The New Year has brought in a litany of changes for Indian financial rules — from PAN-Aadhaar linking and pay commission updates to banking and credit reforms. The wide-ranging policy changes may directly affect your banking practices, income tax returns and household budgets.
Mandatory PAN-Aadhaar linking
Those who have not yet linked their PAN and Aadhaar cards will now face major issues with banking and government services. The connection has been made mandatory from January 1 in order to avoid having accounts frozen and services blocked. Failure to comply can consequently disrupt income tax filing and refund and access to most bank-related services.
Introduction of 8th Pay Commission
The 7th Pay Commission marked its final day on December 31 — with its successor expected to take effect from January 2026. This can lead to changes in pay structure and amount for many central and state employees. Dearness allowance is also expected to rise from January, while several states have indicated plans to review their minimum wages for daily-wage and part-time workers.
Income Tax forms revamped
Taxpayers will no longer be able to file a revised Income Tax Return for AY26 from January 1. The I-T Department had sent several nudges for those who had mismatches in their original return with the deadline lapsing on December 31. They will now need to file Updated Return or ITR-U with the relevant documents.
The deadline to file belated returns also expired on December 31.
They will also be able to use a revamped Income Tax Return form in the coming days — expected to come pre-filled with banking and spending details. The change will be introduced in January 2026 as the government aims to simplify the filing process and ramp up scrutiny while minimising errors and omissions.
Fuel and LPG prices to change?
The government hiked the price of commercial LPG cylinders by Rs 111 on Thursday but left domestic prices unchanged from December. The price of Aviation Turbine Fuel or AFT is also set for revision on January 1. These fluctuations may impact operational costs at restaurants and edit airfares — leading to additional pressure on household budgets.
Faster credit score updates
Credit bureaus will begin updating customer data every week from January 1 (instead of once in 15 days). This will ensure that credit patterns — such as repayment or missed EMIs — will reflect much faster on credit scores. The updation will also influence loan approvals and interest rates much faster than before.
Digital payments under scrutiny?
Several banks have indicated plans to strengthen checks on UPI transactions in 2026. SIM verification rules for messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal are also being tightened to curb fraud.