Year End Review 2019- Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Year End Review 2019- Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Posted On: 30 DEC 2019 5:09PM by PIB Delhi

Following are the initiatives of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions during the year 2019:

‘Good Governance Index’ launched on ‘Good Governance Day’

MoS (PP) Dr Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Good Governance Index’ at an event organized by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, on the occasion of Good Governance Day i.e. 25th December, 2019. The Good Governance Index is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and UTs. The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and UTs, enable states and UTs to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration. Various principles have been kept in mind while selecting the indicators, i.e. it should be easy to understand & calculate, citizen-centric & result driven, leading to improved results and applicable to all states and UTs, among others. Various consultation meetings were held with the stakeholders, including consultations with sector experts, ministries, states & UTs. The GGI takes into consideration ten sectors: 1). Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2). Commerce & Industries, 3). Human Resource Development, 4). Public Health, 5). Public Infrastructure & Utilities, 6). Economic Governance, 7). Social Welfare & Development, 8). Judicial & Public Security, 9). Environment and 10). Citizen-Centric Governance.

On the occasion, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has also brought out a Handbook for Retiring Central Government Employee, including All India Service Officers, to make them, as well as their families, aware of their entitlements and various procedural formalities with respect to their retirement benefits.

The Minister also launched the 15th edition of Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure (CSMOP).

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG)’s initiatives for UTs of J&K and Ladakh:

• A two-day Regional Conference (November 15-16, 2019) on ‘Replication of Good Governance Practices in UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, was organised in Jammu. The Conference was inaugurated by the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, in the presence of the Lt. Gov. of J&K, Shri G.C. Murmu, Secretary DoPT & DARPG, Dr C. Chandramouli, and J&K Chief Secretary, Shri BVR Subrahmanyam. The valedictory session was chaired by Shri K. K. Sharma Advisor to the LT. Governor of J&K. After intensive deliberations, ‘Sushasan Sankalp: Jammu Ghoshana’ resolution was adopted. The Conference resolved that Government of India and the participating State Governments and the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh shall collaborate to Develop the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as models of administrative excellence using digital technologies in implementation of welfare Union Territory programs. The Regional Conference was attended by Delegates from 19 States and 4 Union Territories. In addition, 450 officials from Government of Jammu and Kashmir participated in the Regional Conference.

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• A 2-day regional conference in Jammu under the theme ‘Ek Barat Shresht Bharat’ with focus on ‘Jal Shakti and Disaster Management’ was organized on 30th Nov-1st December 2019. The Regional Conference brought together officials from the sister State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir in technical sessions on Jal Shakti and Disaster Management Practices. The technical sessions included Rejuvenation of Rivers – Cauvery and Jhelum, Reducing Water Consumption in Agriculture, Urban Flooding, Experience Sharing by District Collectors and Line Departments and also talks by specialists in Water Management practices. The Regional Conference was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh in the presence of Lt. Governor of J&K Shri G. C. Murmu on November 30, 2019. The conference was attended by 350 delegates from Jammu and Kashmir.

• Three delegations from DARPG visited Srinagar in September – October 2019 to firm up the collaboration, the first delegation led by Shri V. Srinivas, Additional Secretary, DARPG had visited J&K on 4-5th September, 2019. This was followed by 2 delegations led by Joint Secretary DARPG Shri V. Shashank Shekhar. The Additional Secretary DARPG held discussions with the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir and Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries of the line Departments in outlining the collaboration roadmap.

22nd National Conference on e-Governance and adoption of ‘Shillong Declaration’

DARPG, in association with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India and the State Government of Meghalaya organized the 22nd National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) 2019 on 8-9thAugust, 2019 at Shillong, Meghalaya. The theme of this Conference was “Digital India: Success to Excellence”. At the valedictory session, the historic ‘Shillong Declaration’ outlining the roadmap on e-Governance of the Nation was adopted after intensive deliberations during the sessions held over two days.

DARPG in association with the Administrative Reforms Commission of the Government of Kerala organized the National Seminar on e-Governance at Thiruvananthapuram on August 27-28, 2019. The theme of the National Seminar was digital empowerment of the citizens.

