FPI investment limits increased, with coupon reinvestment counted within government securities limits and corporate bond cap unified.
FPIs' investment limits are revised: G-sec limits rise incrementally, SDL limits hold, corporate bonds receive a single consolidated cap, and part of SDL long-term allocation is transferred to G-secs. Coupon reinvestment will be included in G-sec utilization at periodic reset, with the existing coupon stock added one time to the 'General' sub-category limit; the coupon rule will later extend to other debt categories. Revised numeric ceilings for debt sub-categories and total debt are prescribed and take immediate effect under statutory directions.

Job work compliance: principals must maintain records and meet time limits or transfers become deemed supplies with tax consequences.
Job work permits a principal to send inputs or capital goods to a job worker without tax subject to intimation and conditions; if such goods are not returned or supplied from the job worker's premises within one year for inputs (three years for capital goods except certain tools), the transfer is deemed a supply by the principal on the date of initial dispatch, attracting invoicing, tax, return declaration and interest. Principals retain primary recordkeeping responsibility, must issue challans and file FORM GST ITC-04; e-way bill rules and registration thresholds for job workers apply. Registered job workers must invoice and can claim ITC for inputs used in providing job-work services.

Job work compliance: principal bears responsibility for tax, documentation and time-bound return or deemed supply.
Clarification defines job work as processing of goods belonging to another registered person and confirms the principal may send inputs or capital goods to a job worker without payment of tax, subject to maintaining accounts and prescribed conditions. If inputs are not returned within one year or capital goods within three years (except specified items), the dispatch is deemed a supply by the principal from the date of sending, requiring invoicing, return declaration and interest. Challan rules, quarterly FORM GST ITC-04 intimation, e-way bill obligations, registration thresholds, invoicing, valuation principles and availability of input tax credit to principal and registered job workers are also clarified.

Settlement Commission window enables expedited resolution of pending show cause notices under excise, customs and service tax laws.
The notice informs that assessees served with Show Cause Notices pending at various stages of adjudication may opt to approach the Settlement Commission for early settlement under the applicable Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax enactments, subject to the conditions in those statutes; it also directs dissemination of this option to trade associations, chambers, RAC members and other concerned persons within the Commissionerate's jurisdiction.

Use of DEPB scrip: full scrip credit must be applied at assessment and any remaining duty paid in cash.
Once a Bill of Entry is filed using a DEPB scrip, no change to remove the scrip is permitted during assessment. If assessed duty exceeds DEPB credit, the entire scrip credit must be applied first and any balance paid in cash. If assessed duty is less than the DEPB credit, the duty shall be fully paid using the DEPB credit. These directions are to be treated as a standing order and operational queries referred to the Joint Commissioner, E&T (Export).

IGST refund validation: mismatched GSTR 1/GSTR 3B filings delay refunds; correct returns or seek officer verification.
IGST refunds are held up where GSTN does not transmit data to Customs EDI due to incorrect or insufficient exporter filings; validation compares IGST in Table 6A of GSTR 1 with Table 3.1(b) of GSTR 3B and mismatches from Cess misdeclaration or misclassification of exports prevent transmission. Where automatic reconciliation fails, GST officers and Customs will scrutinize returns, exporters must submit written explanations or CA certificates as needed, and a one time officer interface refund will address shipping bills wrongly showing IGST as not applicable, with refunds credited to the PFMS registered bank account.

Assessable value for IGST and GST cess: higher of statutory valuation or declared sale price applies on ex bond clearances.
Revised valuation for Ex Bond clearances requires importers to declare warehouse sales in the Ex Bond Bill of Entry using flag "S" and RSP fields; the ICES will compute IGST and GST Compensation Cess using the higher of the statutory valuation or the declared sale price when importer details differ between warehousing and Ex Bond entries.

IGST refund on exports: officer-mediated correction mechanism lets customs reconcile invoice mismatches via a concordance table.
An alternative officer-interface is provided for IGST refund cases flagged SB005 where invoice mis-match has held refunds. Exporters must submit a certified Concordance Table mapping GST invoices to Shipping Bill invoices; Customs officers will verify the concordance, IGST taxable values and amounts, adjust for short shipments, edit IGST details if required, approve or reject invoices, and sanction refunds which will be credited electronically via PFMS. This procedure is limited to Shipping Bills filed till 31 December 2017.

Export remittance compliance: exporters and banks must reconcile BRC/EDPMS records or face ICEGATE alert and adjudication.
Exporters and Authorized Dealer banks must verify BRC integration via ICEGATE and use uploaded annexures identifying SBS records with unreconciled foreign exchange, IFSC mismatches, and missing BRC data. Exporters should furnish documents for SBS before 01.04.2014 and coordinate with AD banks for post 01.04.2014 SBS to clear pendency in the BRC Module and RBI EDPMS within one month. Non compliance will lead to an ICEGATE alert, issuance of a Show Cause Notice and adjudication proceedings.

Speaking order requirement for reassessment ensures importers and exporters receive reasons for valuation or classification changes.
Instruction requires issuance of a speaking order where a re-assessment differs from the importer's or exporter's self-assessment on valuation, classification, exemption or concessions, so that the affected party is informed of the reasons for the re-assessment; Chief Commissioners must review practices and ensure compliance with this statutory obligation.

