Personal Finance

No Claim Bonus and restoration benefit sound alike and do opposite jobs. NCB grows next year’s cover after a claim-free year; restoration refills this year’s sum insured after a claim exhausts it. IRDAI’s 2024 circular handed the choice of NCB form to the policyholder and left restoration optional, not mandatory. What to check in the CIS before you buy.

IRDAI’s 2024 Master Circular stopped insurers refusing health cover to cancer survivors outright. It did not stop them pricing the risk. A policy must be offered, but it can carry a loading, a waiting period of up to 36 months on cancer claims, or a permanent cancer exclusion. Written reasons are due within 15 days. What to ask for, and what to refuse.

From 15 October 2026, UPI payments to merchants above Rs 2,000 attract a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate, capped at Rs 300. The merchant pays it, not you: NPCI expressly bars passing it on as a surcharge at checkout. Here is exactly which of your payments are touched, which are not, and why the sub-Rs 2,000 and P2P transfers you make every day stay free.

IRDAI 2024 makes robotic surgery a mandatory inclusion, but permits a sub-limit on what the insurer pays. Coverage and payout are two different questions. Check the Modern Treatment Benefits schedule.

The Union Cabinet approved raising the EPF wage ceiling to Rs 25,000 on 16 September 2026. The gazette notification has not been published, so the legally operative ceiling is still Rs 15,000. What changes, and what is still open.

Personal finance for a salaried Indian does not start with where to invest. It starts with how long you could fund your life if the income stopped tomorrow.

The EPF Scheme 2026 replaced the 1952 Scheme on 1 July 2026. The 12% rate did not change. What did: mandatory contributions capped at Rs 1,800 a month, thirteen withdrawal categories became three, and after a job loss the final 25% now waits twelve months instead of two.