‘Nagpur Resolution- A Holistic approach for empowering citizens’

The ‘Nagpur Resolution- A Holistic approach for empowering citizens’ was adopted during the Valedictory session of the two-day Regional Conference on ‘Improving Public Service Delivery – Role of Governments’, in Nagpur on 22nd December, 2019. The Conference resolved that Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra State Commission for Right to Public Services and the participating State Governments shall collaborate to empower the citizens by policy interventions for better service delivery through timely updation of citizens charters, implementation of enactments and benchmarking standards for continuous improvement, among others.

Chairperson and members of Lokpal administered oath of office:

The Chairperson, Lokpal, Sh. Justice P. C. Ghose and its eight members were administered the Oath of Office. The logo, motto and website of the Lokpal were also launched during the year.

Four Information Commissioners administered the oath of office of the Information Commissioner

Four Information Commissioners namely Shri Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, Smt. Vanaja N Sarna, Shri Neeraj Kumar Gupta and Shri Suresh Chandra were administered the oath of office of the Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission(CIC) by the Chief Information Commissioner, Shri Sudhir Bhargava, on 1st January, 2019. With their induction, the total number of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission including Chief Information Commissioner has gone upto 7.

Passing of RTI Amendment Bill, 2019

After being passed in Lok Sabha, the RTI Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 25th July, 2019. The Lok Sabha had passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 22nd July. In this amendment, it is proposed to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005 so as to provide that the term of office of, and the salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of, the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners and the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners, shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

CPGRAMS reforms and National workshop on CPGRAMS

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) organised the National Workshop on Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) Reforms on 5th November 2019. The CPGRAMS reforms for Departments of Financial Services and Telecommunications (DoT) and the ‘Online Hackathon on Data-Driven Innovation for Citizen Grievance Redressal’ was launched during the event. The CPGRAMS reforms for Department of Posts were launched on 25th September 2019 as part of the 100 days’ agenda of DARPG. The new version of CPGRAMS 7.0 will lead to reduction in grievance disposal time and improved quality of grievance redressal.

National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG)’s training programmes:

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), India’s leading civil services training institution, has entered into an MoU with the Maldives Civil Services Commission for capacity building of 1000 Maldives civil servants over the next 5 years. The agreement was signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Male on 8th June 2019.

 The 2-week long Special Training program was conducted by the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) at Mussoorie and Delhi in pursuance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India-Bangladesh and India-Maldives which were signed for training 1800 civil servants of Bangladesh and 1000 civil servants of Maldives over a period of 5 years. In all, 33 officials from Maldives and 31 officials from Bangladesh participated in the Training Program.

The Valedictory Session held on 27th September in New Delhi was addressed by Dr Jitendra Singh Minister of State for Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions. The program was conducted under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation program (ITEC) from 16th September at Mussoorie and Delhi. Under the MoU, 10 training programmes will be conducted from September 2019 to December 2020. The first 3 training programs under the MoU would be held in 2019 (a) September 16-28, 2019 and November 18-30, 2019 for 60 officers of the middle management level (b) December 2-14, 2019 for 30 officers of top management at the Permanent Secretary level.

Capacity building program for the Permanent Secretaries and Secretary Generals of the Republic of Maldives held

The Capacity Building Program was conducted by the National Centre for Good Governance from December 6 to December 13, 2019. The program was attended by 15 Permanent Secretaries and Secretary Generals of the Republic of Maldives. This is the first capacity building program for Top Management Officials of the Republic of Maldives conducted by the National Centre for Good Governance in India. Under Memorandum of Understanding between India and the Republic of Maldives, 1000 civil servants of Maldives are to be trained at the National Centre for Good Governance. Till date, 3 capacity building programs for 100 Officials have been successfully conducted.

MoU signed between UPSC and the Civil Service Council of Mongolia

On 3rd July, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Civil Service Council of Mongolia in New Delhi, to take forward the cooperation between the Commissions of the two countries. The Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, Shri Arvind Saxena and Chairman, Civil Service Council of Mongolia, Mr. B. Baatarzorig signed the MoU in the presence of officers from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).