Monitoring of foreign investment limits: automated red-flag alerts and mandated proportionate divestment to restore compliance.
An integrated depository-hosted monitoring system requires each listed company to appoint a Designated Depository and maintain a Company Master recording identifiers, sectoral caps, permissible aggregate FPI and NRI limits and direct and indirect foreign holdings; custodians and Authorized Dealer banks will report trades to depositories, which will compute end-of-day holdings, activate a red flag when available headroom reaches the prescribed threshold, publish available headroom, and on breach instruct proportionate disinvestment to be effected to domestic investors within a specified settlement-linked trading period.

Ban on import of Oxytocin prompts tightened vigilance to prevent smuggling and unauthorised domestic trade.
A directive prohibits the import of Oxytocin and Oxytocin API in any name because indigenous production will meet domestic needs; imports are banned with immediate effect. Field formations are instructed to step up and tighten enforcement and vigilance to prevent smuggling and to guard against unauthorised trade, sale or manufacturing of Oxytocin within the country.

Government-supported line of credit enables export financing with Indian sourcing and restricted commission payments.
Authorization is granted for a Government of India supported Line of Credit by Exim Bank to finance eligible exports of goods and services and consultancy for development projects, subject to Foreign Trade Policy eligibility and Export Declaration Form requirements. The LoC sets a terminal utilization period from project completion. Sourcing rules require at least seventy-five percent of contract value to be supplied from India, with reduced thresholds for civil construction and possible further reductions by Exim Bank where sourcing is not from a third country. No agency commission is payable under the LoC; commissions may be paid from exporter resources or Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency Account balances post-realization.

EODC monitoring system enables exporters to track Advance/EPCG EODC applications; RAs must record and respond to queries.
RAs must record and update EODC application statuses for Advance and EPCG authorisations on the DGFT EODC monitoring portal; all requests/replies submitted for EODC are considered pending until EODC is issued. Exporters can view case status and use a "Raise Query" facility to prompt RAs to enter or correct pending records. RAs shall verify queries, accept or reject them with reasons, and on acceptance update the status to EODC issued, Deficiency Letter issued, or maintain pending status until disposal.

Packaging restriction removal for roasted gram allows unrestricted export packaging, aligning roasted gram policy with pulses export liberalisation.
Export of roasted gram (whole or split) is no longer subject to the consumer-packaging restriction previously limiting exports to packs up to one kilogram; the packaging restriction imposed earlier is inapplicable following the removal of prohibition on all varieties of pulses, so roasted gram exports are now treated consistently with freely exportable pulses.

E-way bill verification powers expand to designated officers for stopping vehicles carrying inter-state and intra-state goods.
Proper officers designated under the existing office orders for the purposes of section 68 are authorised, subject to the prescribed conditions, to stop vehicles for verification of e-way bills issued for the transportation of all inter-state and intra-state goods. The designation covers officers posted in the mobile unit, enforcement unit, central mobile unit, headquarters, and other relevant headquarters sections, and the authority is exercised under rule 138B(1) for verification of e-way bills in transit.

Extension of SEZ approvals and co developer recognitions allowed, subject to continuity, compliance and tax assessment rights.
The Board granted time limited extensions of formal, in principle and LoP/LoA approvals where developers demonstrated progress or state involvement, authorised multiple co developer designations subject to SEZ Act and Rules with lease tenures capped at 30 years (renewable), approved numerous shareholding and implementing agency transfers conditioned on continuity of SEZ activities, fulfilment of eligibility and security clearances, provision of financial and PAN details to CBDT, and preserved tax authorities' rights to assess gains arising from ownership changes; miscellaneous area amendments, renewals and procedural directions were also addressed.

Custodianship extension for bulk import cargo conditioned on compliance with customs obligations and financial securities.
Extension of custodianship for handling bulk import cargo at Berth No.15 is granted to M/s. Udupi Power Corporation Limited under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act and Regulations 10(2) and 10(3) of HCCAR, 2009, subject to validity of bank guarantee, insurance and related documents. The custodian must comply with Section 45(2) and 45(3) and HCCAR obligations, remain liable for duty on pilfered or lost goods and for losses from fire, theft or transit, provide specified infrastructure and security, maintain records, bear cost recovery charges for Customs officers unless exempted, and adhere to conditions for renewal and potential cancellation.

Reorganisation of Customs commissionerates: appraising functions reallocated, CIU merged, and a dedicated Customs Audit commissionerate established.
Re organisation reallocates appraising work for Group VII from Export commissionerates to Import I and Import II; SIIB (Import) and SIIB (Export) are given zone wide jurisdiction for import and export matters respectively, and CIU and SIIB (G) are merged under the Principal Commissioner (General). A dedicated Customs Audit Commissionerate will conduct thematic desk reviews, transactional audits including RMS PCA, and On Site Post Clearance Audit (OSPCA). Each commissionerate retains specified operational charges and independent legal, recovery, review and administrative sections. The changes are effective immediately.

Algorithmic trading order limits set by exchanges with rolling window measurement and economic disincentives for breaches.
Exchanges shall set an orders per second limit (X) for algorithmic trading per CTCL ID/ATS User ID within the regulator's maximum, measured over a rolling five second window; exchanges must impose and disclose economic disincentives for breaches and ensure limits match their capacity. The requirement that system audits be performed by auditors empanelled by exchanges is deleted; exchanges must notify members and publish the provisions.