Revised taxation rule, bank charges come into force in India today

Some banks in India, including the State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s biggest lender, will change the rules and service charges for cash withdrawals from today, while the government will impose a higher tax deducted at source (TDS) rate for those who have not deposited income tax returns (ITR) for the last two years. The rule will be applicable on taxpayers whose TDS deducted each year exceeds Rs50,000. This has been inserted in the income tax rules by Finance Act, 2021.

While a new procedure for obtaining learner’s driving licence will also come into force, LPG cylinder prices too will be revised. Driving licence applicants need not have to visit Regional Transport Office (RTO) anymore. To get a permanent driving licence, one can simply get it from a designated driving school after fulfilling the required criteria following the completion of the driving course.

According to SBI, the new revised service charges will be applicable for all SBI account holders. The change in charges will be applicable for ATM withdrawals, cheque book, money transfer and similar transactions. Such accounts will remain free from minimum balance requirement, which means the minimum balance would be zero for such accounts. After July 1, only four transactions in a month would be free, be it from an ATM or from the branch. Following which, customers will have to pay Rs15 plus GST charges.

An account holder can only use 10 cheque leafs in a financial year. For using more, the bank has announced Rs40 plus GST (for subsequent 10 leafs) and Rs75 plus GST (for 25 leafs). However, no such charges have been announced for senior citizens.

Apart from SBI, other banks revising rules include Syndicate Bank as well as Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank that have been amalgamated into Union Bank of India.

Account holders of Syndicate Bank will get new IFSC codes as the bank has merged with Canara Bank. The latter has appealed to all the account holders of Syndicate Bank to get the new IFSC codes so that transactions can be done smoothly.

Account holders of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, which have been amalgamated into Union Bank of India, will get new cheque books. Their existing cheque books will become invalid. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank were amalgamated into Union Bank on April 1, 2020. — issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com