Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a slew of measures to ease the pain of the public in the wake of country-wide lockdown. In this regard, the government has extended the last date for filing of the Income Tax return for FY19 to 30th June, 2020. "For delayed payments, interest rate has been reduced from 12% to 9%," the FM said.

The mandatory Aadhar-PAN linking date and Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme have also been extended till June 30. The latter will attract no additional 10% payment.

The last date for March, April, May 2020 GST returns and Composition returns has been extended to June 30th.

"Debit cardholders can withdraw cash from any bank's ATM without additional charges for the next 3 months. No minimum balance requirement fee. Bank charges reduced for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers," the FM added.

The FM declared an economic package has been planned for the benefit of those industries that have been severely affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.