These 7 big financial rules are changing from November 1, from LPG cylinder price to ITR deadline; It will directly affect your pocket

Right in the middle of the festive season, from the first of November, there is going to be a major change in many important rules related to the daily life and household budget of common citizens, taxpayers and railway passengers. These changes being implemented by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Income Tax Department, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Indian Railways will directly impact your wallet, monthly expenses and financial transactions. It is very important to understand these 7 key rules before the beginning of the month so that any kind of financial penalty or inconvenience can be avoided.

Like the first date of every month, on 1st November also the major oil marketing companies of the country (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL) will release new prices of LPG cylinders.

• 19 Kg Commercial Cylinder: The prices of 19 kg commercial gas cylinders used in restaurants, hotels, dhabas and catering business will be revised on the basis of international crude and gas benchmarks. Confectionery and food businessmen are keeping a close eye on this during the festive season.

• 14.2 kg domestic cylinder: The decision on whether oil companies maintain stability in domestic LPG prices or provide minor relief will also be decided by the rates announced at 6 am on November 1. Besides, the prices of aviation fuel (ATF) and CNG-PNG will also be reviewed monthly.

November 1 is a very important day for traders, firms and those taxpayers whose accounts are required to be audited.

• the deadline: The Income Tax Department has fixed November 15 as the last date for filing Income Tax Return (ITR) for the assessment year (AY 2026-27) without late fees for corporate and audit case taxpayers (the process of submitting the initial audit report has to be completed in early November itself).

• Penalty and interest: If the prescribed audit returns are not submitted on time, a hefty penalty of 0.5% of the turnover (up to a maximum of ₹1,50,000) under Section 271B of the Income Tax Act and late interest of 1% monthly under Section 234A may have to be paid.

The much talked about new Advance Reservation Period (ARP) rule of Indian Railways is becoming fully effective from November 1.

• 60 days instead of 120 days: Now passengers will be able to book confirmed train tickets maximum 60 days (except the day of journey) before the date of their journey. Earlier this period was 120 days (about 4 months).

• Control on brokers and fake booking: Railways has taken this step to stop seat blocking, arbitrariness of ticket brokers and to reduce more than 21% ticket cancellations at the last minute.

• No effect on already booked tickets: Tickets already booked under the old rule of 120 days till October 31 will remain completely valid and there will be no impact of this reduction on them.

Revisions in credit card charges of many big financial institutions including SBI Card, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are being implemented from November 1:

• Charges on utility bill payment: An additional convenience fee of 1% will now be charged on electricity, water or gas bill payments through credit cards above a certain monthly limit (usually ₹50,000).

• Finance Charges and Late Fees: The monthly finance charge on unsecured credit cards is being revised to 3.75% per month (approximately 45% per annum).

• Reward points off on fares and wallet loading: Reward points earned on making rent payment through credit card or adding money to wallet through CRED, Paytm or other third party apps have been completely abolished or severely limited.

Under the new guidelines of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the rules for commercial SMS and OTP delivery are being made very strict from November 1.

• Danger of message blocking: It will be mandatory for telecom companies (Jio, Airtel, Vi) to track the end-to-end trail (complete route of the message sender) for transactional SMS and OTPs sent by banks, e-commerce platforms and financial institutions.

• Impact on Customers: Promotional or alert messages from entities that do not meet TRAI’s mandated header and template standards will be automatically blocked by the telecom network. Initially some customers may face a delay of a few seconds in receiving the bank OTP.

According to the revised RBI circular, additional security checks are being implemented on unbanked or agent-based domestic money transfer (DMT) networks from November 1.

• KYC & Mobile Verification: Now, when sending money to a bank account by giving cash from a Banking Correspondent or Customer Service Center (CSP), it will be mandatory to enter mobile based OTP verification and valid government identity proof of the sender.

• Prohibition on fraud and money laundering: The aim of this step is to completely stop cyber fraud and illegal transactions in accounts from unknown sources.

Banks have sent a final warning to their customers who have not yet signed the revised Model Bank Locker Agreement. The operation of such unrenewed lockers may be banned from November 1. Along with this, the process of claiming savings accounts and unclaimed deposits lying dormant for 10 years is also being further digitized through the ‘Udgam’ (UDGAM) portal of the Reserve Bank of India.

Citizens are advised to plan their essential financial transactions, ticket bookings and credit card payments keeping these new rules in mind to avoid any unexpected financial losses.