1. Contactless Card Transaction Limit
The RBI had earlier increased the limit from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 in order to boost the adoption of digital payments.
2. Mandatory FASTag
FASTag is required for new vehicles as well as vehicles sold after 1 December 2017. It is mandatory to keep a minimum of Rs 150 in your FASTag account.
3. Updated Driving Licence Must
Those without a valid driving licence will attract a penalty of Rs 5,000 as per the amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act. The exemption on this rule has been lifted on 1 January.
4. GST-Registered Small Businesses
Those small businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore are required to file only four GST sales returns, or GSTR-3B, instead of 12 (as of 2020) from January 2021.
5. Landline To Mobile Phone Calls
While calling mobile phones from landlines, you will be required to prefix ‘0’. This will be applicable across India.
6. Saral Life Insurance Policy
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has directed all insurance companies to introduce ‘Saral Life Insurance Policy’ from 1 January. The new policy assures a minimum sum of Rs 5 lakh and a maximum of Rs 25 lakh.
7. Cars To Become More Expensive
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India and home-grown Mahindra and Mahindra and MG Motor India have increased prices of its vehicles from 1 January to offset the adverse impact of rising input costs – in the light of COVID-19 pandemic.
8. Mutual Fund Investment
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made some changes to the mutual funds’ rules, raising the investment limit in equity to 75 percent from 1 January. Earlier, the investment limit in equity was 65 percent.