The new rules are aimed at making digital payments secure and safe for the users.
From October 1, there will be no need to carry copies of driving licence to health insurance to credit cards, many changes will go in effect in the rules for products and transactions.
As directed by RBI, all banks have been instructed to not give any unnecessary International facilities to customers cards unless the customer himself demands it. The reason to take such a step is to stop the increase in fraudulent transactions using credit and debit cards.
Let's take a look at the new rules that are effective from today:-
1: No physical verification of driving licence and RC.
The tension of keeping the hard copy of vehicle-related documents like RC and driving licence is not mandatory from today onwards. A person can drive the vehicle with only a valid soft copy of the documents attached to the vehicle. Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued notification of various amendments made in the Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, which will come into effect from October 1. One of the amendments included digitisation of documents including maintenance of vehicles, driving licences and e-challans. Now, drivers can maintain their vehicular documents on Central govt's online portal like Digi-locker or m-parivahan.
2- You have to pay for the LPG connection :
The process of getting a free gas connection has ended on 30 September 2020. However, under the flagship scheme of the government Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana or PMUY, people who are looking for a free LPG connection can apply for one. Earlier the scheme was valid till April but due to the pandemic, the government had decided to extend its validity till September. The Union cabinet-approved extension for availing free cooking gas cylinders under PMUY has also ended.
3: Mobile phones to be utilized only for navigation:
According to the amendments made in the Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a person can use mobile for route navigation in a way that it should not disturb the concentration of the driver while driving.
4: 5 % tax will be levied on foreign fund transfer:
From today onwards, any amount sent abroad to buy foreign tour packages, and every other foreign remittance made above ₹7 lakh, will attract a tax-collected-at source (TCS) the tax is already deducted at source (TDS) on that amount. The tax on foreign tour packages will be 5% for any amount, for other foreign remittances the tax will be for the amount spent above ₹7 lakh. If the remittance is made out of a loan taken for higher education, the TCS rate will be 0.5 per cent of the money remitted. The Finance Act, 2020 has inserted a new sub-section (1G) in Section 206C in this regard.
5: New Health Insurance rules:
The prices of premium health services will increase. The new health insurance rules to be introduced post-COVID-19 inclusion will make 17 permanent illnesses outside the cover. Treatment for mental illness, stress will now be covered under health insurance policies. These changes have come as the aftermath of the pandemic.
6: Television may become costly:
A custom duty of a rate of 5% shall apply on Open cell which is a key component for television manufacturing. The customs duty exemption given to Open Cell for a period of one year ended on September 30. The government is planning to expand domestic production capacity for open cell panels so that imports can be minimised. The one-year exemption given to the item expired and from today onwards, buying a TV set may become expensive. As per government officials, the price increase due to this duty will not be more than Rs 250 per Television set.
7: New debit and credit card rules:
As per the new guidelines issued by the RBI, the users will now be able to register opt-in or opt-out of services, spend limits, etc. for international transactions, online transactions as well as contactless card transactions. Customers who want to use their cards outside India will have to request the banks for the facility.
8: ' Best before date' to be displayed in sweet shops:
Sweet shops will have to display the 'best before date' for all non-packed or loose sweets available in their shops. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed the sweet shop owners to follow the new protocol from 1 October.
9: New Tax Collected at Source (TCS) regime
The Income Tax Department issued guidelines for applicability of TCS provision which requires an e-commerce operator to deduct 1 per cent tax on the sale of goods and services. The Finance Act, 2020 inserted a new section 194-O in the Income-tax Act 1961. According to which an e-commerce operator can deduct income tax at the rate of 1 per cent of the gross amount of sale of goods or provision of service or both.
10: Ban on mixing mustard oil with any other cooking oil:
FSSAI has banned blending of mustard oil with any other cooking oil to go on effect from October 1. "Blending of mustard oil with any other edible oil in India has been prohibited with effect from October 1, 2020", FSSAI said in a letter to the commissioner of food safety of states and union territories.