Credit rating threshold: undeployed FCNR(B) investments now acceptable with AA rating by S&P/FITCH for authorised dealers.
Authorised dealers must treat securities rated AA(-) by Standard and Poor or FITCH IBCA as meeting the credit rating requirement for investment of undeployed FCNR(B) funds, replacing the prior reference to AA; the directions are issued under statutory exchange control powers and apply to all authorised dealers in foreign exchange.

Freight deduction from f.o.b. value: air freight paid by exporter on collect shipments need not reduce drawback entitlement.
Where contracts and letters of credit record sales on f.o.b. terms with freight on collect basis, exporters who, due to exigency, airlift consignments and pay higher air freight themselves without changing the contractual f.o.b. value shall not have that additional freight deducted from the contracted f.o.b. value when recalculating export drawback; this rule applies to all commodities and pending cases should be decided accordingly.

Corporate guarantee in lieu of bid bond allowed for exporters, limited to prescribed proportion of contract value; PEM compliance required.
Exporters are permitted to furnish a corporate guarantee in lieu of a bid bond when bidding for projects abroad, including service contracts, subject to a cap at a prescribed proportion of the contract value and compliance with Memorandum PEM and other RBI instructions; authorised dealers must notify constituents and implement amendments to the FEMA notification framework as indicated.

Foreign investment limit in mutual fund schemes capped with expense aggregation rules and mandatory board reporting.
SEBI permits mutual funds to invest up to ten percent of a scheme's net assets as at the specified valuation date in foreign securities, subject to minimum and maximum per-fund investment quanta and necessary approvals; previously approved funds may seek enhancements and others must apply to SEBI. Investments in overseas mutual funds are exempt from the Seventh Schedule unit-investment and fee prohibition, provided the combined foreign and domestic management fees and recurring expenses do not exceed the prescribed overall expense limits, with pro rata application where only part of assets are invested, and with required board reporting and annual report disclosure.

Organic certification: designated accredited agencies authorised to issue certificates enabling export as organic product under export policy.
Agencies accredited by the relevant accrediting authority are designated to issue valid organic certificates; an agricultural product may be exported as an Organic Product only if produced, processed or packed under a valid organic certificate issued by one of the designated agencies, which are authorised for periods determined by their accrediting agency.

Duty-free import eligibility for reusable packaging containers confirmed, with identity by declared dimensions, photographs and limited tolerance.
Reusable packaging containers of metal or plastic are eligible for duty-free import under Notification No. 104/94-Cus. The requirement for engraved identification numbers may be waived; importers must declare particulars such as dimensions, shape, weight and colour. Customs may require photographs at the importer's expense, attest them, and perform random examinations. Identity at export may be established by photographs and declared physical parameters, subject to a limited tolerance.

Standard Input Output Norms amendment expands and revises permissible input lists and net to net component import rules.
Public Notice No.46 dated 06/11/2002 amends the Handbook of Procedures Vol.2 by substituting, deleting and adding Standard Input-Output Norms across chemicals, engineering, food, plastic and sports goods. The amendments restate input-output compositions for numerous items, add new SION entries, delete obsolete norms, permit certain inputs (e.g., PVC stabilizer up to 3%) subject to offsetting reductions, and allow components to be imported on a net-to-net basis with accountability and technical-specification conditions imposed by licensing authorities.

International credit cards for NRIs/PIOs may be issued without prior approval if charges are paid from permitted NRE/FCNR funds.
Authorised dealers may issue international credit cards to NRIs/PIOs without prior Reserve Bank approval provided all charges on card use are settled only from inward remittances or from balances in the cardholder's NRE or FCNR accounts, and authorised dealers must inform their constituents and ensure compliance with this funding restriction.

Repatriation of NCD redemption proceeds permitted without prior central bank approval when original approval conditions are met.
Companies that issued NCDs/PCDs to NRIs/OCBs on a repatriation basis no longer require prior Reserve Bank permission to remit redemption proceeds, provided they have complied with all other conditions stipulated in their original approval letters and the issuance aligns with the general permission for rupee borrowings by way of NCDs under the FEMA framework.

FCNR(B) fund investment allowed in overseas long term fixed income securities subject to specified high credit ratings.
Authorised dealers may invest undeployed FCNR(B) funds in overseas long term fixed income securities provided those instruments carry at least AA by Standard & Poor's, Aa3 by Moody's or AA by Fitch IBCA; all other instructions of A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.40 dated April 29, 2002 remain unchanged. The direction is issued under Section 10(4) and Section 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and conditions such overseas deployment on compliance with the prescribed rating requirements and existing RBI procedures.