14th Annual convention of the Central Information Commission held on 12th October

The Union Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah presided over the 14th Annual convention of the Central Information Commission as Chief Guest on 12th October, 2019. Shri Shah praised RTI as a great step to remove injustice and corruption from the system and increase the efficiency of governance. He said that RTI removes arbitrariness from governance and acts as a major grievance redressal tool. He said that the use of high technology methods like video conference and digitization of RTI files makes the lives of litigants easier.

CBI organises first National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics

The first National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics was organized by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 4th -5th September, 2019. Around 50 Officers including DGPs, ADGPs, IGPs, DIGPs and SPs dealing with cybercrime in State & UT Police, Central Agencies, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, other Ministries, experts from Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and academia participated in the Conference.

National e-Governance Awards, 2019 presented:

MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh, presented the National e-Governance Awards, 2019 at a function organised by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, in New Delhi on 27th February. With a view to recognize and promote Excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives, the Government of India presents National Awards on e-Governance every year. The 14 Awards were given in 6 categories to recognize achievements in the area of e-Governance, with Gold and Silver Awards in each category. A Special Jury Award was also presented in Category-I for IRCTC Rail Connect Mobile App.

Posting of Assistant Secretaries in Central Government Ministries/Departments:

On 2nd July, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted with about 160 young IAS officers of the 2017 batch, who were appointed as Assistant Secretaries in the Government of India. The Valedictory session was held on 1st October, 2019. The Prime Minister encouraged the officers to be receptive towards new ideas, new concepts and perspectives. Interacting with officers, Prime Minister said that maintaining service orientation is paramount for a civil servant as it will bring out neutrality.

Integrated Grievance Cell & Call Center for pensioners:

An Integrated Grievance Cell & Call Center was inaugurated on 20th June, 2019 for pensioners with the objective of providing easy access to pensioners in registering their grievances and getting speedy resolution. This centre is also working as team which coordinates with different Ministries/Departments to resolve the problems of the elderly pensioners.

All India Pension Adalat

All India Pension Adalat was organized on 23.08.2019 by DoPPW by roping in various Ministries and Departments all over the country. The MoS (PP) interacted with the nodal officers and the pensioners present at these Pension Adalats at remote locations from Delhi through live video conferencing. More than 50 centers were connected through live video conferencing with the event being organized in Delhi.  Around 4,000 Pensioners’ cases were resolved in a single day.

Rule 54(3) of Family Pension Rules, 1964 amended

Rule 54(3) of Family Pension Rules, 1964 amended vide extra-ordinary gazette notification dated 20.09.2019 with an objective to provide enhanced family pension to the dependant of deceased government employee who dies before completing 7 years of service. Earlier, for Families of Government servant dying in harness for reasons other than attributable to government duty, the admissible Family Pension was 30% of last pay drawn, if the official had not put in at least 7 years of service. For the Families of those Government servants who had put in at least 7 years or more of service, the admissible Family Pension was at an enhanced rate of 50% of the last pay drawn. This distinction of the No. of years of service was removed with effect from 1st October 2019 and now enhanced Family Pension would also be admissible to the Families of all Government servant in the unfortunate event of their death even before their completing 7 years of service.

1. To provide ease of living for aged pensioners orders were issued on 18.7.2019 to allow them for submission of Life Certificate from October, 1st instead of November, 1st which will be valid till 30th November of subsequent year.
2. As part of this Department’s special emphasis to Jammu, a presentation on Bhavishya was given to J&K administration for adopting Good Governance practices after restructure in of the status. This was followed up with a workshop on Bhavishya at Jammu which was conducted for the personnel of the border Secretary Force Jammu on 25th September, 2019.

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No Change in The Threshold of 20 or more Employees under the EPF & MP Act

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

31-December-2019 16:41 IST

No Change in The Threshold of 20 or more Employees under the EPF & MP Act

Ministry of Labour and Employment denies the media reports published in some newspapers today that the applicability threshold has been brought down from present establishment with 20 or more employees to 10 or more employees for the purpose of application of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 (EPF & MP Act). The reports say that new rules of Employees Provident Fund will apply from January 01, 2020 and under the new rules establishments having 10 or more employees will be covered under the said Act. 

