TDS information on dividend warrants may be printed on the counterfoil reverse and signed by the deductor.
Substitutes paragraph 4 to require that the specified TDS format be printed on the reverse side of the dividend warrant counterfoil and be duly signed by the persons responsible for deduction of tax.

Listing agreement compliance: stock exchanges must initiate statutory enforcement action for breaches under securities law.
Exchanges must treat companies' failure to comply with listing agreement obligations as breaches of the statutory duty attendant on listing and initiate appropriate proceedings under the penal provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, using the Act's sanctioning mechanism to take suitable action against such non compliance.

Extension of time granted for appointment of common agency; compliance certificates must be filed or penalties may follow.
SEBI extended the deadline for issuer companies to appoint a common agency for share registry work until March 31, 2003 and required issuers to furnish a compliance certificate by April 07, 2003 to listed stock exchanges and depositories; the extension is a one-time relief and non-compliance will invite penal action under applicable Acts and Regulations.

Subsidiary governance reform: mandatory independent CEO and majority public representatives to strengthen market transparency and risk oversight.
Subsidiaries must appoint a Chief Executive Officer not concurrently holding any position in the parent exchange, with appointment, terms, renewal and termination subject to prior regulatory approval; the CEO sits on the subsidiary board and must not be a sub broker of the subsidiary or a broker of the parent exchange. The governing board must include at least 50% non member Public Representatives nominated by the parent exchange (subject to prior regulatory approval), who are persons of integrity with securities market competence, serve for one year or until the next AGM, and are subject to re nomination cooling periods. The parent exchange is responsible for subsidiary risk management and must establish supervisory mechanisms including margin verification, reporting, inspections and complaint handling.

Investment limit for FIIs in exchange-traded derivatives not triggered where no physical delivery occurs under regulatory clarification
Trading in exchange-traded derivatives by FIIs that does not result in settlement by physical delivery of underlying stocks does not attract the prescribed investment limits under the FII regulations; only transactions resulting in physical delivery are treated as investments for applying the investment ceiling. Custodians are directed to notify constituents and the circular is published on the regulator's website.

Removal of Budget Day restrictions permits normal removal of excisable goods while maintaining anti evasion enforcement.
Deletion of rule 32 removes the prohibition on removal of excisable goods on Budget Day, allowing assessees to carry out removals without special departmental permission because duty is discharged by instalments (fortnightly for non SSI and monthly for SSI), while routine anti evasion field activity is to continue to prevent misuse of the relaxation.

Chartered Accountant certificate requirement for foreign television advertisement remittances relaxed where prior export receipts tracked through same authorised dealer.
Remittances for advertisement charges on foreign television may be processed without insisting on a Chartered Accountant's certificate of export earnings where the required export earnings in each of the two preceding years have been realised through the same Authorised Dealer making the remittance. In all cases, a Chartered Accountant's certificate must be obtained for each remittance certifying that the payment represents advertisement charges for telecast in foreign countries and not in India alone; authorised dealers must inform their constituents. Directions issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of FEMA, 1999.

Certificate of residence under Indo Mauritius DTAC secures treaty tax treatment for Mauritius resident investors on dividends and capital gains.
A Certificate of Residence issued by Mauritian authorities is sufficient evidence of both residence and beneficial ownership for applying the Indo Mauritius DTAC to dividends and capital gains; Mauritius resident FIIs and funds incorporated and taxable in Mauritius are treated as residents and, accordingly, not taxable in India on capital gains from sale of shares under Article 13. Where an entity is resident of both States, paragraph 3 of Article 4 deems it resident in the State of its place of effective management, permitting Assessing Officers to determine residence on the facts.

Preferential raw cane sugar tariff rate quota allocated for export to USA with a sole exporter designated for administration.
A quantity of raw sugar from the 2002-2003 free sale portion is allocated as a Preferential Raw Cane sugar Tariff Rate Quota for export to the USA and placed at the disposal of M/s Indian Sugar Exim Corporation Ltd., which is authorised as the sole exporter; existing procedures for GSP certification and other prescribed export certifications remain applicable.

Settlement cycle reduction mandates accelerated trade settlement and stricter operational requirements for exchanges and brokers across market participants.
Shorten the rolling settlement from T+3 to T+2 effective April 1, 2003, with a prescribed operational timetable: custodial confirmation and obligation-file generation on T+1, pay-in and pay-out on T+2 with intra-day cut-offs. Exchanges must provide late-confirmation windows with deterrent charges, systems for handling shortages to meet pay-out, byelaw amendments requiring broker disbursement within 24 hours, alternative clearing for non-dematerialised shares, restrictions and penalties on client ID changes, and promote automation and online interfaces; exchanges must submit implementation roadmaps.

