From driving licences, free LPG connections, to Motor Vehicles Act: Here are rules that are changing from 1 October

Come 1 October 2020, a number of rules including Motor Vehicle rules, Ujjwala scheme, health insurance, credit and debit card rules will be modified. Here’s a look at what is going to change from tomorrow. Health Insurance From October 2020, the coverage of health insurance will become wider and more illnesses will be included under the health insurance policy. The rejection or acceptance of claims will be done within 30 days. Permanent illness outside the cover will come down to 17 which indicate that the premium may go up. No claim will be rejected after 8 years of the policy holder paying the premium. Also, pharmacy, implant and diagnostic will not be associated as medical expenses and a policy holder will get full claim for these.The claim amount is expected to be reduced from 1 October due to the inclusion of associated medical expenses. If you wish to migrate to other companies’ products, the older waiting period will be included, reported Zee News. Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 From October 2020, documents of vehicle found validated through electronic means shall not be demanded in physical forms for inspection. Details of driving licences that have been disqualified or revoked by the authority will be recorded and updated chronologically on portal. Also, drivers are permitted to maintain the documents of their vehicle on the central government’s online portal including Digilocker and m-parivahan. It should also be noted that as per the amendments made in the Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, mobile phones can be used only for route navigation in a manner that it does not disturb the concentration of the driver while driving. LPG connection under PMUY scheme will no longer be free Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the process of availing a gas connection for free is coming to an end on 30 September. The Union government had in March announced three 14.2-kg LPG cylinders free of cost to about 8 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries from April to June to help them cope with the economic pain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Income tax As per the latest guidelines by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) for e-commerce transactions will come into effect from 1 October. The levies will be applicable on sale of products more than Rs 50 lakh, with exemption to an individual and HUF who gets less than Rs 5 lakh and furnishes PAN/Aadhaar. An e-commerce operator will deduct income tax at the rate of 1 percent of the gross amount of sale of goods or provision of service or both, facilitated through its digital or electronic facility or platform, according to a report in The Indian Express. 5 percent tax to be levied on foreign fund transfer Three new provisions of TCS have been introduced in the Finance Act 2020. These will come into force from 1 October 2020. A 5 percent TCS will be applied on any amounts exceeding Rs 7 lakh in a financial year for foreign remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of RBI. TCS of 5 percent will be applicable on purchase of overseas tour package, irrespective of its value and also TCS at 0.1 percent will be charged on sale of goods for over Rs 50 lakh in a year. The increase in rates of TCS has been prescribed for non-PAN/ Aadhaar cases. Sweet sellers will have to display ‘best before date’ As per the order by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), sweet sellers from 1 October 2020 will be mandated to declare the ‘best before date’, or expiry date, of all non-packaged or loose sweets available in their shop. Also, the date of making of the sweets should be mentioned by the sweet shops on the label while selling. Purchasing television to get costlier Prices of television sets could go up from October 2020 as the 5 percent import duty concession, which was offered last year, on open cell panels ends on 30 September. New credit and debit card rules The RBI has issued new guidelines to secure debit and credit cards and the changes will come into force from 1 October 2020. As per the new guidelines, card users will now be able to register opt-in or opt-out of services, spend limits, among others for international transactions, online transactions as well as contactless card transactions.