It is clarified that there is no change in the threshold for application of the EPF & MP Act and there is no such proposal in the Ministry at present.

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Government Servant under Old Pension Scheme – Brief facts of Writ – A No. – 55606 of 2008

By Annu Priya on December 30th, 2019

Tags: Court Order, eNPS

Government Servant under Old Pension Scheme – Brief facts of Writ – A No. – 55606 of 2008

A.F.R.
Reserved On : 26.07.2019
Delivered On : 19.12.2019

Case :- WRIT – A No. – 55606 of 2008

 Mahesh Narayan And Others

Versus

 State Of U.P. And Others

Counsel for Petitioner :– Siddharth Khare,Ashok Khare
Counsel for Respondent :– C.S.C.

Hon’ble Neeraj Tiwari,J.

Heard Sri Siddharth Khare, learned counsel for the petitioners and Sri Brajesh Pratap Singh, learned standing counsel for respondents. 

Brief facts of the case are that Irrigation Department of State of U.P. has sent a requisition dated 20.10.1999 to Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Commission’) notifying 954 posts of Junior Engineer (Civil) to hold selection and in the notification dated 20.10.1999, it was clearly mentioned that posts are pensionable. After receiving requisition, Commission issued an advertisement No. A- 3/E-1/2000 dated 22.12.2000 inviting application for Junior Engineer (Civil) Irrigation Department (Screening) Examination, 2000. Last date of submission form was 27.01.2001 and petitioners being fully eligible, have submitted the application. In the advertisment, it was provided that there would be preliminary screening test for selection of candidates to appear in the mains examination. However, subsequently aforesaid preliminary screening test was done away and all applicants permitted to appear straightway in the mains written examination which was held on 22.12.2001 and all the petitioners appeared in the said examination. Prior to the holding of written examination, Writ Petition No. 7062 (S/S) of 2001 (Pramod Kumar Gupta and others Vs. Public Service Commission, U.P. Allahabad and others) was filed by some candidates possessing Civil Engineering Degree and claiming permission to participate in the said examination. In the said petition, stay order was granted by learned Single Judge vide order dated 18.12.2001 restraining the holding of examination, which was scheduled for 22/23.12.2001. Against the interim order dated 18.12.2001, Commission preferred Special Appeal No. 485 (S/B) of 2001 (U.P. Public Service Commission Vs. State of U.P. and others), in which vide order dated 19.12.2001, interim order was modified and a direction was issued to permit the petitioners also to appear in the said examination whereas their results shall not be declared. There was no restrain order with regard to declaration of result of remaining candidates and there was only observation that declaration of result shall be only provisional subject to final decision of writ petition. Thereafter, written examination was held on 22/23.12.2001 but result of the said examination could not be declared immediately. Writ Petition No. 7062 (S/S) of 2001 was connected with Writ Petition No. 7012 (S/S) of 2001 (Anoop Ratan Awasthi Vs. Public Service Commission, Allahabad and others) and the said petitions were dismissed by learned Single Judge of this Court vide order dated 05.07.2005. After dismissal of writ petitions, result of written examination was declared on 05.10.2005 and petitioners were shown as having qualified and called for participating in interview. Interview was held between 21.11.2005 to 12.01.2006 and final select list of selected candidates was published in daily newspaper ‘Dainik Jagran’ on 12.03.2006 having the roll numbers of all the petitioners and they have been finally selected for appointment. Ultimately, vide office order dated 14.06.2006, appointment was granted to total 113 persons including petitioner Nos. 2 & 3 and another office order dated 20.07.2006 was issued granting appointment to total 125 persons including the name of petitioner No. 1. Pursuant to the appointment letters, all the petitioners submitted their joining on 25.07.2006, 30.06.2006 and 24.06.2006 respectively.

Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that presently all petitioners are working at different places in the State of U.P.