Intimation of receipt of duty paid goods: procedural conditions for factory re processing and recordkeeping obligations.
Procedure under sub rule (3) of Rule 16 allows an assessee, with Commissioner's permission when invoices cannot be produced, to bring back duty paid goods into the factory for re making, refining, re conditioning or repair subject to written intimation to the Superintendent within 24 hours, physical identification within 48 hours, separate storage, restriction of processes so as not to amount to manufacture, duty payment on any excisable inputs used, maintenance of detailed accounts in prescribed Annexures, authenticated invoice endorsement on removal, and removal within six months (extensions limited).

Transfer Pricing officer appointments allocate jurisdictional and name based responsibilities under Section 92CA for transfer pricing procedures.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes designates Joint Commissioners as Transfer Pricing Officers at five headquarters (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata) to exercise powers and perform functions under Section 92CA for the purposes of transfer pricing procedures, assigning territorial jurisdictions by states and union territories and dividing assessees administratively by name initials A-L and M-Z for each headquarters.

Present market value declaration: market verification may adjust FOB valuation for drawback where overvaluation is suspected, with senior approval.
Admissibility of duty drawback rests on declared FOB value; where intelligence or prima facie evidence indicates inflated invoicing or sub-standard goods, field formations must obtain senior approval and undertake market verification to determine present market value. Verifications that establish artificial inflation should be investigated and decided under the legal framework for export valuation and drawback; verifications must not be routine, must be expeditiously concluded to avoid trade harassment, and administrative guidance and public notices should be issued.

Standard Input-Output Norms amendment updates SION entries and substitutes input norms across chemicals, electronics, engineering and plastics.
Public Notice No. 61(RE-02) directs amendments, substitutions and additions to the Standard Input-Output Norms in the Handbook of Procedures Vol.2. It implements corrections listed in Annexure A and adds new SION entries for chemicals (A-3134-A-3140), electronics (B-258), engineering (C-1859-C-1862) and plastics (H-520-H-524), substituting input lists and quantitative norms, amending import item descriptions, adding inputs and footnotes, and specifying application conditions and limited validity where indicated.

Electronic Reporting System transition ends submission of supporting schedules; authorised dealers must still file R-Return cover pages electronically.
With the implementation of the Electronic Reporting System (FET-ERS Version 5.0), prescribed supporting documents, statements and schedules previously required with R-Returns are to be discontinued; authorised dealers must nevertheless continue to submit the hard copy cover-pages of R-Return (NOSTRO) and R-Return (VOSTRO) together with electronic filing via FET-ERS.

Sponsored ADRs/GDRs proceeds: resident holders may receive foreign currency sale proceeds with FIPB approval, credited to designated accounts.
Resident shareholders converting shares into sponsored ADRs/GDRs may receive disinvestment proceeds in foreign currency provided the conversion has FIPB approval; proceeds may be credited to EEFC/RFC(D) accounts or Rupee accounts in India. Persons who were residents when offering shares but have become non-residents may elect credit to foreign currency accounts abroad or any of their accounts in India. The facility is available until further notice and regulatory amendments will follow.

Customs classification update: adoption of HSN-based 8-digit tariff codes requires Bills of Entry and EDI updates for compliance.
Promulgation of the Customs Tariff Amendment implements adoption of an 8-digit Customs classification code based on HSN effective 1 February 2003, replacing the 6-digit code; all Bills of Entry must include the new 8-digit Custom Tariff Head or they will not be accepted. EDI systems must be updated to accommodate eight-character CTH fields, RITC will align with CTH, existing exemption notifications remain valid but must be explicitly claimed in EDI, and Central Excise Tariff headings remain unchanged.

Circulation of companies amendment act: forwarded to company law administrators to inform and prompt necessary administrative action.
Circulation of the Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2002 is conveyed as an administrative directive to Regional Directors, Registrars of Companies and Official Liquidators, transmitting the enacted amendment for information and requisite administrative action and requesting acknowledgment of receipt.

Exemption limit revised for retirement benefit tax exemption, applying a higher cap to employees retiring after 1 April 1998.
The circular substitutes the earlier Government notification and associated monetary ceiling with a later notification and a higher monetary ceiling, applying that revised exemption limit to employees who retire, whether on superannuation or otherwise, after 1 April 1998.

National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards constituted under the Companies Act; Gazette notification circulated for acknowledgement.
An Advisory Committee titled National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards is constituted under section 210A(1) of the Companies Act, 1956 by Government notification S.O. 31(E) dated 10.01.2003; the Department of Company Affairs circulated this Gazette notification to regional directors, registrars of companies and official liquidators and requested acknowledgement of receipt.