Come February 1, there will be some significant changes in financial rules, such as pension fund partial withdrawal, investment in SGBs, and others, which will affect many people.
Interim Budget 2024, which will be tabled on February 1, 2024, is expected to be one of the biggest events in terms of fiscal policies, fiscal reforms and personal taxation. Apart from the Budget statement, some significant changes, such as the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) latest tranche, NPS partial withdrawal, IMPS new update, FASTag eKYC, SBI home loan campaign offer, and others, will be implemented in February 2024.
1. Interim Budget 2024
The Interim Budget, the last statement for the Narendra Modi-led government this term, is expected to announce some measures for different sectors with a focus on growth. Many experts have said that they are expecting the government to increase the capital expenditure.
Though this year's budget is expected to be a non-event with no major policy changes in line, experts feel the Centre may declare some sops for the middle class to help increase their spending capacity.
2. Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 Series 4
The Reserve Bank of India will issue the final tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) in the 2023-24 series in February 2024. The SGB 2023-24 Series IV will open on February 12, 2024, and close on February 16, 2024. The last series opened on December 18 and closed on December 22. The central bank had set the issue price at Rs 6,199 per gram of gold.
“The nominal value of the bond based on the simple average of closing price (published by the IBJA) for gold of 999 purity of the last three working days of the week preceding the subscription period, i.e. December 13, December 14, and December 15, 2023, works out to be Rs 6,199 per gram of gold,” RBI said in a notification on December 15.
3. New NPS partial withdrawal rules
NPS partial withdrawal: The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) issued a master circular in January highlighting the guidelines for the partial withdrawal of funds invested under the National Pension System (NPS). The provisions will come into effect from February 1, 2024.
The latest regulations highlight that partial withdrawals are allowed only for specific purposes. The pension body has clarified that subscribers can make partial withdrawals for the purchase or construction of the first house only.
"This Master Circular shall take effect from 01 February 2024 but shall be without prejudice to their (earlier issued circulars) operation and effect, for the period when they were in force until them being subsumed under the Master Circular," the PFRDA circular said.
4. FASTag eKYC
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has announced that all FASTags with incomplete Know Your Customer (KYC) will be deactivated or blacklisted by the issuing banks after January 31. Therefore, on February 1, users must ensure that the KYC of their latest FASTag is complete. 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' campaign was initiated to stop people from using single FASTag for multiple vehicles or multiple FASTags for a single vehicle. Around 7 crore FASTags have been issued, but only 4 crore appear to be active. Additionally, there are 1.2 crore duplicate FASTags.
"Only the latest FASTag account shall remain active as previous tags will be deactivated/blacklisted after 31st January 2024," the NHAI said in a statement.
5. Dhan Lakshmi FD schemes
Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB)'s last date of its special fixed deposit (FD) dubbed ‘DHAN LAKSMI 444 days’ is January 31, 2024. The bank had extended the last date from November 30, 2023, to January 31, 2024. Investors looking into invest in the Punjab and Sind Bank special fixed deposit should note the scheme will not be available from February 1, 2024.
The tenure of this FD is 444 days and the interest rate for PSB Dhan Laksmi is 7.4% for ordinary citizens, for senior citizens the interest rate is 7.9% and for super senior citizens the interest rate is 8.05%.
6. SBI's home loan concession
India's largest lender State Bank of India is currently offering home loan concessions for its customers. It is offering up to 65 bps lower than the actual card rate. The last date for processing fees and concessions on home loans is January 31, 2024. The concession is available for flexipay, NRI, non-salaried, privilege, and Apon Ghar customers. Interest rates on home loans vary depending on the CIBIL score.
The bank will levy 0.35% of the loan amount plus applicable GST, a minimum Rs 2,000/- plus applicable GST and a maximum of Rs 10,000/- plus applicable GST.