It is further submitted that grievance of the petitioners is with regard to their exclusion from the benefit of pension payable under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Retirement Benefits Rules, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules, 1961’) and benefit of provident fund under the General Provident Fund (Uttar Pradesh) Rules, 1985. State Government issued Notification dated 28.03.2005 replacing the ‘Old Pension Scheme’ with ‘New Pension Scheme’ with effect from 01.04.2005. For implementation of notification dated 28.03.2005, State Government has amended Uttar Pradesh Retirement Benefits Rules, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules, 1961’) by Uttar Pradesh Retirement Benefits (Amendment) Rules, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules, 2005’). Vide Notification dated 07.04.2005, in Rule 2 of Rules, 1961, Clause-3 has been inserted providing that Rules, 1961 shall not apply to employees entering in service on or after 01.04.2005.

3 BSNL VRS – 2019 : Clarification on withdrawal of VRS option BSNL VRS – 2019 : Clarification on withdrawal of VRS option. BSNL Corporate Office has issued letter that all VRS options, as existed in the ERP portal at the closing time and date of VRS option shall be treated as final. It means, any withdrawal of VRS option after 03.12.2019 will not be accepted by the Management. BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED

(A Govt. of India Enterprise)

BSNL Corporate Office
Establishment Branch
PAT Section, 5th floor
Bharat Sanchar Bhawan
H.C. Mathur Lane, New Delhi-110001

No. 1-15/2019-PAT (BSNL) Part-1

Dated: 24.12.2019

To

All Heads of the Telecom Circles,
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

Sub: VRS-2019 – Clarifications relating to submission of option/ withdrawal form-regarding.

Few Circles have sought clarification as to what action should be taken with regard to the status of those VRS optees who have not yet submitted their Physical copies of options/withdrawal forms till date and also those employees who have submitted written representations for change of option exercised by them in the ERP Portal. 

In this regard, with the approval of the Competent Authority, it is hereby clarified that VRS option as existing in the ERP Portal on the closing date and time of VRS option shall be treated as final and no subsequent written request for change of status shall be entertained. VRS option as existing in the ERP Portal should be submitted to the Competent authority for acceptance and after acceptance, they shall be relieved from BSNL service on 31.01.2020 A/N. The Circles. are hereby directed to take further necessary action accordingly.

The Circle authorities may.further direct the concerned employee to submit the physical option/withdrawal form immediately failing which their terminal benefits shall be delayed. Any delay in settlement of their terminal. benefits on this account shall be the sole responsibility of the employee concerned.

This issues with the approval of the Competent Authority. (G.P. Vishnoi)Asstt. General Manager (Estt-III)4

Question of CGHS facilities for Govt School Teachers – सरकारी विद्यालय के शिक्षकों के लिए सीजीएचएस सुविधा का प्रश्‍न

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2470

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10TH DECEMBER, 2019

CGHS FACILITIES FOR GOVERNMENT SCHOOL TEACHERS

2470. SHRI MAJEED MEMON:
Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether CGHS facility is available to all the Government employees working in Government offices;

(b) whether Government contemplates on providing this facility to the teachers teaching in Government schools; and

(c) if not, reasons therefor?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a): CGHS facility is available to all Central Government employees and pensioners residing in areas covered under the scheme. Their dependent family members are also eligible to avail the facilities under the scheme.

(b): No. (c): Central Government Health Scheme is primarily meant for Central Government employees and pensioners, Hon’ble Members of Parliaments, ex-Members of Parliament and their dependents. Only few other categories of beneficiaries like Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Judges and former Judges of Supreme Court of India and former Judges of High Court, etc., and some Autonomous Bodies (on cost to cost basis) have been extended CGHS facility under the scheme.

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Tax Planning 2020: Income Tax Rules Changes 2019 and how taxpayers will be affected

By: Rajeev Kumar | 

Updated: December 23, 2019 4:48:59 PM

Income Tax Rules Changes 2019: Rates of Income Tax of AY 2019‐20 was proposed to be continued for AY 2020‐21 but surcharge rate was increased for Individual, HUF, AOP, BOI, Pvt. Trust and AJP.

