Surrender of export incentives required before write-off of unrealised export bills; authorised dealers must obtain proof and audit compliance.
Authorised dealers must obtain documentary evidence that exporters have surrendered any export incentives availed in respect of export bills before permitting those bills to be written off as unrealised export dues, and must implement internal or external auditor checks (random sample/percentage checks) on outstanding export bills written off; existing terms of earlier circulars remain unchanged and directions are issued under FEMA.

Inclusion of PDI and after sales service: PDI and free after sales service excluded from assessable value; prior circulars withdrawn.
Pre delivery inspection charges and dealer provided free after sales service during warranty shall not be included in the assessable value of motor vehicles for central excise; earlier Circular Nos. 355/71/97 CX and 435/1/99 CX are withdrawn for the pre legislative change period following dismissal of department appeals, while a separate Board clarification governs the post change period. Administrative instructions to inform field formations and issue a trade notice are directed.

Exchange rate determination for unlisted hard currencies: use authorised dealer-certified rate on the transaction's relevant date.
Exchange rate for hard currencies not listed in Revenue notifications shall be the rate certified by authorised dealers (including banks) on the shipping bill(s) or bill(s) of entry as applicable on the relevant Policy date; for example, for DEPB exports the authorised dealer's certified rate on the date of the let export order applies.

Customs valuation inclusion of royalties: royalty and license payments must be added to import value so duty is assessed accordingly.
Royalties and license fees required to be paid in connection with imported cinematographic films must be added to the price actually paid or payable under the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988, where such payments are not already included, so that Customs duty is levied on the intrinsic value of the films inclusive of related royalty/license payments; the earlier notification limiting duty to the cost of the print plus freight and insurance has been rescinded, and assessing officers are to apply this valuation treatment.

Non-speaking appellate order not treated as binding precedent; reasoned judgments required for precedential effect.
A supreme appellate order dismissing an appeal in limine in GMMCO is a non-speaking order and, per the Law Ministry's view citing prior authorities, a decision without reasons does not constitute a ratio decidendi and therefore should not be given binding effect as precedent; the Department of Revenue directed circulation of this opinion to officers for information and action.

Excise duty on processed textile fabrics: market bought raw materials deemed duty paid so concessional aggregate excise applies.
Textile fibres or yarns bought from the market are deemed to have had appropriate duty paid; therefore processed woven textile fabrics manufactured in a continuous process by a composite mill or by a manufacturer who processes and weaves within the same factory will attract an aggregate excise duty of 12% ad valorem. Unprocessed woven fabrics produced and consumed captively within the composite mill are exempt provided appropriate duty is paid on the processed fabrics as required by the captive consumption exemption.

Drawback rate revision: selected Drawback Table entries amended to update descriptions, rates, caps and conditions effective immediately.
Revision of duty drawback entries in the All Industry Drawback Table amends descriptions, rates, caps and conditions for select entries following industry representations; a subsequent notification implements these amendments and requires updating the printed Drawback Table and the Drawback Automation Tool (DAT) drive to reflect the changes effective as notified.

Full convertibility of deposit schemes restricts renewal of NRNR deposits and prescribes credit or repatriation routes.
Full convertibility clarifies that renewals under the NRNR scheme are prohibited from April 1, 2002; matured NRNR receipts presented after that date must be credited to the holder's NRE account and may subsequently be transferred to FCNR(B) accounts. If no NRE account exists, maturity proceeds may be repatriated abroad, and NRNR deposits maturing on or after April 1, 2002 for persons who became residents may be credited to RFC accounts.

NRO account debit permission for international credit card charges now allowed, subject to resident card use conditions.
Permission is granted to settle International Credit Card charges from Non Resident (Ordinary) Rupee (NRO) accounts of NRI/PIO cardholders, allowing authorised dealers to debit NRO accounts up to the card limit, subject to the conditions governing use of International Credit Cards by residents; amendments to the Foreign Exchange Deposit Regulations will be notified separately.

Direct upload requirement: custodians must electronically submit FII trade and investment reports daily, discontinuing physical submissions.
Custodians must directly upload daily equity and debt FII trade and investment reports from their offices by the prescribed daily cutoff, discontinuing submission of floppies and hard-copy daily reports. Monthly Portfolio Reports, amendment/cancellation reports, and Hand Delivery Trades reports are discontinued; custodians must reconcile client holdings monthly. Other items already uploaded require no separate submission. If uploading fails, FIIs must submit the data by both soft and hard copy before the scheduled time.

Standard Input-Output Norms amendment updates import substitution and net-to-net allowances, adding product-specific input norms and corrections.
Director General of Foreign Trade issues administrative amendments to the Standard Input Output Norms in the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. II, effecting substitutions, restorations, deletions, corrections and additions. The notice adds new SION entries for chemicals, engineering, plastics and sports goods via annexures, specifies alternative import inputs and net to net accountability, sets packing-policy and CIF-value limits where applicable, and amends the General Note for Fuel to include non ferrous basic metals and downstream aluminium products.

