A slew of changes that impact the lives of public will be in force from New Year. Traders and bank account holders in particular should take note of these changes.
In Kerala, government employees and pensioners should bear in mind that a new health insurance scheme commences from January 1.
1) BANKING NORMS
a) ATM charges
Account holders making use of the ATMs will have to pay Rs 21 plus General Sales Tax (GST) on each transaction after exhausting the free limit. The existing charge is Rs 20.
As earlier all customers are allowed five free transactions on ATMs of the banks in which they have their account. Besides three free translations can be done on the ATMs of other banks located in metros, and five transactions on ATMs in non-metro cities.
Any transaction taking place after exhausting the free limit will be chargeable.
However, the free transaction limit on ATMs of the India Post Payments Bank is four for basic savings account holders. From Saturday, Jan 1, 2022, if money is withdrawn from these ATMs for more than four times in a month , then 0.50 percent of the amount will be charged on each subsequent transaction.
b) Onus on banks for theft from lockers
If objects kept in bank lockers are lost because of the fraud of bank employees then the bank concerned cannot shy away from its responsibility. This rule too will come into effect from Jan 1, 2022. There is also specific direction that banks should intimate the customers in advance that it is not their responsibility to insure the articles lying in the locker.
c) Bank KYC till March 31
The Reserve Bank of India has extended the time period for completing the KYC procedures till March 31, 2022.
The deadcline set early ends on New Year's Eve.
RBI has issued directions to banks to not to take action on customers who have not completed their periodic KYC process in view of the increasing cases of Omicron variant.
2) GENERAL SALES TAX NORMS
a) Tax on online food delivery chains
From New Year GST will be charged directly from online food delivery chains like Swiggy and Zomato for food distribution. However, customers need not pay the GST.
b) Right to entry
GST officials will have the right to enter without any forewarning establishments which have GST dues. The officials will have the right to charge the amount directly from Jan 1.
c) GST hike
The GST rate for all kinds of government construction contract will be raised fron 12 to 18 percent. Till now 18 percent GST was only for building construction contracts.
d) GST returns till Feb 28
The time for filing the GST returns for 2020-21 has been extended upto February 28. The time for filing the GST returns was to end on Dec 31, 2021. Those with annual turnover of Rs 2 crore are to file annual returns (GSTR-9). Those with turnover of above 5 crore arer to submit GSTR 9 C.
3) MEDISEP
MEDISEP, the health insurance scheme for Kerala government employees and pensioners, will come into effect from Jan 1. However, the insured will have to wait for months to avail cashless and reimbursement facilities for several months as the procedures not over yet.
4) MORE PAY IN KSRTC
The pay hike for the employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation will come into effect from Jan 1. The revised pay will be disbursed from February 1.