Check Income Tax Rules Changes 2019

Income Tax Rule Changes 2019: The year 2019 brought several good news for income taxpayers as the government introduced multiple changes in the income tax law. As many as 70 amendments in the Income Tax Act were made by the Finance Act 2019. These amendments were either in the form of inserting new sections in the existing law or by amending the existing provisions. From making income up to Rs 5 lakh effectively tax-free to tax exemption to withdrawal form NPS, the major changes brought in by the government in the year 2019 are going to have a long-lasting impact on pockets of taxpayers. CS Sakshi Agarwal, chief mentor and leader at Sameer Mittal & Associates LLP, has explained key income tax rule changes of the year and how they will impact taxpayers in 2020. You can use the following details to make your tax plan accordingly:

Income Tax Rates

Rates of Income Tax of AY 2019‐20 was proposed to be continued for AY 2020‐21 but surcharge rate was increased for Individual, HUF, AOP, BOI, Pvt. Trust and AJP. Initially, a surcharge of 15 per cent was levied on the income of individuals earning over Rs 1 crore, and 10 per cent on income of individuals earning between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. Now the surcharge limit has been increased for individuals earning income of more than Rs. 2 crore. The new structure of surcharge is as follows :

• 10% (for income of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore),
• 15% (for income of Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore),
• 25% (for income of Rs 2 crores to Rs 5 crore) and
• 37% (for income exceeding Rs 5 crore)

So, the effective tax rate for Income above Rs 2 Crore but less than Rs 5 Crore and Income above Rs 5 crore will be 39% and 42.74%(Tax rate + Surcharge + Cess).

New TDS Provisions

In the Budget 2019, two new TDS provisions (Section 194N and Section 194M) were introduced. These are applicable from 1st September 2019.

1. TDS on cash withdrawal to discourage cash transactions [Section 194N]

In order to curb the cash transactions, from September onwards the banks, cooperative banks or post offices are liable to deduct 2% TDS, on cash payment exceeding of Rs 1 Crore in aggregate during the financial year, to any person from an account maintained by the recipient.

2. TDS on Payment by Individual/HUF to Contactors or Professionals [Section 194M]

As per section 194M, any individual or a HUF, which is not subject to tax audit and is not required to deduct TDS under section 194C, section 194H or section 194J and is making payment to any resident for carrying out any work, commission, brokerage or fees for professional service shall deduct a sum equal to 5% as TDS and deposit the amount with Government. The liability to deduct TDS will arise when the amount paid in one go or in multiple instalments exceeds Rs 50 lakh.

WATCH VIDEO | HOW TO FILE ITR I? INCOME TAX FILING EXPLAINED IN 12 STEPS

Other relevant Changes in TDS amendment provisions effective from 1st September 2019 are:

Section 194DA (TDS on income from life insurance): a person is obliged to deduct tax at source if it pays any sum to a resident under a life insurance policy @5% on the amount of income comprised therein in place of earlier 1% TDS on gross amount paid.

Section 194IA (TDS on purchase of immovable property): Under this amendment, explanation has been added defining “Consideration for Immovable property”. Earlier, the individual was required to deduct TDS on the amount paid for buying the house, but from September onwards, TDS has to be deducted on the consideration amount which will also includes all the incidental charges in nature of- club membership fee, car parking fee, electricity and water facility fees, maintenance fee, advance fee or any other charges of similar nature.

Section 194LC (No Deduction of TDS on Interest To A Non-Resident Earned on Rupee Denominated Bond): Section 10 of the Act has been amended w.e.f 1st April, 2019 (AY 2019-20), to exempt the Interest payable by an Indian company or a business trust to a non-resident, including a foreign company, in respect of rupee-denominated bond issued outside India during the period from September 17, 2018 to March 31, 2019 from tax. Consequently, no tax is required to be deducted on the payment of interest in respect of the said bond u/s 194LC. (Effective from 1st April, 2019)

Mandatory furnishing of return of income by certain persons [Section 139]

