New Year 2025: Major Changes In EPFO, UPI Payment, GST, Visa Rules From January 1 You Should Know

The Reserve Bank of India has announced that feature phone users making payments via UPI 123Pay and UPI Lite can now avail higher transaction limit.

New Delhi: Starting January 1, 2025, India is set to bring significant regulation updates in various sectors like finance, farming and digital payments which is likely to impact citizens across the country. Here’s all you need to know about the major changes that take effect from New Year Day.

Pension Withdrawals Under EPFO

Good news for pensioners! The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a new system streamlining the entire process for pension withdrawals. Now, one can withdraw pension from any bank without any additional verification. To further ease the process, EPFO will soon issue ATM card, facilitating 24/7 access to funds. This apart, the contribution cap for the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to be removed.

UPI Payment Limit

In another major update, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that feature phone users making payments via UPI 123Pay and UPI Lite can now avail higher transaction limit. For the UPI 123Pay users, the per-transaction limit has been doubled from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000; while for UPI Lite, the limit has been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1000.

Big Boost For Farmers

Farmers have a big reason to celebrate as RBI has raised the cap on unsecured loans from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, without any mortgage guarantees. The move is expected to offer more financial support for agricultural investments.

GST Gets More Secure

This is for the information of taxpayers using the GST portal that they will now have to complete the mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for added security. Meanwhile, businesses generating E-Way Bills (EWBs) shall ensure their base documents are no older than 180 days.

Visa Rescheduling Gets Easier

As per the policy, non-immigrant visa applicants to the US can reschedule appointments free of charge once. However, further rescheduling will require a fresh application and fee. Thailand, on the other hand, would be introducing its global e-Visa system on January 1, 2025, with an aim to simplify the visa application process and offer a convenient way to secure travel authorisation before arriving in Thailand. Meanwhile, there will also be changes in the H-1B visa process from January 17 making it more flexible and accessible for Indian F-1 visa holders.

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