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| Photo Credit: Liubomyr Vorona
India will see important changes from Wednesday, July 1, 2026, with the rules for EPFO, Aadhaar details updation and much more scheduled to either be altered or updated.
The month of July is also the last one for taxpayers to file their income tax returns without incurring a penalty. But there are also other important changes for you to know.
EPFO online services restoration
The Employee Provident Fund Organisation is set to restore its online services from 00:00 hours on July 1, 2026, following a five-day period which saw system migration and database consolidation.
The software upgrade was undertaken from 00:00 hrs on June 26 to 23:59 hrs on June 30, 2026, resulting in the temporary suspension of online services.
Free Aadhaar email updates
The fee of ₹75 required for updating your email address linked to your Aadhaar identification card have been waived off by the Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) for a six-month period beginning July 1.
It will be free to get your email address updated via the Aadhaar mobile application from July 1, 2026 till December 31, 2026.
Hike in Passport fees
The service fees for the acquisition of both normal and Tatkaal passport applications have been hiked by the Ministry of External Affairs, applying to processing fees both within India and overseas, with effect from July 1.
This is the first major price update since 2012.
The changes in the passport application fees is listed as such.
| Type of passport | Old Price | New Price(Effective July 1, 2026) |
| 36-page booklet(Non-tatkaal) | Rs. 1,500 | Rs. 2,500 |
| 36-page booklet(Tatkaal) | Rs 3,500 | Rs 5,000 |
| 60-page booklet(Non-tatkaal) | Rs 2,000 | Rs 3,500 |
| 60-page booklet(Tatkaal) | Rs 4,000 | Rs 6,000 |
| 36-page booklet for minors(Non-Tatkaal) | Rs 1,000 | Rs 1,750 |
| Police Clearance Certificate | Rs 500 | Rs 750 |
New RBI rules for banks selling misleading financial products
In a move that will benefit the customer, the Reserve Bank of India has announced that, starting July 1, people who are mis-sold financial products like mutual funds, insurance, etc will be eligible for a full refund and compensation for any losses that are incurred as a result.
ITR-1 and ITR-2 filing deadline
July 31, 2026, is the deadline for the filing of the income tax return under the ITR-1 and ITR-2 rules. This deadline is for individual taxpayers. It is advised to file your returns through the income tax website to avoid penalties for late filing. ITR-1 is for individuals who are salaried employees with bank interest being their only other income. For people who have mutual funds/stocks, a second house or earn more than Rs 50 lakh in an annum, the form to fill is the ITR-2 form.
Published – June 30, 2026 01:21 pm IST