De-notification of Customs Area removes specified land from the notified customs area under Section 8(b) of the Customs Act.
De-notification of a portion of the previously notified customs area at AP M Terminals India Pvt. Ltd. is undertaken by administrative exercise of Section 8(b) of the Customs Act, partially modifying earlier public notices. The commissioner removes a specified parcel identified by survey number and bounded on all sides, thereby altering the extent of land designated for custodial import and export handling; the modification takes effect from the effective date stated in the notice.

NRI access to exchange traded currency derivatives permitted to hedge Rupee exposure; designated banks must monitor and report positions.
Non resident Indians are permitted to transact in exchange traded currency derivatives to hedge Rupee currency risk from permitted current account transactions or Rupee denominated assets or liabilities, subject to terms and conditions. NRIs must designate an Authorised Dealer Category I bank to receive exchange/clearing transaction details, consolidate OTC and exchange positions, monitor aggregate exposure against underlying Rupee risk, and report transgressions; the onus of proving underlying exposure lies with the NRI and excess hedging may attract statutory penalties. Regulatory amendments and directions implement this framework.

Compounding of FEMA contraventions: regional offices now have expanded authority for delayed FLA filings; exceptions remain.
All Regional Offices of the Reserve Bank, except two specified offices, are authorised to compound delays in filing the Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets by Indian companies receiving foreign direct investment without any monetary limit; the two specified regional offices retain limited compounding authority while higher-value cases remain with the Central Office. Applications for compounding these contraventions must be submitted to the Regional Office of jurisdiction, and other contraventions continue to be filed with the Central Foreign Exchange Department. The modification is effective immediately and authorised dealers must inform constituents.

Reconciliation return compliance: Assessing authorities must complete central CST Form 9 assessments and verify online statutory forms before limitation.
Reconciliation returns in CST Form-9 for declarations of interstate sales against statutory forms C, F, H, E-I, E-II, I and J must be filed; assessing authorities are directed to complete the Form-9 assessment under section 9(2) of the CST Act read with section 32 of the DVAT Act for the year nearing its limitation. OHAs/SOHAs may allow objections or appeals based on deficiency of forms only after ensuring the contested forms have been filed online.

Minor Head Code requirement: refund List of Payments must follow the prescribed format to ensure accurate accounting and weekly submission.
Use of the Annexure 9.5 List of Payments format is mandatory for refund and drawback entries so that the Minor Head Code (column for service-wise accounting) is provided; Commissionerates must send these LOPs to the respective Pay and Accounts Offices on a weekly basis as prescribed under Para-9.8.2 to avoid erroneous accounting.

Service tax scope expanded by shifting certain manufacturing-process services from the negative list into exemption notification, altering valuation and exemptions.
Certain services previously exempt under the negative list are removed from that statutory list and are instead covered by the general exemption notification, with the statutory definition of process amounting to manufacture omitted and replicated in the notification; advance ruling provisions are realigned to the income-tax Authority for Advance Rulings with increased fees, extended pronouncement timelines, transfer of pending applications, and associated procedural amendments; repeal of the research and development cess law removes related service-tax exemptions, and amendments to valuation, exemption entries and CENVAT credit rules adjust scope, effective dates and administrative processes.

SEZ in a port or airport permits multi sector manufacture and services, allowing units for trading and warehousing.
The circular clarifies that a Special Economic Zone in a port or airport is defined to permit manufacture of goods falling in two or more sectors, trading, warehousing and rendering of services; therefore units may be set up for multi sector manufacturing as well as trading, warehousing and services. It also reiterates procedural requirements for SEZ establishment, including proposal submission, state forwarding with compliance to rule 5, and Board approval subject to minimum area and conditions.

Customs and excise duty revisions impose immediate rate changes and conditional concessions affecting imports, exports and EOUs.
Finance Bill, 2017 changes and accompanying notifications revise customs and central excise duties, impose selected export duty, grant time-limited concessional rates and exemptions (often subject to actual user condition), and make several increases effective immediately under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. The measures include targeted BCD adjustments, excise increases on tobacco products and specified retrospective excise amendments, procedural obligations for manifests and filing, clarifications on EOU entitlement to concessional rates, and structural amendments to advance-ruling mechanisms and tariff classifications.

Customs and excise duty amendments revise tariff rates, exemptions, and procedural obligations affecting imports, exports and concessions.
Finance Bill, 2017 prescribes revised rates and notification amendments for customs and central excise, effecting immediate changes under declaration of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 for specified clauses, introducing new export duty on certain aluminium ores, altering Basic Customs Duty and Basic Excise Duty across specified tariff headings, imposing and withdrawing targeted exemptions subject to actual user condition, and enacting legislative and procedural changes including transfer of advance ruling authority, passenger name record obligations, timelines for bills of entry and regulatory empowerment for notifications and rules.

ICES downtime for budget updates: Bill of Entry filing and Section 48 approvals temporarily suspended, shipping bills unchanged.
ICES directory updates after the Budget will require temporary suspension of Bill of Entry submission and later stoppage of Section 48 approvals while other system functions remain available; system tickers will announce resumption. Shipping Bill filing and processing continue uninterrupted; officers must monitor recently filed Shipping Bills for announced export duty or cess changes and collect duties manually until directories are updated, and must track prior-filed Bills of Entry for any change in duty liability before granting out-of-charge clearance.

