UPPCL electricity bill payment: Good news from Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited

In view of the lockdown imposed to prevent the coronavirus' spread, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) on Wednesday extended the payment of electricity bills till April 30. "The date of payment of all power bills made after March 1 has been extended till April 30. Consumers will also get one per cent rebate, which they get for timely payment of their bills. There will be not late fees for the payment," a UPPCL statement said.

On Tuesday, the Modi government had extended the validity of all lower withholding tax orders, secured by assessees, by three months till June 30 to mitigate the hardship caused by Covid-19-related disruptions. In an order on Tuesday, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) allowed time till June 30 to the taxpayers who had filed for lower TDS/TCS (tax deduction at source/tax collected at source) for FY21 and whose applications were pending for disposal of their FY20 order on lower TDS.

The extension will also be given if taxpayers have the lower TDS order for FY20 but have so far not applied similar order for FY21. The CBDT said the extension was being provided due to the Covid-19 outbreak that had disrupted businesses all across, including the functioning of the Income-Tax Department.

The order has also prescribed a 10 per cent withholding tax on payments to non-residents (including foreign companies) having permanent establishment in India and not covered by the above scenarios) till June 30 or disposal of application, whichever is earlier.