Custodian bond requirement revised to rest on average duty with supporting security; government undertakings exempted from deposit.
Custodians must execute a bond equal to the average duty on goods likely to be stored for the short-term storage period, supported by a bank guarantee, Government bond, or cash deposit equal to a prescribed proportion of that average duty; Central and State Government undertakings are exempt from the requirement to furnish the supporting bank guarantee or cash deposit. Existing bonds and guarantees may be revised and the change should be notified by public notice or standing order, with implementation difficulties reported to the Board.

Inclusion of interest on deferred sales tax: such interest is not additional consideration and is excluded from assessable value.
Interest earned by a manufacturer on deferred sales tax under a State incentive does not amount to additional consideration from the buyer and therefore cannot be added to the assessable value under Rule 5 of the earlier Valuation Rules, 1975 or Rule 6 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000; this clarification should be communicated to field formations and trade.

Bearing classification rules: thrust bearing assembly treated as a bearing and held dutiable under central excise notification.
Thrust bearing assembly for submersible power-driven pumps is a type of bearing (hydrodynamic thrust bearing) and therefore dutiable; the exemption for parts of power-driven pumps excludes bearings and chapter placement does not affect dutiability, so the item must be classified under the pump-parts tariff heading applicable to such bearings and is not exempt under the relevant notification.

Fuel import entitlement under advance licences expanded with captive power and deemed export conditions applied.
Amendments permit direct negotiation of export documents with RBI permission and require FIRC and shipping details for export benefits. Newcomers must furnish bank guarantees to cover customs duty plus interest unless qualifying as status holders, PSUs, or registered manufacturer-exporters with requisite export and compliance records; small manufacturers registered with sales tax authorities face reduced guarantees and certification requirements. Duty-free import of fuel under Advance Licence is allowed for manufacturers with captive power plants subject to actual-user licence conditions, applicable SION or general/ad-hoc norms, exclusion of fuel from DEPB fixation, and procedural filings to the Advance Licensing Committee. Realisation of proceeds is dispensed with for shipments under confirmed irrevocable inland letters of credit when certified; certain districts are added to Agri Export Zones and an additional agency is authorised to issue non-preferential Certificates of Origin.

Waiver of statutory notice: procedural notice can be waived and does not negate jurisdiction to recover escaped duty.
Section 28's requirement to issue notice is a procedural protection personal to the addressee that may be waived; jurisdiction to recover escaped duty stems from the levy provision, so procedural noncompliance may render proceedings voidable but does not oust recovery jurisdiction. Separately, compounded levy schemes constitute distinct regulatory regimes, and general time-limit provisions for ordinary excise recovery do not automatically apply to such special schemes.

Paperless transactions via digital signatures and EDI linkages will reduce exporter compliance burdens and cut processing time.
The Mumbai DGFT office reports full online licence application intake and same day issuance, institutionalised Facilitation Committees and a Help Desk, and a growing public website. It announces forthcoming paperless transactions using digital signatures and EDI linkages with Customs and banks to reduce transaction time and verification burdens, and proposes a "Knowledge Centre" to provide information, training and consultancy to exporters, developed with participation from exporters, promotion bodies, educational institutions and government entities.

High seas sale valuation: use last buyer's contract price for customs assessment when it exceeds declared CIF plus standard charges.
Valuation for high seas sales treats the last buyer as the importer; a standard 2% addition to CIF is generally applied as high seas sale charges but documented actual charges exceeding 2% must be added, and if the actual high seas sale contract price is known and exceeds CIF plus those charges the actual contract price shall be taken as the value for duty assessment.

Transaction value acceptance for identical auto components allows dual pricing, subject to scrutiny for related party transfer pricing.
Acceptance of transaction value allows dual prices for OE and spare auto components when each price represents the bona fide transaction value; the department must prove price is not the sole consideration to reject declared value, and significant differentials in related party imports should prompt transfer pricing and intrinsic value scrutiny.

Classification of palm stearin requires chemical distinction between triglyceride fractions and free fatty acids for correct tariff assignment.
Palm stearin as a fraction of palm oil composed essentially of triglycerides (glycerides/esters of fatty acids) should be classified as a vegetable fat/oil fraction, whereas stearine/stearic acid products that are free or mixed monocarboxylic fatty acids are classifiable as industrial fatty acids. Triglycerides and free fatty acids are chemically distinguishable by tests such as the ester value. Goods declared as "palm stearin" or "crude palm stearin" may be chemically examined to verify their nature before tariff classification.