A young woman with painted hands poses for a photograph on the eve of New Year 2021.
As India rings in New Year with 'muted' celebrations due to coronavirus pandemic, many rules that affect our day life are also changing. From cheque payment to GST filing, there are new rules that come into effect from January 1. Let's take a look what changes from today:
Contactless card transaction limit
The Reserve Bank of India has increased the limits from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 for contactless card transactions. The same has been done for e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards and the UPI. The move is aimed at giving a boost to the adoption of digital payments in the country.
Change in GST rule
Businesses with up to turnover up to Rs 5 crore will now have to file only four GST sales returns from January 12. Earlier, small businesses had to file 12 returns. The Quarterly Filing of return with Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme will impact almost 94 lakh taxpayers, about 92 per cent of the total tax base of the GST. With this, small taxpayers will need to file only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) in a year.
Landline to mobile phone calls
If you are making calls from landlines to mobile phones anywhere in the country, you will have to add '0' prefix. The telecom department has already asked telcos to make necessary changes from January 1 to implement the new system.
Cheque payments rule
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced the ‘positive pay system’ for cheque. Under the new rule re-confirmation of key details will be needed for payments beyond Rs 50,000. Notably, availing this facility is at the discretion of the account holder. Banks, however, can consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for Rs 5 lakh and above.
Car prices to rise
Buying a new car will be costlier in the New Year. Car manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra have announced to hike prices of their products.
FASTag mandatory
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made FASTag mandatory for all four-wheel vehicles from January 1. According to the notification issued by the ministry, FASTag will be mandatory for M and N class four-wheelers sold before December 1, 2017.
READ MORE: World welcomes New Year 2021 with celebrations muted by coronavirus
