FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces relief measures for the common man amid COVID-19 outbreak

As India continues to battle with the Coronavirus pandemic, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced several relief measures for the common man and the corporate sector. In a major relief, the finance minister extended the Aadhar-PAN linking deadline to June 30, 2020, and also the last date to file IT returns and composition returns to June 30. Sitharaman also announced that the Centre would soon unveil a financial relief package. 

Furthermore, Debit cardholders can withdraw cash from any bank’s ATM free of charge for the next three months and there will also be no minimum balance requirement. Bank charges for digital trade and transactions will be reduced. Meanwhile, The delayed payment interest rate on I-T returns has been reduced from 12% to 9% and no interest, late fee, penalty to be charged for companies that have less than Rs.5 crore turnover. 

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Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, 505 positive cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) with Maharashtra reporting the highest at 107. Ten deaths have been reported to date. India has suspended all visas and barred travel from Afghanistan, Philippines, EU, UK, China, Malaysia and mandatory 14-day quarantine from several other countries and shut down over 75 districts across the nation. 

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India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. The government is monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories with Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Delhi, Kerala, Jammu - Kashmir declaring the disease an epidemic shutting down all educational institutions, monuments, parks, gyms, swimming pools, pubs and banning large gatherings.

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