IRCTC Ticketing, Speed Post, Small Business Lending Undergo Key Changes This Month

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Many major financial and regulatory changes took effect on Wednesday, affecting small banking, postal services, pensions, and railway ticketing.

Indian Railways booking platform IRCTC has launched new Aadhaar-based guidelines for the online booking of general tickets to prevent misuse of the reservation system by fraudulent agents. India Post is expected to revise its Speed Post charges and introduce an OTP-based delivery system to improve the security of the packages, effective from October 1.

“With a view to ensure that the benefits of the reservation system reach the common end user and are not misused by unscrupulous elements, it has been decided that with effect from 1.10.2025, during the first 15 minutes of opening of general reservation, reserved general tickets can be booked through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)/its app only by Aadhaar authenticated users,” a ministry circular dated September 15 said.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has revised fees for Central Recordkeeping Agencies overseeing the National Pension System and associated schemes, effective from October 1. Non-government subscribers can now invest up to 100 per cent in equities, from the beginning of October.

India's largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, has introduced new eligibility norms for its Imperia premium clients. Those who enrolled before June 30 must now meet revised Total Relationship Value (TRV) criteria to retain their premium banking services.

Public sector lender Punjab National Bank has increased locker fees and service request charges.

Further, the Reserve Bank of India issued new guidelines for small business loans, increasing the lending flexibility for banks. Under the new rule, banks may now reduce other spread components earlier than the previous norm of a three-year period to benefit borrowers. Additionally, borrowers will now have the option to switch to a fixed-rate loan at the time of reset.

The RBI has also scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) to grant working capital loans to jewellers. It also allowed Tier 3 and Tier 4 Urban Co-operative Banks to grant working capital loans to borrowers who use gold as a raw material or input in their manufacturing or industrial processing activities

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