Know Your Customer norms: specified identity documents accepted for courier imports/exports; GSTIN, UIN or PAN accepted for entities.
For courier imports and exports, individuals may use Aadhaar, Passport, PAN or Voter ID for KYC with recording of delivery address; firms and institutions registered under GST may use GSTIN, and where not registered, UIN or PAN shall suffice. Packages containing only letters or documents are exempt from KYC but must be x-rayed to confirm contents.

Reorganization of customs commissionerate jurisdiction to align customs administration with GST implementation and transition arrangements.
Reorganization of Customs Commissionerate jurisdictions aligns customs administration with GST implementation per CBEC notification and its amendments, assigning specified operational responsibilities and ICES codes to the Principal Commissionerate of Airport & Air Cargo Complex Bengaluru and Bangalore City Commissionerate. Bangalore City Commissionerate retains Customs Broker Establishment and Disposal Section functions and assumes certain export promotion duties previously handled by Central Excise/Central Tax formations. Mangalore Commissionerate's jurisdiction follows the amended notification with its ICES code unchanged. Both commissionerates must assume customs work from Central Excise/Central Tax formations and issue public notices and standing orders to effect a smooth transition.

Customs jurisdiction change: newly formed Export Promotion Cell to assume customs work and related files from Central Tax authorities.
Customs jurisdiction for Bangalore City Customs has been redefined and the newly formed Export Promotion Cell will assume customs functions previously performed by Central Excise/GST officers, take over related files from Central Tax Commissionerates, and operate from an initial office in Banashankari under the Assistant Commissioner (Technical); trade and stakeholders are asked to use the Cell and report difficulties.

Extended Producer Responsibility Authorization required for import clearance; Customs must verify and notify the Pollution Control Board on violations.
Import of electrical and electronic equipment requires mandatory verification of a valid Extended Producer Responsibility Authorization on the Pollution Control Board website before Customs clearance. Customs officers must check EPRA during bill of entry registration and goods examination, notify the Pollution Control Board of any violations observed before out of charge, and initiate action under the Customs Act together with the E Waste Management Rules. Operational difficulties should be reported to the concerned Assistant/Deputy Commissioner.

Countervailing duties rebatable as drawback, claimable via brand rate where inputs are verified and when exported as such.
Countervailing Duties leviable under the Customs Tariff Act are rebatable as drawback but, since they are excluded from All Industry Rates, their recovery must be claimed through a Brand Rate application under the Drawback Rules; drawback is admissible only where inputs that suffered the duty were actually used in the exported goods as confirmed by verification. If imported goods subject to countervailing duties are exported as such, drawback under the Customs Act will include the incidence of those duties as part of total duties paid, subject to other conditions.

Direct Port Delivery for AEO clients permitted with advance filing, prepayment, delivery orders and gate verification requirements.
Extension of the Direct Port Delivery facility to AEO clients is permitted only for FCL containers under RMS-facilitated bills of entry with no system-prescribed assessment or examination. Designated importers must file advance bills of entry, prepay duties and charges, obtain advance delivery orders, and be ready for immediate receipt; shipping lines/agents must issue invoices and delivery orders in advance. A DPD Wing will register bills, scrutinize documents and grant printed signed "Out of Charge" authorisations noting container and seal verification at the Container Terminal gate; discrepancies, tampered seals, or selected consignments will be shifted to CFSs and handled under normal procedures.

Jurisdictional reorganisation in Customs preventive zone assigns airports and inland container depots to Trichy customs control.
Reorganisation establishes jurisdiction of the Office of the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Tiruchirappalli, effective 15 January 2018, covering Tamil Nadu subject to specified Chennai exclusions, Puducherry with limited exceptions, and the adjacent continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. Specified airports and inland container depots are transferred under Tiruchirappalli's administrative control, and a catalogue of Customs functions (warehousing, procurement and installation certificates, brand rate fixation, acceptance of bonds/LUT/B-17, duty-free import concessions, etc.) formerly handled by various Central Excise & GST formations will henceforth be managed by designated Customs (Preventive) units in Trichy.

Prevention of Unauthorised Trading: implementation deferred with exchanges required to notify brokers, amend bye laws and report compliance.
SEBI postpones the effective date of its guidelines on prevention of unauthorised trading to April 01, 2018 and disallows further extensions. Stock exchanges must notify brokers, publish the circular, amend relevant bye laws, rules and regulations in coordination to ensure uniform implementation, and report implementation status in Monthly Development Reports to SEBI. The measure is issued under SEBI's powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market.

Advance ruling applications: manual filing allowed with mandatory online fee payment and prescribed form and signing rules.
Manual filing of Advance Ruling applications and appeals is permitted where portal forms are unavailable under rule 107A; advance ruling applications must be filed in quadruplicate in FORM GST ARA-01, state the question sought, and be accompanied by an online fee paid via a temporary portal user ID and printed challan. Appeals use FORM GST ARA-02 (applicants) or FORM GST ARA-03 (officers, no fee) in quadruplicate; signatures and authorised signatories are specified by taxpayer category, all documents must be self-attested, and filings go to the jurisdictional State Authority or State Appellate Authority.

Inverted duty structure refunds must be filed manually and processed with undertakings until the portal module is available.
Manual processing is required for refunds arising from inverted duty structure, deemed exports and excess electronic cash ledger balances until the portal refund module is available. Claims must be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A (with Statements 1/1A for inverted duty and Statement 5B for deemed exports), accompanied by prescribed documentary evidence and undertakings; refunds may be provisionally sanctioned subject to repayment undertakings. Central and State authorities shall nominate nodal officers to coordinate sanction and payment and rejected amounts shall be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger until portal functionality is restored.

