From Driving license to health insurance to income tax: 10 new rules applicable from October 1, 2020

From October 1, 2020, 10 rules that impact the day to day life of every citizen are going to be different. Changes made in credit and debit cards rule, Ujjwala Scheme, health insurance, motor vehicle rules will be the few of the alterations that will be implemented from October 1. The changes introduced by the concerned ministries are for different motives which include making India more digital and Atmanirbhar.

Check the 10 new rules mentioned in detail below.

1. Free LPG connection ends on September 30, 2020

The process of getting a gas connection for free under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) will be ending on September 30, 2020. The Union Cabinet had earlier approved an extension of free gas connection till the end of September under which beneficiaries were able to avail free cooking gas cylinders.

2. No physical verification of documents like Driving License and RC will be required

From October 1, 2020, no hard copy of documents such as Driving License and RC to keep together while driving will be required. From now, one can drive a vehicle with only a valid soft copy of these documents attached to the vehicle. The notification was issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of various such amendments which were made in the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

The amendment will come into effect from October 1, 2020. For commuter convenience, the government had decided to digitize documents including driving licenses, e-challans, and maintenance of vehicles that will now be done through an information technology portal. Drivers will be able to maintain their vehicular documents on the government’s online portal like m-parivahan or Digi-Locker.

3. 5% tax will be levied on foreign fund transfer from October 1

From the coming month, any amount sent abroad to buy foreign tour packages and every other foreign remittance above Rs. 7 lakh will attract a tax collected at source (TCS) unless that tax has already been deducted at source (TDS) on that amount. While the tax levied on foreign tour packages will be 5% for any amount, for any other foreign remittance, the tax will only for the amount spent above Rs. 7 Lakh.

4. Government’s amendment for mobile phones only for route navigation

As per the amendment made by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, the driver will now be able to use mobile phones for route navigation in such a manner that it will not disturb the concentration of the driver while driving.

5. Reserve Bank of India’s new Credit and Debit Card rules

RBI has issued new guidelines to secure credit and debit cards and the changes will be effective from October 1, 2020. As per the new guidelines, card users will now be able to register the spend limits, opt-in or opt-out services, etc. for online transactions, international transactions as well as contactless card transactions.

6. Sweet Sellers will be required to display ‘best before date’

Sweet Shops will now need to display ‘best before date’ of loose or non-packaged sweets available in their shop. As per the direction by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the sweet shop owners have to adhere to the protocol from October 1, 2020.

7. Buying television sets will be expensive due to the 5% import duty

From October 1, 2020, open cells will now attract 5% import duty, as the government declined to extend the duty exemption expiring at the end of September 2020. To promote ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the government is keen to expand the domestic production capacity for the open cell panels so that imports can be controlled.

8. Implementation of new Health Insurance rules

The changes in the health insurance cover have been introduced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new health insurance rules to be introduced post-COVID-19 inclusion will be making 17 permanent illnesses outside the cover, meaning that the diseases that come under the exclusion category have been reduced to 17. The prices for the premium health services will also eventually rise.

9. Introduction of New Tax Collected at Source (TCS) regime

The Income Tax Department had issued guidelines for the applicability of the Tax Collected at Source (TCS) provision which will require an e-commerce operator to deduct a 1% tax on the sale of goods and services. The new regime of TCS will come into effect from October 1, 2020.

The Finance Act, 2020 had inserted a new section 194-O in the Income Tax Act, 1961 which mandated that from October 1, an e-commerce operator will deduct income tax at the rate of 1% of the gross amount of sale of goods or provision of service or both, facilitates through its electronic or digital facility or platform.

10. Ban on the blending of mustard oil with any other cooking oil

Food Regulator FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has banned the blending of mustard oil with any other cooking oil with effect from October 1, 2020. In a letter from FSSAI to the commissioner of food safety of all states and Union territories, it has been mentioned that the blending of mustard oil with any other edible oil in India has been prohibited with effect from October 1, 2020.