hybrid ferries, making it one of the world’s largest urban water transport systems. “Our government is strategically steering the development of the Konkan region with a strong focus on ecological responsibility. Alongside sustainable maritime initiatives, we are promoting high-impact, eco-friendly tourism projects to create employment, strengthen the regional economy and build long-term, green growth,” Rane said. Rather than building the system from scratch, Maharashtra is leveraging the operating model pioneered by the Kochi Water Metro. Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), which developed India’s first integrated urban water metro, prepared the project’s feasibility study and Detailed Project Report after winning a competitive bid from the Maharashtra Maritime Board. KMRL is also expected to support implementation to replicate metro-style operational standards, including integrated ticketing and passenger management systems. While domestic manufacturing capacity is being created, the State is simultaneously introducing advanced international technologies. Earlier this year, Maharashtra imported Sweden’s Candela P-12 electric hydrofoil ferry for evaluation. The vessel uses computer-controlled hydrofoils to lift its hull above the water, reducing drag and lowering energy consumption by as much as 80 per cent while cruising at speeds of 40-46 kmph. The State is also evaluating larger electric vessels from European shipbuilders for high-capacity routes. Officials are additionally exploring programmes that would help traditional boat operators convert existing diesel-powered boats into electric propulsion systems, extending the transition to cleaner marine mobility beyond the water metro fleet. For India’s electric mobility industry, the project represents the emergence of a new manufacturing segment. Beyond producing ferries, it is expected to create demand for marine battery systems, electric propulsion technologies, charging infrastructure, lightweight aluminium hulls, power electronics and digital navigation systems. As more cities evaluate water metro projects under the Centre’s draft National Water Metro Policy, the Sindhudurg facility could evolve into a manufacturing base serving a broader domestic market for electric boats, positioning Maharashtra at the centre of India’s emerging green marine mobility ecosystem. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

Maharashtra starts ₹150-crore electric boat manufacturing hub for Mumbai Water Metro
North America
CNBC Economy

'Funflation' hits home: Why staying in isn't the cost-saver it used to be

For decades, video games have been a go-to hobby for Alyx Green. But in recent years, Green has felt priced out. Instead of buying the biggest releases, the Illinois graduate student has opted for cheaper alternatives from smaller studios or turned to board and card games. In some cases, the 31-year-old watches videos of others playing hot games on YouTube in lieu of actually playing. U.S. consumers have for years grappled with "funflation," used to describe the sharply higher prices for live experiences like concerts or sporting events that were halted during pandemic lockdowns. Sticker shock first felt by consumers outside the home is now following them into their living rooms. After a wave of price hikes from some of the world's largest companies, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix, even at-home pastimes like streaming movies or playing video games are pinching the pocketbooks of consumers like Green. Exclusive data analyzed for CNBC by PNC Financial Services shows that, as pricing pressures mounted, the average consumer pulled back on home entertainment in June compared with a year ago. That was most prominent among Gen Z and Millennial consumers, who each cut their transactions by about 4%. "We're seeing that very clearly in things like travel, entertainment, concerts," LeBlanc said. Now, "we're also starting to see it more in home leisure." Microsoft's Xbox and Apple each announced price hikes for devices in late June, which Apple acknowledged in a statement was "not welcome news." A month earlier, Nintendo said that it was raising the price of its Switch 2 in the U.S. by 11%. Companies blamed higher prices on more expensive components as a result of the artificial intelligence-driven memory chip crunch. Deborah Weinswig, founder of Coresight Research, said some of the increases could price out consumers. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said in recent interviews that gaming is becoming unaffordable and that the company will focus on making less-costly consoles. Microsoft announced this week that it was laying off thousands of workers in its Xbox unit and spinning off several gaming studios. "We've reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation," Sharma said on stage during a Fortune event early last month. Computers and related devices had gotten cheaper over time, adjusted for inflation and their capacity, as production became more efficient. But that trend has begun to reverse as component costs take off, meaning the disinflationary relief for shoppers looks to be coming to an end, said Elizabeth Renter, NerdWallet senior economist.

'Funflation' hits home: Why staying in isn't the cost-saver it used to be
North America
CNBC Finance

A tiny GLP-1 implant is the latest bet to help patients maintain their weight loss