Maintenance of books of accounts may be centralised at the principal place with intimation, ITC allowed subject to conditions.
Warehouses storing goods for auction must be declared as additional places of business; principals, auctioneers and buyers storing goods there must disclose them. Although section 35(1) requires maintenance of books at each place, books relating to additional places may be maintained at the principal place of business if difficulties arise, provided the principal or auctioneer notifies the jurisdictional proper officer in writing. Input tax credit remains subject to other statutory conditions. The clarification applies where auctioneers claim input tax credit for supplies from the principal before auction and goods are supplied only through auction.

GST treatment of artists' supply clarified: invoice on actual sale; inter state transfers taxed under integrated tax; gallery consignments not supply.
Artists may transport artworks for exhibition or on approval on a delivery challan (and e way bill where applicable) and issue the tax invoice at the time of actual supply. Movements from one State to another are inter State supplies attracting integrated tax. Consignments to galleries where no consideration passes from the gallery are not supplies; GST is payable only when the buyer selects and purchases the artwork.

IGST refund: exporters eligible under Rule 96 may seek Helpdesk assistance to resolve system-related refund processing errors.
Exporters who paid IGST on exports are eligible for refund once EGMs are filed correctly; many claims are pending due to integration and PFMS errors. The Commissionerate introduced EDI modules to produce shipping bill/IEC status reports, upload pending statuses to its website, and generate successful scrolls. A Helpdesk at Customs House is established to assist trade in resolving errors preventing sanction of IGST refunds and lists the venue, officers, and technical support for reporting difficulties.

Manual processing of refund claims for zero-rated supplies ensures offline filing, verification and disbursement until portal functionality resumes.
Manual processing of refund claims for zero-rated supplies is required until the common portal refund module is available: exporters may claim refund of IGST paid by shipping bill deemed as application, while suppliers claiming refund of unutilized input tax credit or refunds for supplies to SEZs must submit FORM GST RFD-01A (printout) with supporting documents to the jurisdictional proper officer and, where ITC refunds are claimed, provide the portal-generated proof of debit (ARN). The circular prescribes manual issuance and recording of acknowledgements, deficiency memos, provisional and final orders using prescribed forms and statutory timelines.

Sale of seized gold authorised at additional authorised banking and public sector centres under existing disposal conditions.
Guidelines authorize the sale of seized/confiscated gold at additional authorised centres including all centres of State Bank of India, approved Public Sector Banks, and specified government trading entities that hold internal authorisation, subject to continued compliance with the procedural conditions set out in the Ministry's earlier letter and the Board's circular; Custom Houses are directed to urgently implement these disposal arrangements.

Deemed export treatment for DTA supplies to EOUs enables refund claims by supplier or recipient under GST.
Supplies from DTA suppliers to EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP units are treated as deemed exports, with refund of tax payable claimable by either supplier or recipient. The recipient must give prior intimation in Form A to the supplier and jurisdictional GST officers; the supplier issues a tax invoice which the recipient endorses and furnishes to the supplier and both jurisdictional officers. The endorsed invoice is proof of deemed export supply. Recipients must keep digital records per Form B with an audit trail and provide a monthly digital copy to the jurisdictional GST officer by the 10th.

Electronic filing requirement for unaccompanied baggage exports: shipping bills must be submitted in EDI with prescribed procedural checks.
All exports of unaccompanied baggage from ICD TKD must be filed electronically in the Customs EDI system; manual shipping bills are discontinued except with prior Commissioner approval. Passengers must use the designated IEC code and the baggage export scheme code. Assessing and examining officers will apply the same checks as for other goods. Passengers may self submit or engage a CHA, provide prescribed documents, have the superintendent verify and sign the Baggage Declaration, and use the EDI Service Centre to enter details and obtain checklists. Sampling physical examination applies, with full examination if discrepancies are found or on RMS instruction.

AEO programme digitization enables online filing and processing of AEO T1 applications and extends review intervals.
Establishes an online platform (aeoindia.gov.in) for filing and digital processing of AEO-T1 applications per Circular 51/2018-Cus, directs immediate use of the web-based application by applicants and Customs officials, and provides the AEO Cell email for reporting difficulties; it also extends the interval for reviews and onsite PCA of AEO-T1 certified entities from two years to three years.

Manual processing of GST refund claims for inverted duty, deemed exports and electronic cash ledger balances now permitted with undertakings.
Manual processing of refund claims for inverted duty structure, deemed exports and excess electronic cash ledger balances is permitted until the common portal refund module is available. Claims must be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A per tax period (or quarterly where outward supplies are filed quarterly) after filing corresponding outward returns and a valid GSTR-3B for the preceding period. Provisional sanctions may be granted subject to a manual undertaking to repay refunded amounts with interest if statutory compliance for input tax credit is not met. Specified statements and documentary undertakings accompany inverted-duty and deemed export refunds, and nodal officer coordination between Central and State tax authorities is required for sanction and payment.

Composition scheme eligibility clarified: exempt interest or discount services excluded from aggregate turnover and do not bar suppliers.
Suppliers who provide goods/services under paragraph 6(b) of Schedule II and also supply exempt services, including interest or discount on deposits, loans or advances, shall not be ineligible for the composition scheme if they meet other conditions; and the value of such exempt services shall be excluded from aggregate turnover when determining composition eligibility.