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

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 from today.

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.

Axis Bank updates ATM fees

Axis Bank is increasing charges for ATM transactions beyond free monthly limits for savings, NRI, trust, Priority, and Burgundy account holders. For example, out-of-network ATM withdrawals will now cost Rs 23 per transaction

Delhi to enforce fuel ban for overaged vehicles using camera tech

In an effort to improve air quality, the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi will begin enforcing a fuel ban on End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles from July 1.

According to the new system, Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are being installed at all 520 petrol and diesel stations in Delhi. These cameras will automatically capture the registration numbers of vehicles entering fuel stations and check them against the VAHAN database.

Railway waitlist charting to be prepared 8 hours before departure

At present, Indian Railways prepares reservation charts four hours before a train's departure, which gives waitlisted passengers limited time to make other travel arrangements. To address this, the railways will now finalise reservation charts eight hours before the scheduled departure time.

RBI extends call money market hours

The Reserve Bank of India has extended the interbank call money market trading window from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. to 9 a.m.-7 p.m. IST, effective July 1. This enables banks to borrow and lend funds for an additional two hours each day.

GSTR-3B returns become non-editable

GSTN will lock GSTR-3B once filed from July onward. Returns will be auto populated using GSTR-1/1A data and cannot be amended after submission.