GUWAHATI: Several government notifications and financial rule changes came into effect on Wednesday, July 1, impacting taxation, banking, identity services, credit card benefits, fuel prices and passport charges across India.
ALSO READ: Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Conducts Aerial Survey of Flood-Hit Areas in Arunachal Pradesh
The changes include revised income tax return (ITR) deadlines for Assessment Year 2026–27, updates to Aadhaar services, higher passport fees, new banking consumer protection rules, revisions in credit card rewards and lounge access benefits, fuel price cuts by Nayara Energy, and scheduled maintenance-related downtime of EPFO online services.
ITR filing deadlines revised for AY 2026–27
The Income Tax Department has revised the filing schedule for Income Tax Returns (ITR) for Assessment Year 2026–27.
Salaried individuals filing ITR-1 and ITR-2 must submit returns by July 31. ITR-1 applies to individuals with annual income up to ₹50 lakh, while ITR-2 applies to taxpayers with income from capital gains, house property, pensions, foreign income or agricultural income.
The deadline for ITR-3 and ITR-4 has been extended to August 31. These forms apply to businesses, professionals, partnership firms and other eligible taxpayers.
Aadhaar email update made free till December 2026
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has waived the fee for updating email addresses in Aadhaar through its mobile application.
The earlier charge of ₹75 has been removed. The service will remain free until December 31, 2026.
Passport fees revised
The Ministry of External Affairs has revised passport service charges.
A 36-page passport will now cost ₹2,500 under normal application and ₹5,000 under Tatkaal. A 60-page passport will cost ₹3,500 under normal application and ₹6,000 under Tatkaal. The revised rates apply to fresh applications, renewals and other passport-related services in India and abroad.
Fuel price cut by Nayara Energy
Nayara Energy has reduced petrol and diesel prices across its network of over 7,000 fuel stations.
Petrol prices have been cut by ₹5 per litre and diesel by ₹3 per litre. The company said the revision follows a decline in global crude oil prices after easing tensions in West Asia. Final retail prices will vary across states due to local taxes.
RBI introduces rules to curb mis-selling
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a framework to prevent mis-selling of financial products by banks.
Customers who are sold unsuitable financial products through unfair practices will be eligible for refunds, with compensation applicable where financial loss is established. The framework aims to strengthen consumer protection and improve accountability in the banking system.
Credit card reward and lounge access changes
SBI Card has revised reward point structures for its PhonePe SBI Credit Card PURPLE and PhonePe SBI Credit Card SELECT BLACK. Reward points on PhonePe transactions and select online spending categories have been capped, while certain categories will no longer earn rewards.
Separately, HDFC Bank has tightened domestic airport lounge access rules. Eligible cardholders will continue to receive three complimentary domestic lounge visits per calendar quarter, subject to a minimum spend of ₹60,000 in the previous quarter. Cardholders not meeting the threshold will lose the benefit.
LPG and PNG transition-related provision
A reported provision stated that users holding both LPG and PNG connections were required to switch fully to PNG by June 30. However, there has been no official confirmation regarding discontinuation of LPG supply. The provision also allows reactivation of LPG connections in areas where PNG services are unavailable.
EPFO services resume after maintenance
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will resume online services from July 2 following a scheduled system migration and database consolidation. The member portal, employer portal and several digital services were temporarily unavailable from June 26 to June 30.