Aadhaar-PAN Link, ATM Withdrawal Fees, More. Financial Changes From July 1

Changes to regulations governing filing of income tax returns; the use of and charges associated with credit cards; and last-minute, or Tatkal, train ticket bookings; as well as making an Aadhaar card mandatory for new PAN applications, are among those that will come into effect on July 1.

These will impact individual taxpayers and customers of banks like HDFC, SBI, and ICICI.

Aadhaar Needed For New PAN

From Tuesday the Central Board of Direct Taxes has made Aadhaar verification mandatory for PAN card applications. Existing PAN holders must link their Aadhaar numbers by December 31.

At present any valid government-issued ID, such as a driving license, and a birth certificate is enough for new PAN card applications.

Non-compliance with this rule may lead to the existing PAN being deactivated.

Tatkal Train Ticket Bookings

Aadhaar verification will also be mandatory for booking Tatkal tickets.

Also, starting July 15, two-factor authentication, which will include a one-time password that will be sent to the registered mobile phone, will be required for all ticketing, online or in-person.

Meanwhile, the Railways is also expected to implement a minor increase in ticket prices. This hike may range from 1 paisa per km for non-AC coaches to two paise for AC coaches.

ITR Filing Deadline

Meanwhile, the CBDT has also extended the ITR, or Income Tax Returns, filing deadline from July 31 to September 15. This gives salaried individuals an additional 46 days to complete filings.

However, those whose documentation is ready can stick to the older schedule and, therefore, avoid possible website glitches and errors that usually crop up as the deadline nears and people rush to complete ITR filing.

Credit Card Changes

SBI is discontinuing its air accident insurance offered when using select premium cards, such as SBI Elite, Miles Elite, and Miles Prime, to purchase air tickets. The public sector bank is also expected to introduce a new minimum amount due or MAD (for monthly bills) calculation.

HDFC and ICICI Bank, meanwhile, will also revise charges on select transactions.

For HDFC, a one per cent transaction fee - to be capped at Rs 4,999 per transaction - will be applied if you use your card to pay rent or spend over Rs 10,000 on online skill-based games.

Utility payments - over Rs 50,000 monthly - using a HDFC card will also attract the abovementioned fee. The exception in this case is for insurance transactions.

Finally, if you use the card to load over Rs 10,000 into a digital wallet in a single transaction, there will be a one per cent fee capped at Rs 4,999 per transaction.

ICICI Bank's changes will include revisions to service charges, including for ATM transactions.

The first five at ICICI Bank ATMs remain free. After that you will be charged Rs 23 per transaction to withdraw cash. Non-financial transactions will continue to be free.

If ICICI Bank customers use non-bank ATMs the number of free transactions is limited to three for Metro cities and five in smaller cities and towns. Beyond this you must pay Rs 23 and Rs 8.5 per transaction, respectively.

For transactions on international ATMs, the bank will charge Rs 125 per cash withdrawal, Rs 25 for non-financial transactions, and a 3.5 percent currency conversion fee.

Charges for online transfers, i.e., via IMPS, have been revised sharply, from Rs 2.5 to Rs 15 depending on the amount transferred.

In addition, customers will get three free cash transactions per month at CRMs, or cash recycler machines, after which they must pay Rs 150 per transaction.

Cash deposits over Rs 1 lakh a month will invite a fee of Rs 150, or Rs 3,50 per Rs 1,000 (whichever is higher). The limit for third-party cash deposits remains Rs 25,000 per transaction.