Business / Free ATM withdrawals for 3 months, no minimum balance required for accounts: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that debit card holders can withdraw cash from any other bank's ATM free of charge for the next three months. "There shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee (in bank accounts)," the Finance Minister added. This comes as lockdown and curfew is in place in many parts of India amid coronavirus pandemic.

Latestly : Mar 24, 2020, 03:52 PM
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made some major announcements on Tuesday giving relief to sectors amid Coronavoris pandemic. The government announced that there would be no extra charge on ATM withdrawals from different banks for the next three months. The Finance Minister also announced that there shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee in the bank accounts.

"Debit cardholders who withdraw cash from any bank's ATM machine can do it free of charge for the next three months. There shall not be any minimum balance requirement fee in bank accounts," Sitharaman announced at a press conference organised through video conferencing.

The government has also extended the deadline for filing income tax returns. “The date to file an income tax return for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended to June 30, 2020. For delayed payment, interest rates reduced to nine per cent from 12 per cent,” the Finance Minister said.

To help small companies facing the threat of defaults due to COVID-19 related lockdown, the Finance Ministry announced that Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code default limit has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore.