January 1, 2021, has brought us hopes and in India, lots of change in rules and regulations. New rules that you can't afford to ignore as they affect your daily life. From new banking rules, mandatory Fastag in vehicles, new GST filing rules to the revision of LPG prices -- we are listing here 10 major such changes that come into effect today.
1. Mandatory FASTag for four-wheelers
The government of India has made it mandatory to use FASTags from all four-wheelers, starting January 1. It is mandatory for all four-wheeler vehicles or the vehicles of M and N categories sold before December 1, 2017. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, to usher in the new changes.
The ministry has said it will continue to allow to make payments via cash as well as through FASTag at hybrid lanes of fee plazas on national highways till February 15. However, in FASTag lanes of fee plazas, payment of fees will continue to be through FASTag only.
2. Limit of contactless card payment raised
Now you will be able to pay up to Rs 5,000 instead of just Rs 2,000 through your contactless debit and credit cards, according to new rules issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India's Central bank aims to promote contactless digital payment in a safe and secure manner, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
3. New cheque payment rule to check fraud
Starting today, the Reserve Bank of India has rolled out the "Positive Pay System" for the cheque payments. The new system is aimed at checking rising cases of bank fraud in India. Re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond Rs 50,000 under the new rules. It will, however, be the discretion of account holders to avail of this facility, the banks may make it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5 lakh and above.
4. Monthly revision in LPG prices
From January 1, oil marketing companies will decide the price of LPG cylinders on the first day of every month based on crude prices in the international market, US dollar, and the Rupee exchange rate. So, LPG prices will keep changing every month.
5. New GST rules for small businesses
Under the new rules rolling out today, businesses with up to Rs 5 crores of annual turnover will need to file only four GST sales returns in every financial quarter, instead of filing it every month. The new rule will directly affect nearly 94 lakh taxpayers.
6. WhatsApp to stop working on some phones
Popular instant messaging application WhatsApp will stop working on certain mobile phones from January 1. In a recent notification, the Facebook-owned platform recommended users to use Andriod devices running OS 4.0.3 and newer; and iPhone running iOS 9 and newer; and select phones running KaiOS 2.5.1 and newer including JioPhone and JioPhone 2.
7. Use 0 before mobile numbers to make calls from landline
Landline users will need to prefix '0' for making calls to mobile phones in the country from January 15. Telecom providers have been instructed to work on the required infrastructure by January 1 to implement the new system effectively in time.
8. Rise in car prices
Due to increased cost input in wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, car maker leaders Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra and Mahindra have reportedly announced to increase the prices of their vehicles from January 1.
9. Standard insurance policy
In October last year, life insurance companies were asked to mandatorily launch a standard, individual term life insurance policy called "Saral Jeevan Bima" from January 1. Aimed at reducing hassles in purchasing insurance policy for first-time buyers, the new policy will lay out sum assured with uniform features in standard wording. The policy will have a minimum and maximum sum assured of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively.
10. Google Pay to levy charges for transaction
Google Pay will discontinue the payment facility on its web application and start levying a fee for instant money transfers, starting this January. In an official statement, however, Google Pay said that the new charge will be applied to Google Pay app in the US and will have no effect in India.