This Budget has also widened the scope for filing the income tax return. Now, taxable income is not the only key to remember to file the return but some more categories have been introduced to keep aside the taxable income limit. So, person entering into certain high-value transaction or such other person as prescribed will be required to file Income Tax Return mandatorily:

A person who has made deposits exceeding Rs 1 crore in one or more current bank account
A person who has incurred an amount exceeding Rs. 2 lakh on foreign travel for himself or any other person
A person who has incurred more than Rs. 1 lakh on electricity consumption
A person whose total income before claim of the rollover benefits (u/s 54, 54B, 54D, 54EC, 54F, 54G, 54GA, 54GB), is more than the maximum amount not chargeable to tax.

PAN and Aadhaar inter‐changeability

In order to ensure ease of compliance, the Finance Ministry has introduced the PAN /Adhaar interchangeability, whereby if a person has not been allotted PAN then he may furnish his/her Aadhaar number in lieu of PAN. Furthermore, a person who has been allotted PAN and PAN is linked with Aadhar number then he/she may quote his/her Aadhaar in lieu of PAN.

WATCH VIDEO | URGENT! How to link PAN-AADHAAR online in 5 minutes before 31st December

Taxability of Gifts to Person outside India

Under the existing provisions of the Act, a gift of money or property is taxed in the hands of donee, except for certain exemptions provided in clause (x) of sub-section (2) of section 56. Now amendment has been introduced in budget 2019 to ensure that such gifts made by residents to persons outside India are subjected to tax in India. For the purpose of same, a new clause is inserted in Section 9 to provide that any income arising from payment of any sum of money, or transfer of any property situated in India, by a person resident in India to a person outside India shall be deemed to accrue or arise in India. However, the exemption provided under section 56 shall continue to apply even in such cases. In simple words, no tax shall be levied if property or sum of money is received by a person outside India from a relative resident in India or on the occasion of his marriage. So now in these situations, the relevant article of applicable DTAA shall continue to apply for such gifts as well. This amendment will take effect from 1st April 2020 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2020‐21 and subsequent assessment years.

Exemption of lumpsum withdrawal from National Pension Scheme (NPS)

Budget 2019 has proposed to increase the exemption from tax on the lumpsum withdrawal of corpus the corpus, to sixty per cent. Previously, a person withdrawing a lumpsum corpus from NPS trust on closure or opting out of pension scheme was exempt from tax, if the person withdrew up to 40% of the amount. Now, it’s proposed to exempt up to 60%. (These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2020 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to assessment year 2020‐21 and subsequent assessment years).

Additional deduction of interest on home loan

To boost the housing sector, an additional deduction benefit up to Rs 1,50,000/- per year on loan taken for residential house property from any financial institution has been provided. The same is subject to 3 following conditions:

• Loan sanctioned during the period beginning from 01st April 2019 to 31st March 2020.
• Stamp Duty does not exceed INR 45 Lakh.
• Assessee does not own any other residential house property on the date of sanction of loan.

This deduction is in addition to deduction of INR 2 Lac under section 24. Hence total benefit is Rs 3,50,000.

Deduction on purchase of electric vehicle

A new section 80EEB has been proposed to provide for deduction up to Rs 150,000 per year to individual taxpayers, in respect of interest on loan taken for purchase of an “electric vehicle” from any financial institution. The terms electric vehicle and financial institution have also been defined.

This deduction is available for loans sanctioned by a financial institution (including a bank or NBFC) during the period beginning on the 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2023. It has also been provided that no deduction for such interest will be allowed again for the same or any other AY.

Reduction in Corporate Tax Rate

Initially, the companies were required to pay corporate tax at the rate of 25% if the turnover was up to Rs 250 crore. The limit was increased to Rs 400 crore in the Union Budget 2019. However, in order to boost the economy further, the Finance Ministry had in September 2019 amended the Income Tax Act to provide an option to the domestic companies to pay corporate tax at the rate of 22 per cent if the companies, do not avail any exemptions/incentives under different provisions of income tax.

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4. Tax Planning 2020: Income Tax Rules Changes 2019 And How Taxpayers Will Be Affected

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