From mandatory FASTags to car price hike, 5 personal finance changes effective from Jan 1

As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since 2017, the FASTag had already been made mandatory for registration of new four-wheeled vehicles and is being supplied by the vehicle manufacturer or dealers.

In order to check banking fraud, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce from January 1, 2021, the 'positive pay system' for cheques, under which re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond Rs 50,000. Availing of this facility would be at the discretion of the account holder. However, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5 lakh and above.

Under the positive pay system, the issuer of the cheque will be required to submit electronically, through SMS, mobile app, internet banking or ATM certain minimum details of that cheque like date, name of the beneficiary, payee, amount to the drawee bank. These details will be cross-checked before the cheque is presented for payment. In case any discrepancy is flagged by cheque truncation system (CTS) to the drawee bank and presenting bank, redressal measures would be undertaken.

The Reserve Bank of India has announced enhanced limits for contactless card payments and e-mandates on cards (and UPI) for recurring transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000. To promote the adoption of digital payments in a safe and secure manner, the central bank has proposed to enhance this limit, at the discretion of the user, effective from January 1, 2021.

About 9.4 million small businesses will come under the quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) return filing facility. These firms with sales up to Rs 5 crore will need to file only four returns showing the summary of all transactions in the quarter in the new regime from January 2021.

MG Motor India recently said it will increase the prices of its vehicles by up to three percent from January to offset the adverse impact of higher input cost. MG Motor India currently retails three models in India Hector, ZS EV and Gloster, which are priced between Rs 12.83 lakh and Rs 35.6 lakh.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) also said it will hike prices of its entire range of passenger and commercial vehicles from January in order to partially offset the impact of rising input costs.

Effective January 1, the company will increase the price of its range of passenger and commercial vehicles, across models.