The government waived off withdrawal charges for using other banks' ATMs for three months

Highlights Relaxations came in backdrop of lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus

Government extended deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar to June 30

Government also announced waiving off ATM withdrawal charges

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a slew of measures ranging from extension of deadline for filing income tax returns to waiving cash withdrawal fee for using automatic teller machine (ATMs) of other banks and relaxing threshold for insolvency proceedings to Rs 1 crore. The relaxations announced by the finance minister came in the backdrop of lockdown in numerous cities to contain the spread of deadly coronavirus.

Ms Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the deadline for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 has been extended to June 30, 2020 from March 31, 2020. The interest rate on delayed payment of returns has also been cut to 9 per cent from 12 per cent.

The government also extended the last date for linking PAN with unique biometric ID Aadhaar to June 30 from March 31.

The finance minister added that the Vivad se Vishwas tax dispute resolution scheme has been extended by three months to June 30. Those availing the scheme by the extended deadline will not have to pay 10 per cent interest on the principal amount.

The government also announced waiving off ATM withdrawal charges for using another bank ATM and minimum balance maintenance fee to be charged by banks.

"Debit card holders who withdraw cash from any other bank ATM can do it free of charge for next three months," Ms Sitharaman said.

No minimum balance maintenance fee will be charged by banks, Ms Sitharaman added.

To help small companies facing the threat of defaults due to coronavirus-related lockdown, the government raised the threshold that would trigger insolvency proceedings to Rs 1 crore from current Rs 1 lakh.

This raising of the threshold will help small and medium enterprises, the Finance Minister said.