Vignette, rent, public transport prices: you need to know these changes in December

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As of December 1, 2023, many medicines will become cheaper in Switzerland. The federal government ordered price reductions for a total of 350 drugs. On average, the price needs to fall by ten percent.

The catch: Appeals against individual orders are currently pending. Therefore, it is not clear exactly when the price reductions will occur.

Every year, the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) checks one-third of the medicines covered by basic insurance for effectiveness and usefulness as well as cost-effectiveness. In the last six years, 740 million francs have been saved in favor of basic insurance.

The 2024 highway vignette will be available as an e-vignette at the start of sales for the first time from December 1, 2023. Drivers must switch to the new vignette by February 1, 2024 at the latest.

Good news: The 2024 model won’t be any more expensive. Its price is 40 francs, the same as the 2023 vignette, and is valid until January 31, 2025.

The e-vignette is now linked to the license plate, not the vehicle. This is good news for switchable license plate owners. “Instead of a separate adhesive vignette for each vehicle as before, only one e-vignette is required for interchangeable plates,” the federal government writes in a statement. Additionally, if a new vehicle is purchased during the year, there is no need to obtain a new vignette, provided that the same license plate is used.

Automatic backup of WhatsApp chats to Google Drive will cost, at least for users who want to save larger backups in the cloud. Google is introducing new rules in December. According to the company, WhatsApp backups will be included in Google Drive storage in the future. There is an exemption limit of 15 gigabytes. If you need more memory, you’ll need to increase your storage from 15 gigabytes to 100 gigabytes. This costs just under 20 francs per year. Free alternatives: Create a local WhatsApp backup on your smartphone or delete old, no longer needed videos and images from WhatsApp.

Backup on WhatsApp will be charged for select users starting December

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is making adjustments to the current deposit interest rate. This refers to funds that can be withdrawn or used for transactions at any time without restrictions.

Among other things, the SNB is reducing the limit factor used for the graduated interest rate applied to current deposits. This number will be reduced from 28 to 25 at the beginning of December.

It was stated that the SNB main interest rate is applied to demand deposits up to this limit. Interest is charged on demand deposits above the limit by deducting a 0.5 point interest discount from the SNB base interest rate. According to the SNB, the basis for calculating the limits has not changed.

Google reserves the right to delete accounts that are inactive after December 1. Users can react even then. The company said that Google will notify you about this several times before actually deleting the accounts.

However, only accounts that have been inactive for at least two years will be affected. There are also exceptions, such as accounts with a YouTube channel, an app published on the Google Play Store, or accounts with active gift cards. If you want to maintain your Google account, you must log in at least once every two years.

Be careful, Google may delete your account!

On December 10, 2023, SBB will implement a new calendar. In its statement, the company states that the changes resulting from the tariff change will especially affect the connections between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, as well as both regions themselves. According to SBB, there will be almost no change in French-speaking Switzerland initially.

These are the most important changes:

1. Half-hourly service will be offered on the Gotthard axis. This will provide additional connections to passengers and leisure travelers from Ticino and German-speaking Switzerland, relieving pressure on existing connections.
2. Two new IC61 connections will be introduced between Basel and Interlaken. They operate as IC6 between Basel and Brig. SBB writes: “This means that passengers from Brig will be able to reach Bern and Basel directly to Bern and Basel earlier than before. In the reverse direction, the last IC6 from Basel via Bern to Brig will now run an hour later than the previous one. SBB writes According to the report, existing connections to and from Interlaken will only remain open overnight from Sunday to Monday.
3. Two more direct Geneva-Zurich-Chur connections will be introduced at the weekend.
4. From December, trains with more seats will be used on “certain lines”, for example between Olten and Lucerne.
5. Some changes to S-Bahn operations: SBB introduces half-hourly services for the S11 between Dietikon and Aarau and for the S23 from Dulliken towards Langenthal and Baden.

With the tariff change on December 10, there will be an increase in public transportation prices. The price increase in all services was 3.7 percent.

The GA adult general season ticket for 2nd class increased by approximately 135 francs to 3,995 francs. The GA youth fee for the 2nd grade increased by 130 francs to 2,780 francs. In fact, the fee for a second-year GA senior increases by 160 francs to 3,040 francs.

Only GA is cheaper:

GA prices for first class will also increase on December 10. GA adult will cost 6,520 francs (instead of 6,300 francs), GA senior will cost 4,950 francs (instead of 4,840 francs). The GA youth price alone fell by 70 francs to 4,450 francs.

Anyone living in a house that does not have a device suitable for receiving radio or television broadcasts may be exempt from Serafe tax for a while. This is possible until December 31st. Requests received through the form will be checked and approved if necessary. The Federal Council regulates which categories of devices are suitable for receiving radio and television programmes.

Devices include: radio (car, ship, motorcycle, alarm clock), television sets, multifunction devices (computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone), digital radio and television via internet connection including Wi-Fi and media box/receiver reception (Swisscom TV, UPC, DVB-T standard).

Households that use receiver devices after removing Serafe must immediately notify the collection agency in writing.

In December, the reference mortgage loan interest rate is expected to increase again by 0.25 percent to 1.75 percent. Bad news for tenants Ultimately, rents are expected to increase by three percent.

However, the Federal Council wants to reverse this trend and reduce rising rents with measures that can be implemented in a short time. He expects rents to rise by around 15 percent in a relatively short period of time. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should prepare a consultation template by the summer.

The Federal Council wants to adapt the regulation on renting and leasing of residential and commercial premises. In his words, the measures are intended to “create a certain rent-reducing effect” and increase transparency in the rental market.

(with SDA)

Source :Blick