Costly gas, EMIs. Some pocket-pinching changes that kick in from March 1

Representational image. (Photo: Mathieu Stern via Unsplash)

Post the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget on February 1, several rules relating to money, banking, and other sectors change from today.

Listed below are the ones you ought to know about:

CNG, LPG cylinders get costlier

The prices of LPG, CNG, and PNG gases are decided at the beginning of every month. Although there was no change in LPG cylinder price last time, it got costlier this month.

The price of 14.2 kg domestic LPG has been raised by Rs 50 per cylinder and that of 19 kg commercial cylinders has been hiked by Rs 350.50, with effect from March 1.

Your  EMIs may pinch more

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently increased the repo rate, following which several banks hiked the MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Based Landing Rate) rates too. As expected, this hike is now making its way into loan interests and the EMIs.

Bank of India (BoI) has hiked its MCLR by 10 basis points across tenors, effective from March 1.

6% DA for Bengal govt employees

Some West Bengal government employees, such as those who work at statutory bodies, government undertakings, panchayats, civic bodies, staff of government-aided educational institutions, pensioners, and family pensioners, will get Dearness Allowance (DA) at the rate of six percent of the basic pay with effect from March 1.

Deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linkage

March 31st is the last date to link PAN card with Aadhaar card, the Income Tax Department has cautioned. If users fail to link their PAN with their Aadhaar numbers by March 31, it would no longer be operative.

Changes in train schedule

With summer setting in, the Indian Railways may introduce some changes to the timetable. The list will come out in March.

Bank holidays

Private banks will remain closed for 12 days in March, including national holidays like Holi, the second and fourth Saturdays, as well as Sundays. That apart, some regional branches will also remain closed for state-specific festivals/holidays. Nonetheless, online and net banking services will function as usual each of these days.

Terms of social media use

The Government of India has changed the IT rules and the new rule may come into effect any time in March. Once it is implemented, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will be monitored and users will be penalised for posting incendiary updates.

New listing on the bourses this week

Homegrown automotive component firm Divgi TorqTransfer Systems is set for its Rs 412 crore initial public offering (IPO) from March 1 through March 3. This is the first IPO in two months as recent market volatility led companies to put off their listing plans. It is one of the leading suppliers of transfer case systems to automotive OEMs in India and passenger vehicle manufacturers in India.