The Ministry of Finance have issued a circular, dated March 03, 2021, to provide relief to any individual who was a non-resident during the previous year 2019-20, gets stranded in India by reason of the COVID 19 pandemic for some time during the previous year (PY) 2020-21 and due to which has acquired residence status in India during the PY and facing double taxation due to the forced stay in India.
The circular states that in order to understand the possible situation in which a particular taxpayer is facing double taxation due to the forced stay in India, it would be in the fitness of things to obtain relevant information from such Individuals. After understanding the possible situations of double taxation, the Board shall examine that -
- whether any relaxation is required to be provided in this matter; and
- if required, then whether any general relaxation can be provided for a class of individuals or specific relaxation is required to be provided in individual cases.
Therefore, if an individual is facing double taxation even after taking into consideration the relief provided by respective DTAAs, then he/she may furnish the information in Form-NR by March 31, 2021. This form shall be submitted electronically to the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax (International Taxation) at here.
The circular and Form-NR can be accessed here.
Rights of Insurer on their health insurance policy
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated the Insurance Company to provide following information to the health policy holders:
- Name of Product and policy number,
- Extent of coverage available,
- Number of insured people covered under policy,
- Policy period,
- Number and amount of claim settled, if any,
- Balance Sum Insured and accrued cumulative bonus available, if any,
- Due date of renewal and premium payment frequency,
- Premium amount due on renewal (to be specified at the time of renewal)
- Grace Period (within 5 days after renewal due date)
- Contact details (for any query or other issues) of customer support service of Insurer, Toll Free No. or e-mail Id etc.
All such information shall be communicated by insurers to all the policyholders twice in a year, i.e, 6 months after issuance of policy and at least 1 month prior to the renewal due date. However, in case of a multiyear policy, the information can be shared with a frequency of 6 (six) months from the date of issuance of policy. Further, all such relevant information shall be conveyed and /or communicated in writing to the insurer by any mode of communication including but not limited to message, e-mail, letter etc. on the registered contact details of the insurer. The insurance companies have to comply with the instructions issued in the circular at the earliest and not later than June 01, 2021.
The circular can be accessed here.
