GST on cab, delivery apps; ATM withdrawal charges: New rules kick in from January 1
It’s the beginning of a new year, and there are a few money changes this month that are likely to impact your wealth. We decode each one for you:
1. Your cash withdrawal from the ATM could get more expensive
Cash withdrawals will become marginally more expensive from January 1, 2022, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced new rules for users exceeding their monthly free transactions. From today, customers will have to pay Rs 21 plus taxes to withdraw cash for ATM transactions once the limit exceeds. Currently, the charges are Rs 20. Customers will be eligible for three free transactions from other banks in metro cities and five free transactions in non-metro cities. Tne this year.
“To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to Rs 21 per transaction. This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022,” the RBI said in a circular, revising it from the existing rate of ₹20 per transaction.
RBI has also allowed the banks to increase interchange fees per transaction from Rs 15 to Rs 17 for financial transactions and from Rs 5 to Rs 6 for non-financial transactions across centers from August 1, 2021.
Some banks have already notified their customers about the fee hike for exceeding monthly free transactions at ATMs. As per the HDFC Bank website, the ATM transaction fee rate beyond the free limit of Rs 20 + taxes will be changed to Rs 21 + taxes as of January 1, 2022. It added “For transactions at HDFC Bank ATMs, only Cash withdrawal transactions will be considered for charging. Non-Financial Transactions (Balance Enquiry, Mini Statement & PIN Change) will be free. For transactions at Non-HDFC Bank ATMs, transactions considered for charging will include both Financial (Cash Withdrawal) and Non-Financial Transactions (Balance Enquiry, Mini Statement & PIN Change)”.
2. Get ready to pay more thanks to GST related changes
Various consumer goods like clothes, textiles, footwear will become costlier from today since the GST rates on all these items will increase to 12 per cent from 5 per cent. The GST on apparel priced above Rs 1,000 has been hiked from 5 per cent to 12 per cent while the rates for textiles such as fabrics, synthetic yarn, blankets, tents and other similar items will now cost more due to the hiked GST.
Auto rides and cab rides to get costlier too: The government has decided to bring ride-hailing services like Ola and Uber under the ambit of GST with a 5% levy on such services. However, autos hailed from the street without the app will continue to be exempted.
Ordering food will remain the same but e-commerce platforms have to bear the burden: Platforms like Swiggy and Zomato will have to collect and deposit 5 per cent GST with the government. This was earlier done from the restaurant’s end for the deliveries made by them. Swiggy and Zomato would also have to issue invoices in respect of such services. There would be no extra tax burden on the end consumer for ordering food via these apps as currently restaurants are collecting and depositing GST. Only, the compliance of deposit and invoice raising has now been shifted to food delivery platforms.
3. ITR filing deadline
The Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) had extended the Income-Tax Return (ITR) filing deadline FY 2020-21 for individuals till 31 December 2021 because of the difficulties faced by taxpayers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the second time this financial year that the government has extended the ITR filing deadline for individuals whose accounts are not required to be audited. Earlier, due to the second wave, the ITR filing deadline was extended by two months from the usual deadline of July 31 to September 30, 2021. From January 1, you can file a belated return till March 31, 2022 but this will attract late-filing fees of Rs 5,000 under section 234F. If your income is less than Rs 5 lakh, the penalty is restricted to Rs 1,000, if the income tax return (ITR) is filed after December 31 but before March 31, 2022.
4. Bank lockers are getting safer
From January 2022, your bank lockers are set to get safer as banks will no longer be allowed to deny liability if a customer’s locker is compromised due to the negligence of the bank.
“It is the responsibility of banks to take all steps for the safety and security of the premises in which the safe deposit vaults are housed. It has the responsibility to ensure that incidents like fire, theft/ burglary/ robbery, dacoity, building collapse do not occur in the bank’s premises due to its own shortcomings, negligence and by any act of omission/commission. As banks cannot claim that they bear no liability towards their customers for loss of contents of the locker, in instances where the loss of contents of the locker are due to incidents mentioned above or attributable to fraud committed by its employee(s), the banks’ liability shall be for an amount equivalent to one hundred times the prevailing annual rent of the safe deposit locker,” RBI said in a notification.
5. EPF money will stop if you have not linked it with Aadhaar but the nominee deadline extended
If you are an employee in the corporate sector and have an account with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), you must link your account with your Aadhaar or withdrawals from your EPF account will be restricted until your UAN has been confirmed and linked to your Aadhaar number. However, the retirement fund body in a tweet has said that the account holders will be able to add nominees through the e-nomination facility even after 31 December as well. The earlier deadline to add nominees through the e-nomination was 31 December 2021.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/gst-on-cab-delivery-apps-atm-withdrawal-charges-new-rules-kick-in-from-january-1/articleshow/88635737.cms
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