BEWARE! IT’S (NOT) FREE BANKING
On your TV screens we often see one add that the employee of bank listening patiently all the non-sense stuff of an old lady even though the banking operations are closed & all the employees goes home except him. You are right that’s ICICI Bank’s add, India’s largest private sector bank. It has a timeline saying, ‘Khayal Apaka’. Sate Bank of India (India’s largest bank) saying: ‘With you- all the way’, while IDBI Bank timeline: ‘Some relationships grow deeper with time’. In real sense the scenario is altogether different. The fact is that the do not even entertain their customers. Most of the customers feel like harassed.
In today’s world nothing is free; same is the case with banks. For every service you get you have to pay. Even entering a bank is costlier. The banks levy charges as ‘consultation charges.’
If you think that you haven’t tasted it, that’s false. You have tasted it unknowingly. Just go through your bank statement you will find various such charges have been levied by bank.
Last week when I was in bank for some official work, I saw my friend Akash quarreling with bankers. When I enquired about it I found that bank had debited his account with various charges like service charge, DD charges and many more.
Being a Financial & Tax consultant with curiosity I audited his bank passbook & bank statements. I found one such interesting charge that the bank has levied. This was the most illogical & stupid charge I have seen until now. It was ‘non transaction charge’ the bank had levied to his account by debiting Rs.50/-. Akash had not been using that bank account since from last 2 years.
This charge varies from bank to bank. SBI charges Rs.25/- if you have not withdrawn even a single penny from your account within 6 months. Another nationalized bank, Bank of Maharashtra charges Rs.50/- for same if no transaction have been done within 3 years.
The list of bank charges doesn’t end by 5-10 entries; it’s a 1-3 pages long.
Contradictory to above example SBI charges for excessive transaction done from your account. State Bank will charge Rs.5/- for each debit transaction in after you have crossed the limit of 30 debit transactions in 6 months, if done at a branch. Other banks like BANK OF MAHARASHTRA charge Rs.50/- if no transaction has been done from you’re a/c.
Its being a common complaint of ICICI Bank & HDFC Bank customers these bank levy hefty charges ranging from Rs.100/– 300/- for a duplicate statement. Although now you have freedom to withdraw money from another banks ATM not more than 5 times in a month. Some banks will charge Rs.12- 25.In case your transaction at other bank is rejected because you do not have the required balance then Kotak Mahindra Bank & ICIC Bank will charge Rs.25/- per transaction for certain types of saving A/c.
We often ask our clients/relatives to deposit money/cheque or to withdraw money near by bank branch closer to them. Bank levy charges for using non home branch, meaning a branch apart from where your account is registered. Kotak Mahindra bank will charge Rs.50-10000 on the basis of Rs.2.5 per Rs.10000 deposited or withdrawn at non home branches. HDFC bank levies a charge for third party transaction on your behalf for cash transaction at non home branches. ICICI Bank allows the first cash deposit in a non city branch per month free, but later Rs.5 per Rs. 1000 subject to minimum Rs.150/- will be levied. SBI charges Rs.25 per 10000 for non home transaction.
A mater of fact that most banks are trying to discourage its customers not to visit the bank branches. So its imperative to have internet banking and telephone banking.
HOW TO PAY TAXES ELECTRONICALLY? ITS 24X7
In today’s world you can almost buy anything on net by just a single click. So why not taxes? Yes, you can also pay taxes from anywhere in the world. In India almost all banks are providing online tax payment facility. The intention of this article is to create awareness about net banking facilities provided by various financial institutions. Despite of net banking facility and many other add-on services most of us are still using age old practices. Most of the banks will not accept your tax payment in cash. Banks will accept tax payments if they are paid through instrument or electronically. Cheque/ Online payment has been made mandatory by some of the laws like Income Tax Act, 1961 & Service Tax Act etc. You can also read my articles on my site http://www.mytaxform.info. Further we would discuss how to pay taxes online or electronically? For making online tax payment there is no need to download any software or purchase income tax challan. Any person having a net banking facility can pay taxes electronically. The detailed information can be obtained from the bankers as the procedure varies from bank to bank. The list of banks providing e tax payment facility is available on NSDL-TIN website.
How secure is the transaction?
