Customs clearance facilitation: committee established to expedite import export clearance and resolve trade grievances promptly.
The Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee (CCFC) is instituted at the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Patna, headed by the Commissioner of Customs and including senior representatives of regulatory agencies, airport and railway authorities, trade and industry associations and other stakeholders. Its Terms of Reference are to monitor and ensure expeditious import export clearance within prescribed timelines, identify and resolve bottlenecks, initiate Time Release Studies, recommend best practices and resolve trade grievances. The CCFC will meet quarterly, local members monthly, and stakeholders must submit grievances at least one week in advance.

Coastal carriage exemptions expanded, streamlining manifest, marking and sealing requirements for vessels carrying exclusively coastal goods.
All coastal vessels carrying exclusively coastal goods operating from coastal or EXIM berths are exempted from Sections 92, 93, 94, 95, 97 and sub section (1) of Section 98 of the Customs Act, 1962. When loading or unloading occurs at EXIM berths, Sections 30 and 41 apply and masters or agents must file duplicate coastal arrival and coastal departure manifests (original to the proper officer, duplicate retained), with prescribed marking and tamper proof sealing requirements for containerised and non containerised coastal consignments.

Declaration of intent for MEIS: EDI 'Y' tick suffices to claim scheme rewards; 'N' denotes no claim.
Marking 'Y' in the reward column of EDI shipping bills serves as a declaration of intent to claim MEIS rewards, with 'N' indicating no intent; this tick-box is mandatory for applicable export schemes. Non-EDI shipping bills must carry the explicit written declaration "We intend to claim rewards under Merchandise Exports From India Scheme (MEIS)" to be eligible.

Waiver of additional filing fees extended; e form filing deadline and waiver benefit period prolonged for affected companies.
Extension of the one time waiver of additional fees for e forms under the Companies Act is granted for filings due between 25 March 2016 and 31 May 2016, with the deadline to file and avail the waiver extended to 10 June 2016; the relaxation applies to all e forms with due dates in that window and is issued in response to stakeholder requests under Ministry authority.

Extension of VAT return filing deadline allows later submission; tax payment obligations remain unchanged and digital filers avoid hard copies.
Extension of the filing period for fourth quarter VAT returns permits delayed submission of Forms DVAT 16, DVAT 17 and DVAT 48 with required annexures, while tax payment obligations remain unchanged under the VAT statute; dealers using digital signatures are exempt from filing a hard copy of the return/Form DVAT 56.

Corporate Social Responsibility must not contravene other prevailing laws, including tobacco control, when companies undertake CSR activities.
Companies undertaking Corporate Social Responsibility under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 must ensure CSR activities do not contravene any other prevailing laws; the Ministry explicitly cites the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 as applicable and directs companies to align CSR implementation with existing statutory prohibitions.

Special warehouse licensing: new rules lock notified goods, enable record-based controls and one-time-lock movements.
Amendments to Chapter IX and regulations notified on 14 May 2016 create licensing regimes for public, private and special warehouses, replace prior removal regulations, prescribe new warehousing bonds, and shift certain movement controls from physical escort to serially numbered one-time-locks. Transitional provisions permit migration to record-based controls; special warehouses must be licensed to store specified notified goods and remain under customs lock. Licensee responsibilities include record-keeping, computerisation and recording of regulatory samples, with procedures for clearance, removal and consequences of licence suspension or cancellation.

Duty bond requirement for warehoused imports secures payment obligations and covers movement, storage accounting and recovery mechanisms.
Amendment requires an importer to execute a duty bond at the customs station of import for warehoused goods equal to three times the duty assessed; the bond covers movement to and between warehouses, accounting during storage, continues until clearance for home consumption or export, and may be enforced and recovered by customs officers. The circular prescribes consignment and general bond formats and supersedes the earlier 1978 bond formats.

One-time-lock requirement for customs-to-warehouse removals mandates serial-numbered seals, endorsed records, and inspection before unloading.
Affixation of a serially numbered one-time-lock (OTL) on containers or transport for removal from customs stations to warehouses is mandatory; the OTL number and date/time must be endorsed on the bill of entry and transport document, seals must be inspected at the warehouse before unloading, and customs stations must record OTL numbers alongside vehicle/container identifiers and officer details. Procurement of serially numbered OTLs is to be arranged by Commissionerates; exceptions may be permitted by Commissioners where affixation is impracticable.

Paperless issuance of NSC and KVP: exclusive e mode preferred, pass book alternative retained with pledging and transfer rules enforced.
Issuance of KVP and NSC shifts to two modes: exclusive e mode with non printable online Part A and database Part B accessible only to the investor, and pass book mode where the e mode format is printed or entered in a pass book bearing the issuing officer's signature and designation. Systems must record issue date and mode, pass books may be collected and cancelled if replaced by e mode, pass book instruments are eligible for pledging subject to verification and freezing by the CBS office, transfers require prescribed applications and reissuance/cancellation of pass books, and serial numbers are replaced by unique account/registration numbers.