Losing weight with GLP-1 drugs is only half the battle. Keeping it off long term has proved even harder. Factors such as side effects, high out-of-pocket costs, injection fatigue and stigma around obesity treatment drive troves of patients – some studies estimate roughly half or more – to stop GLP-1s within a year and risk regaining the weight they lost. Years from now, Vivani Medical believes a tiny GLP-1 implant placed under the skin could help address that problem. The biotech company is in the early stages of developing an experimental implant of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic. The Danish pharma giant announced on Tuesday a new agreement with Vivani to evaluate its lead semaglutide implant, NPM-139. Vivani envisions patients would initially use it as a maintenance treatment rather than a therapy people take when they start GLP-1s. Under that approach, patients would first reach an appropriate dose of semaglutide using existing injections or pills, then potentially switch to the implant for longer-term treatment. If everything goes to plan, Vivani believes the device could eventually serve as a convenient option administered just twice a year — or even once annually — to help patients stay on therapy and maintain weight loss, while potentially reducing some side effects associated with existing GLP-1 medicines. "It's really critical to have options that make it easy for people to get the full benefits of these treatments and to not discontinue at the rates we're seeing," Vivani President and CEO Adam Mendelsohn said in an interview. "What these drugs are capable of is not being carefully taken advantage of right now." But the implant is still at least several years out from living up to that promise. The device needs to clear several clinical trials and regulatory hurdles before reaching patients. Some endocrinologists and other doctors said there could be demand for an implant, but they also want to see concrete data on how effective it will be compared with existing medicines and how well patients will tolerate it. They also raised questions about whether providers would be willing to adopt it. "I really want to see that this is going to work well and deliver results for patients, but I also want to see that it's something that my patients can stay on long term," Dr. Miranda Stiewig-Rapp, director of UC Davis Health's Obesity Clinic, said in an interview. "I'm probably overall very skeptical, but I'm happy to be proven wrong." The potential cost of the implant and whether insurers would cover it if approved also remain unclear. That makes it difficult to estimate what the implant's sales could be in a GLP-1 market that some analysts expect could exceed $100 billion by the early 2030s. In a statement to CNBC, Novo Nordisk confirmed the agreement with Vivani and said it is focused on complementing its internal research and development efforts with external innovation.

A tiny GLP-1 implant is the latest bet to help patients maintain their weight loss
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

India’s auto retail sector aims for 3 crore sales amid financing overhaul

India’s auto retail industry is on track to cross the three-crore annual vehicle sales milestone this fiscal year, underpinning a vehicle finance market estimated at around ₹2.65 lakh crore and a motor insurance industry nearing ₹1.25 lakh crore. As the financial ecosystem expands, automobile dealers are urging banks, NBFCs and insurers to adopt dealer-centric credit models, real-time funding dashboards and integrated digital platforms to improve working capital, reduce settlement delays and enhance customer experience. The issues came into sharp focus at the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations’ (FADA) fifth Banking & Insurance Summit on Friday, where FADA President C.S. Vighneshwar joined senior executives, including Abhinav Garg of AU Small Finance Bank, Baneswar Banerjee of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Puneet Dhawan of Tata Capital, Rohit Chhabra of ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Gurpreet Singh of New India Assurance, Neelakanta M of IFFCO Tokio General Insurance and Suraj Vasudev of SBI General Insurance, to deliberate on the next phase of automotive retail finance and insurance. The discussions reflected a broader shift in India’s automotive retail ecosystem. While the first phase of digitisation focused on faster loan approvals, digital documentation and claims processing, experts at the FADA banking and insurance summit said, “the next phase will centre on connected financial infrastructure that improves dealer liquidity, shortens cash cycles and gives retailers real-time visibility across financing and insurance operations”. The discussions highlighted measurable gains across the ecosystem. Insurance claim turnaround has reduced from nearly two months to a matter of days, FADA’s finance satisfaction score has improved to 841 from 786, and retail funding penetration has reached around 80 per cent. Dealers, however, said the next phase must focus on dealer-centric underwriting, real-time financial visibility and seamless digital integration. “Insurance and finance are perhaps the two most important partners we work with. One covers the risk of the vehicle, while the other facilitates vehicle ownership. We also use this platform to highlight dealers’ common pain points,“ said C.S. Vighneshwar, President, FADA. Calling finance “the oxygen of our business,“ Dr Sachin Sharma, Governing Council Member, FADA, said faster financing remains critical even as technology transforms the retail ecosystem. Panelists said AI-led underwriting, e-KYC, digital bank statement analysis and automated document verification have reduced many loan approvals from days to minutes, with automated systems increasingly enabling approvals even outside traditional banking hours. A key theme at the summit was the need to move beyond OEM-linked lending models. Dealers argued that funding should increasingly reflect a dealership’s own financial strength, profitability and repayment record, rather than the brand it represents. “Everybody should be scored based on dealer performance, financial strength and track record. It should not be purely from the OEM lens,“ said Baneswar Banerjee, Head of Automotive Loans, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, reflecting the broader consensus that dealer-level credit assessment would improve access to working capital and create a more transparent funding framework. Participants also backed integrated dealer portals offering real-time visibility into inventory funding, credit limits, interest costs and transaction history, replacing periodic statements with connected digital platforms. “Dealers will definitely get a dealer portal where they can raise queries and access real-time information,“ said Puneet Dhawan, Business Head – Medium & Commercial Vehicle Finance, Tata Capital, indicating such capabilities could be rolled out as lenders move towards one-to-many digital integration. Insurance executives said digital claim intimation, e-surveys, automated documentation and AI-enabled workflows have significantly improved claims processing. However, a recent FADA survey found 65 per cent of dealers still cited survey appointments and claim approval turnaround as major pain points. Rohit Chhabra, Head of Motor Insurance & Extended Warranty, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, said that greater visibility across every stage of the claims process would improve transparency for both dealers and customers. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

India’s auto retail sector aims for 3 crore sales amid financing overhaul