There is no need to worry. All the transactions made through banks or NSDL-TIN or Income Tax site are encrypted and have Secure Socket Layer (SSL) authentication. Most of the banks in India have Verisign Digital Certification. This assures that this site is secured for financial transactions. Additionally, the security level will differ from bank to bank. If you don’t see the signs as mentioned above, you have to take extra measures for protection. Look for the closed padlock and “s” in https in the URL.
How to pay taxes online?
There are 2 ways by which one can pay taxes. (1) From NSDL-TIN website. (2) From your Bank site. 1) NSDL-TIN website/ Income Tax website: For paying from this site you can log on to http://www.onlineservices.tin.nsdl.com/etaxnews . Alternatively you can also pay through http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in. On Income Tax site there is ‘Pay your Tax Online” button on left hand menu bar. By clicking on this you will be redirected to NSDL-TIN website. The following steps will lead you in paying e-taxes.
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(payment of Income Tax & Corporation Tax) |
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(Tax Deducted at Source / Tax Collected at Source (TDS/TCS) from Corporates or non-corporates) |
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(payment of Security Transaction Tax, Hotel Receipts Tax, Estate Duty, Interest Tax, Wealth Tax, Expenditure Tax /Other Direct taxes & Gift tax) |
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(payment of Banking Cash Transaction Tax and Fringe Benefits Tax) |
• Select appropriate challan Form.
• After selecting appropriate challan, fill the details such as PAN, Name & address and then click on ‘Proceed’ button.
• A confirm data page will appear along with message in red letter. “For PAN ‘XXXXX 0000X’ given by you above, the name as per Income Tax Department database is ‘
XXXXXXXXX’.
Tax credit will be effected
to the said PAN nam
e. If the name is correct, then click on “Submit to the bank”
• Login with the user id and password and enter the tax amount along with any intrest or penalty.
• An e-receipt will be generated, save or print it for your record.
This is the complete e-payment process.
2). If you have to pay taxes through your bank directly then following steps should be taken:
• Login with user id and password.
• Click on E-Tax menu and select on appropriate type: Direct Tax, Indirect Tax or State Tax.
• Fill the appropriate challan along with tax am
ount.
• Click on Confirm button.
• An e-receipt will be generated containing CIN (Challan Identification Number).
Stop taking pains by wasting your time in standing long queue in banks and of carrying liquid cash, just clicking will pay your taxes. Pay your Taxes & have sound sleep
DEBT COUNSELLING: AN INSIGHT- II
(…cont.)HOW DEBT COUNSELLING WORKS?
Debt counselors assess your requirements and financial status in totality and brief you about the cost involved. The next stage is to jot down the sources of income and outflows like installments of loans, intrest, insurance premiums etc. This centre helps you to restructure the outflows so that you live a debt free life. Banks are ready for settlement of loans as they want to avoid loans from becoming NPA’s. These services are free of cost.
TIPS TO GET OUT OF DEBT
- Firstly you should inform your spouse and parents about your debts.
- Keep minimum no. of credit cards. Give preference in repayments to those whose intrest rates & principal amounts are high and then other debts.
- Go for One Time Settlement (OTS) if the bank allows the defaulter to settle all dues in one time.
- If OTS is not possible restructure your loans, premiums. Draft a letter to bank stating your inability to pay EMI and asking for restructure.
- Transfer your debt from one financial institution to another which offers you low intrest rates and flexible payment options.
- In the worst case, if you have lost all money and do not have any source of income then file a petition in the court for insolvency. The court will take over all the assets and pay all your debts in pro-rata basis.
DEBT COUNSELLING CENTRES IN INDIA
There are various banks and financial institutions which runs debt counselling centers as a part of their ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’. Where as for customers it’s a ‘Goodwill Gesture’. The banks which provide these services in India are:
· Bank of India’s Abhay (http://www.bankofindia.com/abhay.aspx)
· ICICI Bank’s Disha Financial Counselling (http://dishafc.org)
· This site is an initiative of the Indian Banks’ Association, India Cards Council and MasterCard which offers free financial education (is http://money4you.in).
· Bank of Baroda’s (http://www.bankofbaroda.com/bgpk.asp) and many more banks.
CONCLUSION
It has been rightly said that ‘Money is the root cause of all evils’. Most of the people allow the power of money to control them. Most of the people have misconception that money solves all the problems. But in fact it accelerates the problems. If we ask people why we need money? The most common answers we find that they want to get rich or ‘I’m in debt so I need money’. Debt counselling centers helps you to have a sound sleep