Uniform interest rate framework: co operative banks must follow board approved, disclosed, non negotiable deposit rates with defined premature withdrawal rules.
RBI prescribes a uniform, board approved interest rate framework for co operative banks: rates must be disclosed, non negotiable, uniform across branches and customers, with daily product calculation for savings, tenor and size based variation for term deposits, prescribed premature withdrawal rules and board approved penalty disclosure. Parallel rules govern NRE/NRO and FCNR(B) deposits including authorised bank acceptance, minimum tenors, LIBOR/SWAP linked ceilings for FCNR(B), conversion treatment for returning NRIs, and prohibitions on incentive based deposit mobilisation.

Establishment of foreign representative offices governs eligibility, UIN issuance, bank account rules and compliance obligations.
Procedural framework for foreign entities establishing Branch, Liaison or Project Offices in India requires submission of Form FNC to a designated AD Category I bank, which conducts due diligence and may grant approval under delegated powers. Certain applicants require prior Reserve Bank approval and all approved offices receive a Unique Identification Number (UIN) from RBI before the approval letter is issued. Compliance includes defined validity periods, Annual Activity Certificates, bank account and foreign currency account rules for POs, documentation for profit remittances and asset transfers, and reporting obligations by the AD bank.

Extension of re-export period: customs may allow additional time for durable containers subject to satisfactory justification.
Extensions of the six-month re-export period for durable containers may be granted by the Commissioner of Customs for up to twelve months from the end of the initial six months upon submission of genuine reasons satisfactory to the Commissioner; failure to secure an extension will render the container liable for applicable duty and interest. Off-hiring is generally not an acceptable reason. Extension requests for laden containers awaiting clearance must include specific import identifiers, and detailed container particulars and bond information must accompany any movement or extension request, with non-compliance attracting bond enforcement and penal action under the Customs Act, 1962.

Foreign exchange regulations update requires authorised dealers to adopt revised export compliance obligations under FEMA.
The circular notifies adoption of the Foreign Exchange Management (Exports of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2015, repealing and superseding the prior 2000 Regulations, directs Authorised Dealers to follow detailed annexed directions for dealings with exporters, and records that the Master Direction on exports has been updated; the directions are issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and do not affect other statutory permissions.

Equitable distribution of cases: administrative officers must allocate work evenly among standing counsels and SPPs to protect litigation quality.
The Board directs administrative officers to ensure equitable distribution of cases among Sr./Jr. Standing Counsels and Special Public Prosecutors (SPPs), noting that uneven assignment-where some counsel are overburdened and others receive few or no matters-harms litigation quality and prevents reliable performance evaluation; Chief Commissioners must implement measures to allocate work properly within their jurisdictions in accordance with existing appointment and engagement guidelines.

Public issue guidelines for InvITs: standardized merchant banker due diligence, defined filing, allocation, pricing disclosure and post issue reporting obligations.
Guidelines govern public issues of InvIT units by prescribing appointment and responsibilities of merchant bankers, staged filing of draft, offer and final offer documents with defined timelines and due diligence certificates, and disclosure obligations. They set investor category allocations and anchor investor rules, require electronic book-building and ASBA participation, mandate pricing band disclosures and ban differential pricing, and establish operational safeguards including security deposit, underwriting norms, proportionate allotment, post-issue reporting and strict controls on public communications and advertising.

Product classification: Silico manganese treated as Ferro-silico-Manganese under ITC (HS) 72023000 and eligible for FPS benefits.
Silico Manganese is chemically Ferro-silico-Manganese and both names denote the same product classified under ITC (HS) Code 72023000. Exports of this product are eligible for FPS benefits under Sl. No. 249 of Appendix 37D (PN 6) and Sl. No. 282 of Appendix 37D (PN 52), as clarified by the Directorate and consistent with the DEPB Committee decision.

Segregation of foreign materials from honey grade brass scrap treated as process waste, cleared on transaction value and classified accordingly.
Segregation of attached impurities from honey grade brass scrap is an essential pre treatment in manufacture and produces materials of distinct character and use; those segregated foreign materials are process waste, not removal of inputs as such, and must be cleared on payment of duty based on their appropriate classification and transaction value.

Display of registration certificate required; dealers must show TIN and ward number and local officers must ensure compliance.
Registered dealers must prominently display the certificate of registration at their principal place of business and a certified copy at all other business locations, and must conspicuously display their TIN and ward number outside the main entrance of each place of business; ACs and ward incharges are directed to ensure compliance within their jurisdictions.

Newsprint control amendment adds a paper mill to the authorized manufacture schedule under statutory authority upon Gazette publication.
Amending the Newsprint Control Order, 2004 under statutory authority, the Central Government inserts a new serial entry in the Schedule naming a specific paper mill and its location as an authorized newsprint manufacturing unit; the Newsprint Control (Amendment) Order, 2016 takes effect on publication in the official Gazette and references the principal 2004 Order and prior amendments.