January 1 not only marks the beginning of the new year 2020 but is also a reminder of several new rules in the financial world that came into force. The new rules affect anyone with a debit card, PAN card and even those who are trying to withdraw cash from ATMs or make online transfers.
Highlights:
- All old debit and ATM cards with a magstripe or magnetic stripe are no longer valid from January 1
- NEFT transfers are now free across all banks as the RBI has waived off charges
Debit and ATM cards:
All old debit and ATM cards with a magstripe or magnetic stripe will cease to work from January 1. You can get it replaced with a new EMV chip debit card from your bank free of cost. According to guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all banks have been asked to convert old debit cards into the new EMV-based cards.
“You need to get a new ATM card If your card is a magstripe card, as it will get blocked due to RBI directives to discontinue the operation of magstripe cards. If your card is an EMV Chip card, please get in touch with your branch and ascertain that” SBI said on Facebook.
If you can see a chip on the face of your debit/ATM card, then you already have an EMV chip card which doesn’t require replacement. In case it is missing then you need to replace it with a new one.
EMV cards come with a small microchip that protects buyers against fraudulent transactions. It creates dynamic data every time you make a transaction which makes it impossible for cloning the card.
NEFT charges waived off:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made NEFT online transfers a 24×7 process with effect from December 16. And now from January 1, banks have been instructed to waive off online NEFT charges for savings bank account holders. Several banks had made NEFT free already earlier. NEFT transfers made at bank branches will continue to be chargeable as before.
RuPay, UPI charges:
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges will not be applicable on transactions through homegrown RuPay and UPI platforms from 2020. All companies with a turnover of ₹50 crores or more will be mandated to provide the facility of payment through RuPay Debit card and UPI QR code to their customers.
SBI ATM withdrawals new rules:
If you have a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM card you might require an OTP (one-time-password) to withdraw cash. With effect from January 1, SBI has introduced OTP-based ATM withdrawal for transactions above ₹10,000 between 8 pm to 8 am. However, if you are withdrawing cash from a non-SBI ATM then OTP will not be required.
Income tax return (ITR) filing:
If you had missed the August 31 deadline to file an income tax return (ITR) you can do so by the end of this financial year. However, for all belated ITRs filed from January 1, a penalty of ₹10,000 will be imposed.
PAN card:
If your PAN card is not yet linked to Aadhaar, then it will not be declared inoperative or not in use from January 1 as the income tax department has extended the 31 December deadline to 31 March
