Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi, Apr 1: With an aim to reshape India's economic landscape, the new financial year 2025–26 began with a wave of reforms.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced these updates during the Union Budget presentation on February 1, 2025. As part of these reforms, new tax slabs and rates will now come into effect.

These changes includes a revised income tax slab, new UPI regulations, and the introduction of the Unified Pension Scheme.

Under the revised income tax slabs, individuals earning up to Rs 12 lakh a year will not need to pay income tax. For salaried individuals, a standard deduction of Rs 75,000 will apply, effectively making Rs 12.75 lakh salary tax-free under the new tax regime.

Additionally, the new tax regime has changed the tax slab rates. The basic exemption limit has been hiked from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

To enhance the security of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has implemented new regulations starting today.

Similarly, changes have been introduced for certain credit cardholders, particularly in the structure of reward points.

UPI Norms Updated:
No payments will be allowed from inactive numbers.
Public and private sector banks, such as State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, and third-party UPI providers, such as PhonePe and Google Pay, have all been asked to phase out inactive numbers linked to UPI due to security risk.

Cylinder Price Reduced:
Prices have reduced by Rs 41, offering some relief to consumers.

Individuals earning up to Rs 12 lakh annually will not pay income tax.
Salaried employees are eligible for a standard deduction of Rs 75,000.

Education Loan Relief: No TDS will be applicable on education loans. Earlier, TCS of 0.5% was deducted on loans over Rs 7 lakh.

Changes in TDS Limits:
The TDS limit on mutual fund income has been increased.
The TDS exemption limit has been raised from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

Requirement of Minimum Bank Balance
Public sector lenders such as SBI, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB), among others, are updating their minimum balance requirements from April 1.
New minimum balance will be determined by market — rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Those bank customers who are unable to maintain minimum balance will be penalised.

Changes in Goods and Services Tax Rules
Starting from April 1, the GST portal will require mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure better security for taxpayers. Further, E-Way Bills (EWBs) can only be generated for base documents that are not older than 180 days.

Potential Increase in Toll Tax:
The toll price for national highways (NH) across India are set to increase by around 3 per cent

Digital Investments: Investors can now digitally store details of Demat accounts and mutual fund holdings in DigiLocker.

Pension Scheme Updates: Old Pension Scheme will be replaced by the Unified Pension Scheme.
According to UPS rules, staff with at least 25 years of service will be eligible for a pension equivalent to 50 per cent of their last 12 months' average basic salary.

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