Stories
Major Rule Changes from October 1: FD, ATM, UPI, LPG Subsidy Impacting You!
- •SBI salary account holders will see free ATM transactions at other banks reduced from 10 to 5 per month starting October 1, with charges applied thereafter.
- •Banks must display bulk Fixed Deposit (FD) interest rates on their websites by 10 AM daily from October 1 for increased transparency.
- •A Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will apply to selected UPI merchant payments exceeding ₹2,000 from October 15, though most transactions remain unaffected.
- •Biometric Aadhaar authentication becomes mandatory for subsidized domestic LPG refills from October 1, impacting 14.2 kg cylinder subsidies if not verified.
Key Questions Answered
For SBI salary package account holders, the number of free transactions from other banks' ATMs will decrease from 10 to 5 starting October 1, 2026. Exceeding this limit will incur charges of ₹23 plus GST for cash withdrawals and ₹11 plus GST for non-financial transactions, while free transactions at SBI's own ATMs remain unaffected.
Starting October 1, 2026, banks are required to display interest rates for bulk Fixed Deposits on their websites by 10 AM every working day, with a 10-minute grace period allowing updates up to 10:10 AM. This rule aims to increase transparency, though regular retail FD interest rates are not automatically changed by it.
A Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will apply to selected UPI merchant payments exceeding ₹2,000 starting October 15, 2026. Payments up to ₹2,000 will not be affected, and approximately 96% of merchant UPI payments will remain completely free of MDR.
