Indians are well informed about the work done by the State and Central Health Departments over creating hygiene awareness as well as supporting the Prime Minister’s call for a Janta Curfew on Sunday, followed by an extended lockdown until March 31 in some districts across the country. In the midst of all this, the financial market has taken a downturn with Sensex dropping significantly on Monday.
The Central Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a few steps that the Central Government is taking in order to ease the financial burdens of the citizens and businesses.
Also Read: Mumbai Police Seizes 2.5 Million Masks Worth ₹15 Crores
One of the primary citizen-oriented announcements from the FM’s press meet earlier today is the waiver of ATM charges for cash withdrawals.
This means citizens can withdraw cash from their debit cards at any ATM across the country irrespective of the bank it belongs to without incurring a charge or a fee. This should come as a major relief to the citizens and may also help avoid crowds and panic at ATMs.
Since essential services, including banks, are expected to remain operational, cash flow should not be a problem either. But how independent banks will handle this particular aspect is only for time to tell.
Sitharaman also said that the government is currently working on an economic relief package and that details will be provided soon.
Here are some of the key highlights from the Finance Minister’s announcement from a few hours ago:
The interest rate on delayed payments has been cut from 12% to 9%.
The due date for linking your Aadhaar with PAN has been extended to June 30 (previous deadline - March 31)
Seekers of the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ plan will be spared the 10% interest on the principal amount.
The deadline for filing income tax returns for the period of 2019-19 has been extended to June 30, 2020.
The last date for filing GST returns as well as composition returns from March, April, and May has also been extended to June 30.
Notices under the Income Tax Act will be sent at a later date.
Waiver of penalty and interest (including interest late fee) for the delay in filing returns. This will be applicable to companies with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore.
The threshold for default under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has been raised to Rs 1 crore.