Income tax, DL, health insurance, credit card --10 rules that impact lives of common man changing from October 1

New Delhi: Come October 1, and many rules ranging from Income tax, driving license, health insurance to credit card are going to change. These rules are also directly going to impact the lives of common man.

Here's looking at 10 rules that are going to change from October 1.

Physical proof of driving licence, registration card

People would be allowed to carry electronic versions of documents like driving licence, registration, which means there is no need to carry the physical copies of teh same from October 1. They can carry soft copies of these documents in DigiLocker or m-Parivahan mobile application. The e-copies would be valid and no enforcement agency can deny accepting it as proof. Details of driving licences disqualified or revoked by the licensing authority shall be recorded chronologically in the portal and such record shall be reflected on a regular basis on the portal has been provided for, the government said and added, thus the record shall be maintained electronically and further the driver behaviour would be monitored. DigiLocker is a digital storage service operated by the government that enables citizens to store certain official documents on cloud. 

Use of handheld communications devices 

The government on Saturday said maintenance of vehicular documents, including driving licences and e-challans, will be done through an information technology portal from October 1, 2020. It has been provided that the use of handheld communications devices while driving shall solely be used for route navigation in such a manner that it shall not disturb the concentration of the driver while driving.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The government has allowed poor women beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme time till September30 to avail the unclaimed LPG cylinders out of the quota of three free cooking gas bottles that were given as pandemic relief. The government had in March announced three 14.2-kg LPG cylinders free of cost to about 8 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries from April to June to help them cope with the economic pain of the coronavirus lockdown.

Corporate tax

The corporate tax cut announced by Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman will get implemented from October 1.

High security number plate, colour coded fuel plate

The Delhi government’s transport department has started online registration for the process applying of high-security number plates, making it easier for the residents of Delhi. Now, the car owners can register for number plates by visiting the official website of Delhi's transport ministry and filling in the required credentials from October 1.

Health Insurance

Beginning October 1, 2020 a lot of changes may kick in the Health insurance zone. The new rules apply to waiting period after getting health insurance, claim rejection by the companies, inclusion of many more illnesses in the health cover. However, the consumer taking the health insurance must also note that the premium paid on health insurance may also go up.

New debit card, credit card rules

The RBI had directed all banks to not unnecessarily give international facilities to customers' cards, unless the customer himself demands it.  As per new guidelines, customers will get the option to register for preferences such as opt-in or opt-out services, spend limits and other services for online transactions, international transactions and contactless transactions.The debit and credit card servies will only be enabled for transactions at ATMs (domestic) and Point of Sale terminals. Both debit and credit holders will now be allowed to set up transaction limit.

TCS on remittances

TCS on Liberalised remittances scheme will be levied over and above teh remittance amount of Rs 7 lakh by a customer in a financial year and will be effective from October 1.

Discounts for credit card users at petrol pumps

No discount will be given for credit card payments done to buy fuel at petrol pumps from October 1. The oil companies had introduced these discounts using credit/debit cards and e-wallets to promote digital payments. The good news is that discounts on debit cards and other modes of digital payments will continue for now.

Rates for home, car loans

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had made it mandatory for banks to link their retail and MSME loans to external interest rate benchmarks and the launch of this product means that rates for home, car and personal loans will come down.