Mumbai: Like every calendar month, the next August will start with lots of changes to matters of personal finance for the common man. ETV Bharat presents you with some of those important changes related to financial transaction rules as well as prices of essentials, and their likely impact on the household budget.
Salary will be credited on all days
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India said that the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) will be available on all days of the week, effective August 1, 2021. At present, the payment system is available only on bank working days. With this change, employees and pensioners will be benefitted as the amount will be credited into their accounts even on bank holidays. NACH is a bulk payment system operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It facilitates one-to-many credit transfers such as payment of dividend, interest, salary and pension among others.
India Post Payments Bank doorstep services
If you have a savings account with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and want to avail of doorstep banking service (DSB), you must note that the services are no longer free of cost. From August 1, 2021, the IPPB will be charging Rs 20 and applicable taxes for each customer request. DSB services include cash deposits and withdrawals, 24x7 money transfers, and bill payments among others.
ICICI Bank charges
India’s leading private sector bank ICICI has revised its service charges on cash transactions and ATM withdrawals. The free cash transaction limit has been reduced from the current Rs 2 lakh per account per month to Rs 1 lakh. Accordingly, the bank will charge Rs 5 per Rs 1,000 cash transaction above the Rs 1 lakh limit subject to a minimum charge of Rs 150. With regards to transactions at non-ICICI Bank ATMs, customers can avail of only 5 free transactions with a cap of 3 free transactions in 6 metro cities. Thereafter, customers should pay Rs 20 per financial transaction and Rs 8.50 per non-financial transaction.
Hike in ATM fees
The RBI has allowed banks to increase interchange fees per transaction from Rs 15 to Rs 17 for financial transactions (Cash withdrawal, transfer of funds, etc) and from Rs 5 to Rs 6 for non-financial transactions (PIN change, cheque book request, mini statement, etc). According to the RBI, this change will come into effect from August 1, 2021. ‘Interchange Fee’ is related to charges levied by one bank on another bank when a customer uses an ATM run by other-bank (e.g. SBI customer using non-SBI ATM).
In view of the hike in interchange fees, the RBI has permitted banks to increase charges for cash and non-cash ATM transactions beyond the free monthly permissible limit from the existing Rs 20 per transaction to Rs 21 per transaction (excluding taxes). However, in a major relief for customers, the RBI has directed banks to implement this change from January 1, 2022.
Cylinder price
Generally, LPG cylinder marketing firms like Indane, HP, etc revise the prices of refills on the first day of every calendar month. On July 1, 2021, the price of a non-subsidised 14.2 kg LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 25. Media reports suggest that LPG prices have gone up by Rs 115 since last February. According to market experts, LPG prices are likely to be revised on August 1 also.
