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Kolkata: As we move to the New Year, there will be a number of significant financial changes in our lives. There will be regulatory changes too. From government employees to taxpayers, from credit card users to bank customers, the changes are going to impact a wide array of individuals. Let's see what are the changes going to be. The finance ministry is also supposed to communicate its decision on the interest rates payable on small savings instruments which includes post office instruments and popular long-term guaranteed-return instruments such as the PPF (Public Provident Fund). Also state-owned oil marketing companies could revise LPG prices on the first day of Jan as they are free to do every month.
This is a change millions and millions of central government employees, retirees and their families have been waiting for. The term of the 7th Pay Commission ends today, Dec 31 and the term of the 8th Pay Commission will being from Jan 1, 2026. In fact, state government employees will also subsequently to benefit from the upgraded pay structures, higher basic salaries, and an increase in DA that will be worked out to address inflation. Employees of PSUs will also benefit from it indirectly.
From January credit bureaus are supposed to migrate to a weekly data update cycle. The current practice is to do it once in 15 days. This will usher in a system where loan repayments and/or defaults will reflect faster in credit scores. Thus, it will mirror granular level data more close to the development and will reflect in eligibility of getting loans and interest rates more promptly than the current practice.
Another step will be taken in making PAN-Aadhaar link to become eligible for most banking and government-related services. Service could be curbed or denied for those who have not got it done.
A few top banks of the country are going to revise credit card rules between January and February. SBI Card will launch a new domestic airport lounge access programme from January 10, which will benefit frequently fliers using the card. The country's biggest credit card issuer HDFC Bank is supposed to introduce a voucher-based lounge access system for debit cardholders. It is expected to come up with revised spending thresholds.
The country's second-biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank will implement multiple changes affecting reward points, movie benefits, add-on card fees, and transaction charges on its credit cards. Reports have stated that transportation transactions above a threshold value will attract a 1% fee. Besides, reward point accruals will be capped for certain card categories. There will be curbs on movie ticket benefits via BookMyShow which will require the ser to undertake minimum expenditure in a quarter. Moreover, some cards will no longer offer these benefits from February. Also some additional charges will apply to online gaming transactions and high-value wallet top-ups.
Reports state that there will eb changes in the ITR forms. These will be redesigned and taxpayers can find the changes from January. They are expected to come pre-filled with banking transactions, expenditure data and details of the income of the taxpayer. It will naturally improving accuracy and reduce discrepancies. Compliance will become easier.
