New bank locker rules, ATM charges to EPF contribution: 4 Money-related changes that will kick in from today

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It's that time of the Year Again! A day when people think about the resolutions to make this New Year. From eating mindfully to exercising daily and many more. But along with these, it is time to add money-related resolutions to the list. Many money-related developments are expected from January 2022. From ATM fees becoming costlier to new guidelines on bank lockers. Here are some key regulatory and operational changes that are likely to come into effect from 2022.

ATM withdrawal charges:

Bank customers will now have to pay increased extra charges on ATM withdrawals, irrespective of their banks, once their monthly limit gets exhausted from January 2022.  As per the Reserve Bank of India, dated 10th June 2021, it had said that customers will have to pay even more charges from January 2022 for ATM transactions once the limit exceeds.

This means that from 1st January 2022, banks have been permitted to charge ₹21 instead of ₹20 on each transaction after the monthly free ATM withdrawal limit. However, bank customers will continue to avail 5 free ATM withdrawal limit from their own bank ATM and 3 free ATM withdrawal limit other bank ATM. Now the rates are set to be hiked by Rs 1 per extra transaction each month.

Change in bank locker rules: 

As per the RBI notification, your bank lockers are set to get safer from 1st January 2022 as the banks just cannot deny liability if a customer's locker is compromised due to the negligence of the bank. The central bank of India has put bank's liability for such loss at 100 times the prevailing annual bank locker rent. 

"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 loss of contents of 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," the central bank has said in a notification. 

EPF nomination

It is mandatory for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account holders to link their Aadhaar number and EPF account by 31st December 202, as per new guidelines by Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Failing to do this date will lead to discontinuation of recruiter's contribution in one's PF account. The provident fund regulator also directed employers to get the UAN (Universal Account Number) of all EPF account holders Aadhaar verified. Also, it is mandatory for PF account holders to add their nominee so that in case of untimely death, this fund can be easily available to the nominee on time.

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) members can now submit EPF, EPS nominations digitally by logging in at the EPFO website — epfindia.gov.in. It may be noted that an EPF account holder can change its EPF account nominee by filing a new PF nomination. But now an EPF member can change the nominee in his/her account online. This can be done by filing a new PF nomination.

Penalty on the belated filing of ITR

The extended deadline to file ITR for AY 2021-22 by individuals ends on December 31. The deadline to file an income tax return (ITR) for the fiscal year 2020-21 was extended twice: first from the regular date of July 31, 2021, to September 30, 2021, and then to December 31, 2021, due to the pandemic. Until 2021, the maximum penalty a taxpayer could face for missing the ITR filing date was Rs 10,000. From January 1, 2022, you can file a belated return till March 31, 2022. However, a belated return 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. Further, if your income is below the taxable limit then you won't even have to pay the penalty amount if you file your ITR after the deadline subject to certain exceptions..

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