NFE calculation: warehousing on behalf of foreign supplier excludes goods' value, purchased-and-sold goods are included.
Where an FTWZ unit holds goods in an SEZ warehouse on behalf of a foreign supplier as a warehousing service, the value of those goods is excluded from the NFE calculation under the SEZ Rules provision for rendering services. Conversely, where the FTWZ unit purchases and sells goods, the value of goods held in the SEZ warehouse is included in the NFE calculation under the SEZ Rules provision applicable to sale of goods by units.

Manual Let Export Order procedures permit manual clearance during prolonged system outages to prevent cargo missing scheduled sailings.
Procedure allows officers to grant Manual Let Export Order when electronic processing of shipping bills is delayed by system issues, subject to scrutiny of checklist and supporting documents, and requires maintenance of a "Manual LEO due to System Issues" register with specified fields (including screenshot evidence, LEO timing, shipping bill and exporter details, post-restoration system entry and RMS facilitation status); affected shipping bills must be entered into the system after restoration and monthly reports sent to ADC/JC EDI for cross-verification.

Direct Port Delivery procedures let DPD importers transfer goods from terminals to bonded warehouses bypassing CFSs.
Procedure allows Direct Port Delivery clients to file advance warehouse Bills of Entry and take delivery of goods from port terminals directly to Customs Bonded Warehouses without passing through CFSs. Importers must obtain a space certificate from the bonded warehouse, complete bond formalities at the Bond Section, and obtain Out of Charge and forwarding of the into-bond Bill of Entry from the RMS/DPD Facilitation Centre or any CFS. Transport to deposit goods in the bonded warehouse may be arranged by importer, CFS, terminal or warehouse, after which importers may complete PGA NOCs, MRP labelling and similar compliances.

Jurisdiction of Air Cargo Commissionerate expanded to cover import and export cargo at Chennai Airport, bonded warehouses and SEZ.
Chennai VII - Air Cargo Commissionerate is assigned jurisdiction to handle import and export cargo through Chennai Airport, the bonded warehouses attached thereto and facilities within the Chennai Special Economic Zone, excluding matters that fall within the jurisdiction of Chennai I (Airport) Commissionerate. The amendment to Annexure A takes effect from 31.01.2017 and remains in force until further orders within the Chennai Customs Zone.

Product description corrections align MEIS Schedule classifications with ITC(HS), clarifying covered goods and retroactive applicability.
Amendments correct specific product descriptions in the MEIS Schedule (Table 2 of Appendix 3B) to align nomenclature with the ITC (HS), replacing inaccurate or abbreviated descriptions for designated ITC(HS) tariff lines. The corrections are declared effective from 01.04.2015 and the MEIS Schedules are to be read with the corrected product descriptions to ensure consistency with ITC (HS) classifications.

RBI BRC module requires electronic monitoring of export proceeds; manual BRC statements will no longer be accepted for affected shipments.
The BRC Section of Drawback Cell, JNCH (NS-II) will monitor realization of export proceeds using the new RBI-BRC Module (RBI MIS/EDPMS) for EDI shipping bills with LEO dates on or after 01.04.2014 and will stop accepting six-monthly manual negative statements or BRC certificates; exporters must check BRC integration via ICEGATE or coordinate with their authorized dealer banks to transmit data to the RBI portal.

Launch postponement of customs EDI system delays computerized processing of import and export declarations until further notice.
The scheduled commencement of computerized processing of Bill of Entry and Shipping Bills under the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES 1.5) at Bhavnagar Port has been postponed due to technical reasons; importers, exporters, customs brokers and other trade stakeholders are notified to await further instructions.

Exchange listing control mechanisms require internal monitoring, oversight committee review, and independent conflict resolution appeal.
The listing exchange's Listing Department shall monitor compliance of a listed exchange; the listing exchange's Independent Oversight Committee provides second level review and hears appeals against Listing Department decisions; an independent Conflict Resolution Committee (CRC) provides third level oversight and receives appeals from the listed exchange. This framework mandates monitoring, oversight and an appeal pathway to address conflicts of interest and ensure listing compliance under the regulator's statutory powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market.

Empanelment of chartered engineers for valuation of second hand machinery; professional charges set and periodic reporting required.
Empanelment of chartered engineers for valuation of second hand machinery and other goods is effective immediately for a one year validity; the notice lists named firms and individuals, requires valuation reports in the prescribed format (including Form B where applicable), mandates half yearly self appraisal reports for empanelled engineers, permits use of DGFT notified agencies for inspection/appraisement, and prescribes the professional charges payable by the importer including a charging formula and an upper fee ceiling.

General Anti-Avoidance Rule applicability clarified: scope, safeguards, grandfathering, treaty interplay and procedural checks for taxpayers.
GAAR applies alongside SAAR and treaty anti abuse rules, guided by the main purpose test under section 96; treaty LOB can preclude GAAR where avoidance is addressed. Grandfathering protects pre 1 April 2017 investments in specified convertible instruments and related bonus/split shares, but excludes standalone leases and loans. Advance Rulings and court sanctioned arrangements preclude GAAR. Invocation requires Principal Commissioner/Commissioner vetting and an Approving Panel review; GAAR disregards covered arrangements, assesses Indian jurisdictional tax benefit per assessment year, does not mandate cross taxpayer corresponding adjustments, and offers no blanket penalty exemption.