Big announcement from Modi government! No charges on bank ATM withdrawals via debit cards for next three months

The citizens of India are unlikely to face a cash crunch even during the lockdown imposed to fight coronavirus outbreak. It has been announced by the government that bank account holders will be allowed to withdraw money from bank ATMs without having to pay anything extra! Finance Minister Nirmala announced several relief measures for the common man as well as corporates on Tuesday afternoon in a press conference and making bank ATM cash withdrawals free was one them.

The Finance Minister said that debit card holders will be allowed to withdraw money from bank ATMs for free. The relief will be extended to all bank customers for next three months, the finance minister said.

“Debit card holders who withdraw cash from any bank's ATM can do it free of charge for the next 3 months,” she said, in her press conference. 

The FM said that an economic package to help through the coronavirus lockdown will be announced very soon. She said an announcement on the package would be made sooner rather than later.

She also extended the deadline for filing GST returns for March-May to June 30. On late filing of GST returns, no late fee, penalty or interest will be charged for companies with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore. For companies with more than Rs 5 crore turnover, no late fee and penalty will be charged on GST return filed by 15 days. A reduced interest rate of 9 per cent will be charged, she said. 

The announcements have been welcomed by experts as country has witnessed a jump in number of coronavirus cases for the last few days, forcing many states to impose a lockdown. 

“The extension of GST return filing timelines together with the deferment of e-invoicing and new returns announced earlier would allow businesses to focus on resumption of business processes once normalcy resumes in future,” MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India said on GST deadline extension.