What’s Changing on December 1: New Rules on Gas, Banking, and Telecom

What’s Changing on December 1: New Rules on Gas, Banking, and Telecom
At the start of each month, several rules are updated. These updates affect a variety of items, including gas cylinder prices and recharge rates, and also involve banks. Such changes can greatly impact the finances of everyday people. With November drawing to a close and December just around the corner, it’s time to look into what changes will take effect from December 1. Let’s find out.
TRAI to implement new regulation
The key point is that to combat scams and phishing, TRAI will introduce a new regulation beginning December 1. This change will ensure that you will not receive any misleading OTPs or commercial messages.
TRAI has taken an important step towards establishing traceability rules for commercial messages and OTPs. Telecom companies were initially given a deadline of October 31 to implement traceability for OTP messages. However, in response to requests from Jio, Airtel, Vi, and BSNL, this deadline has been extended to November 31.
The final deadline for implementing traceability rules for tracking commercial and OTP messages is approaching in November. Telecom companies are now required to adhere to these rules, with the new deadline set by TRAI being December 1 for all telecom operators.
Gas cylinder prices may change.
There may be a change in the price of gas cylinders. LPG rates are revised on the 1st of every month. Along with the prices of LPG cylinders, oil market companies also adjust the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), CNG, and PNG on a monthly basis.
In October, gas companies raised the prices of the 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder by 48 rupees, while the prices for domestic gas cylinders remained unchanged. Earlier, there were also price hikes for commercial LPG cylinders in August and September. The price of the commercial LPG cylinder increased by 8.50 rupees in August and by 39 rupees in September.
Axis Bank and SBI have also updated their regulations.
Axis Bank will introduce new credit card fees effective December 20, 2024. As part of these changes, whenever you cash in your EDGE rewards or miles, you will be required to pay ₹99 plus 18% GST.
On the other hand, if you transfer these points to any mileage program, you will have to pay ₹199 plus 18% GST.
This rule will apply to the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card, Samsung Axis Bank Anant Credit Card, Samsung Axis Bank Credit Card, Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card, and Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card.
Changes will be made to the rules of SBI credit cards.
The largest bank in the country, State Bank of India (SBI), will now change the rules for credit cards starting in December. Its 48 credit cards will not offer reward points on transactions related to digital gaming platforms/merchants from December 1, 2024.
Previously, on November 1, 2024, several rules were changed. This included a decision to charge an additional 1% fee on utility bill payments over ₹50,000 made through SBI credit cards during the statement cycle, while no additional fee will be charged on utility bill payments below ₹50,000.
SBI has also changed the finance charges on all unsecured credit cards except for the Shourya/Defense credit card.
HDFC Bank Regalia Credit Card.
HDFC Bank is changing the rules for its Regalia credit card. According to the new rules, starting from December 1, users will need to spend ₹1 lakh in each quarter to gain lounge access. The quarters are January to March, April to June, July to September, and October to December. Users must spend ₹1 lakh in each quarter to be eligible for lounge access, and they can only access the lounge twice per quarter. There is a transaction fee of ₹2 for this. Mastercard users will incur a fee of ₹25, which will be refunded later.