FM also announced that for the period of next three months, bank account holders do not need to maintain minimum account balance criteria. This clearly states that people holding savings account will now not be penalised for not fulfilling the criteria for at least three months.
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"Debit cardholders who withdraw cash from any bank's ATM can do it free of charge for the next 3 months. Also, a complete waiver of minimum balance charges for savings bank account," she said.
In another slew of relief measures to the public amid the lockdown across 548 districts, the FM announced that deadlines have been extended to contain spread of the pandemic. Income Tax filing, Aadhaar-PAN card linking deadline for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended to June 30,2020. The last date for filing GST returns for March, April and May 2020 has also been extended to June 30.
She also announced that for companies with turnover of over Rs 5 crore, no late fee and penalty will be charged on late GST return filing. Sitharaman added that the mandatory holding of board meetings for companies extended by 60 days in view of the current situation.
Extension of deadlines for various other financial schemes and obligations including the "Vivad se Vishwas" initiative has been announced till June 30.
The finance minister also said the Customs department will be working 24/7 throughout the crisis situation so that trade and export activities do not suffer.
She went to add that newly incorporated firms, which are required to file declaration for the commencement of business within six months, will now get an additional six months time.
During the press conference, Sitharaman announced the threshold of default for MSMEs has been increased to Rs 1 crore from existing Rs 1 lakh. It was also conveyed that if the situation continues beyond April, the government will consider suspending Sections 7,9, and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for six months to stop companies that are forced into insolvency.
While briefing to the press, Nirmala Sitharaman clearly stated that today's announcements have been made in regard to extend deadlines to primarily help citizens and an economic packages for the industry will be announced soon.
However, she assured that the government is also working swiftly to come up with an econommic package to help the industry tackle Covid-19 pandemic. While FM Sitharaman did not mention specific date, she said it will be announced soon.