7 Changes That Will Kick-Off From January: Know All About Them

As we are about to usher in the New Year after an unprecedented 2020, there are going to be few changes in some areas including cheque payment, GST, UPI payment etc. that need to be noted by you:

1. Cheque payment rule:

To curb banking frauds, 'Positive pay system' shall be in place with effect from January 1. Under it, for cheque payments over Rs. 50000, there shall be required re-confirmation of some of the key details. In the current regime, it shall be at the discretion of the account holder to use the facility but for payments of Rs. 5 lakh and above, banks may make it mandatory to employ the functionality.

2. UPI Payment:

As per reports, the retail payments platform NPCI has taken a decision to levy additional charges on UPI payment run by third party app providers such as Amazon Pay, Google Pay and PhonePe. Besides as there is seen potential for future growth in UPI payment and to check on the risk aspect, starting new year, NPCI has capped the volume of transaction via UPI on third party apps at 30%.

3. Auto prices to be hiked:

To partially set off the rising input cost, automobile companies in India have taken a decision to hike prices from the new year. Among auto makers considering the move are leading car manufacturer Maruti, Mahindra and Mahindra and Hero Motocorp among others.

4. Contactless card transaction limit:

In its last bi-monthly monetary policy meet, RBI's governor Shaktikanta said that the limit for contactless card transactions as well as e-mandates for transactions occurring again and again via UPI and cards will be enhanced to Rs. 5000 from Rs. 2000 from January 1, 2021. The move is aimed at expanding usage of digital payments in a safe and secure way.

5. FASTag to be mandatory for all 4-wheelers:

After the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 has been amended, the ministry of road transport and highways has come up with a notification on November 6, 2020 which mandates FASTag for all four wheelers from January 1, 2021. The electronic method of toll collection was mandatory M and N class four-wheelers sold before December 1, 2017.

6. Landline to Mobile phone calls:

Another aspect that needs to be noted is that for making a call from landline to mobile user will need to prefix '0' as telecom department has been asking telco service providers to make the necessary arrangements by January 1. The move is expected to create ample numbering space for telecom services.

7. GST registered small businesses:

Small businesses with GST registration and turnover up to Rs. 5 crore from January next year will be required to file only 4 GST sales returns or GSTR 3B instead of 12. The Quarterly filing of Return with Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme would hence impact 94 lakh taxpayers i.e. about 92 per cent of the total tax base of the goods and services tax (GST). With this, from January, small taxpayers would need to file only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) annually.

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