Mutual Agreement Procedure secures treaty-based relief and requires taxpayer acceptance and withdrawal of related appeals for implementation.
The Mutual Agreement Procedure permits a taxpayer to request resolution from the Competent Authority when a tax action is believed inconsistent with treaty terms; Section 90 gives treaty provisions precedence where more beneficial. Once the Competent Authority communicates a MAP decision to the Chief Commissioner/Director General, the decision is to be treated as part of the applicable treaty for that case. Assessing Officers must give effect to MAP outcomes according to the assessment or appeal stage, obtain the assessee's written undertaking to accept the decision and withdraw related appeals, and record MAP facts in orders passed under section 143(3) read with section 90(2) and the relevant treaty Article.

Mandatory admission of debt instruments on both depositories required, ensuring dual depository registration for all issuances effective immediately.
Debt instruments issued by companies must be admitted on both recognized depositories rather than on a single depository; issuers and custodial participants are required to arrange dual admission to standardise dematerialisation, custody and settlement across market infrastructure participants as decided following the Working Group on Dematerialisation.

Protective demands prohibition where audit objections conflict with board instructions; refer such matters to PAC for resolution.
Field formations must not raise protective demands on the basis of CERA objections that are contrary to existing Board instructions or circulars; instead, such matters should be immediately referred to the PAC section of the Board for resolution with the C&AG rather than issuing demand-cum-show cause notices.

Third party export recognition under EDI shipping bill permits corroborated proofs and ECGC payments to count for export benefits.
Third party exports under the EDI shipping bill are acceptable upon production of Customs authenticated corroborative evidence (e.g., ARE 1 with Customs verification). Exports whose payment is realised through ECGC cover qualify for benefits under para 2.25.3 of the Handbook of Procedures, including cases prior to 01.04.2002. Branch offices may apply for all licence categories with an authority letter or NOC from the registered/head office. Where SIL surrender was mandated, regularisation may be effected by payment equal to 1% of the SIL value into the designated Central Bank account.

Drawback under Section 74 clarified: re-export need not be to same supplier or from same port if conditions met.
Drawback of customs duties on re-exported goods is allowed where the statutory conditions, the Re export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duties) Rules, 1995, and relevant notifications are met; neither the statute nor the Rules or notifications require re-export to the original supplier or through the same port, and drawback should be granted on merits with appropriate public guidance and standing orders for customs officers.

Resident Foreign Currency Account allows residents to hold foreign currency for authorised current and capital account transactions under FEMA rules.
Residents may open a Resident Foreign Currency (Domestic) Account with Authorised Dealers using foreign currency notes, bank notes and travellers cheques from prescribed personal sources; the account is a non interest bearing current account with cheque facility, unlimited balance, and debits allowed for authorised current and capital account transactions under existing foreign exchange regulations. Authorised Dealers must follow normal account opening and KYC procedures and may forward requests to the Reserve Bank's regional offices pending formal notification.

Repatriation of sale proceeds: NRIs and PIOs may remit proceeds without a holding-period restriction, subject to original foreign exchange limits.
Removal of the lock-in period permits Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin to remit sale proceeds of Indian immovable property without any minimum holding period, excluding agricultural land/farmhouse/plantation property, provided repatriation does not exceed the foreign exchange originally brought to acquire the property.

EEFC account repayment permitted for packing credit advances, subject to export realisation compliance and FEMA requirements.
The Reserve Bank permits exporters to repay packing credit and pre shipment credit advances, whether in rupee or foreign currency, from balances in their Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency (EEFC) Account to the extent exports have been realised; authorised dealers may allow such repayments but must ensure compliance with exchange control requirements governing export realisation and notify their constituents accordingly.

Time-bound arbitration limits adjournments and extensions, requiring awards within a capped maximum period after reference.
Adjournments are permitted only in exceptional cases for bonafide reasons recorded in writing. The arbitral tribunal shall normally make the award within three months from the date of entering upon the reference; the Managing Director or relevant authority may grant up to three extensions on application, but notwithstanding such extensions the award must be passed within six months from the date of entering the reference. The tribunal is deemed to have entered upon the reference on the date of its first hearing. Exchanges should incorporate these clauses into their arbitration bye-laws.

Account closure charges removed for beneficial owner accounts, while transaction charges remain payable under depository rules.
No account closure fees shall be levied on the termination of beneficial owner accounts with depositories and custodians, while ordinary transaction charges remain collectible; depositories, stock exchanges and custodians must implement this instruction prospectively as specified by the regulator and adjust account-management practices accordingly.