Maintenance of public records: require recorded hearings and speaking orders to ensure lawful quasi judicial decision making.
Instruction directs that quasi judicial and appellate authorities must maintain authentic, signed and dated order sheets; fix and record personal hearings under the authority's signature; note reasons and submissions on the file; and issue reasoned, speaking orders. CBEC is asked to issue guidelines to ensure public orders are made transparently and that sample verification of adjudication and appellate records is carried out to secure compliance.

Overseas Direct Investment reporting: revised Form ODI consolidates transaction reporting and mandates online UIN issuance for remittances.
Overseas Direct Investment reporting has been rationalised by consolidating remittance and transaction reporting into a revised Form ODI comprising Part I (application for a Unique Identification Number and reporting of remittances/financial commitments with auditor certification/self certification), Part II (Annual Performance Report) and Part III (disinvestment reporting). AD Category I banks must obtain Form ODI Part I prior to executing ODI transactions, report forms in the online OID application to obtain the UIN, retain UIN wise physical records, implement AD Maker/Checker/Authorizer roles for online reporting, and report post investment changes; Resident Individuals may self certify in lieu of auditor certification.

Overseas direct investment compliance: ensure annual performance reports are filed and banks verify APR submission before transactions.
Overseas direct investments by Indian parties and resident individuals require annual submission of an Annual Performance Report (APR) in prescribed Form ODI for each overseas JV/WOS. AD Category I banks must check with their nodal office that all APRs for an applicant have been filed before facilitating any ODI transactions; resident individuals may self certify APRs; where multiple investors exist the largest stakeholder or a designated entity must ensure APR submission; APRs should be based on the latest audited accounts and non compliance will be treated as contravention of the FEMA notification.

Rupee denominated bond issuance overseas now subject to rupee term aggregate limits, investor jurisdiction criteria and reporting obligations.
Issuance of Rupee denominated bonds overseas is subject to an aggregate foreign investment limit fixed in Rupee terms; entities may borrow up to Rs. 50 billion per financial year under the automatic route, with excess requiring RBI approval. Bonds may be issued only in and subscribed by residents of jurisdictions meeting FATF and IOSCO/SEBI information sharing criteria and not featured in FATF public statements for AML/CFT deficiencies. Minimum maturity is three years. Borrowers must obtain lists of primary bondholders and AD Category I banks must report actual principal drawdowns/repayments to the Reserve Bank on the transaction date.

Acceptance of foreign deposits for director nomination treated as current account payments not requiring RBI approval.
Deposits placed by persons resident outside India to nominate themselves or others as directors are treated as a current account (payment) transaction and therefore do not require Reserve Bank approval under the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations; refunds of such deposits on selection or achieving specified vote thresholds are similarly not subject to RBI approval.

Taxation of government-provided services: service tax applies where payment is consideration; point of taxation is due or payment, whichever is earlier.
Services by Government or a local authority to business entities are taxable where payment is made as consideration, subject to specified exemptions. The point of taxation is the earlier of the date any payment becomes due as per the invoice/bill/challan or the date of payment. Interest on deferred payments is includible in value. CENVAT Credit for one time assignment charges may be availed evenly over three years, while credit for periodic payments is available in the year paid; prescribed documents such as challans evidence credit entitlement.

Mandatory measurement units required in trade documents to ensure legal metrology compliance and consistent customs declarations.
Declaration of measurements in trade documentation is mandatory: weight, volume, length, area and similar measurements must be stated in units approved under the Legal Metrology Act, and these measurements must appear in both the Bill of Entry and the Shipping Bill for all importers, exporters and customs brokers; earlier public notices inconsistent with the Legal Metrology Act are amended accordingly.

Waiver of additional fee for delayed e form filings after system launch, subject to filing by the specified extended deadline.
The Ministry acknowledged V2R2 launch disruptions and, as a one time administrative measure, ordered waiver of additional fees for e forms due during the system disruption period, provided such forms are filed by the specified extended deadline; filings after that final date will not receive the relaxation.

Staff reallocation for post-clearance audit urged to strengthen customs audit and investigative oversight and reduce case pendency.
Directive to competent authorities to review staff distribution and reallocate additional manpower within commissionerates to strengthen Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) and Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) in Customs Houses, in response to PAC observations that staff shortages and non implementation of redeployment have increased pendency and reduced scrutiny of RMS-selected consignments.

Plant quarantine regulation expands to include industrial imports of sand and similar materials, requiring inspection and clearance before import.
Import consignments of sand and various mineral and soil-derived materials for industrial and non agricultural purposes are included within the Plant Quarantine regulatory scope, covering items such as silica sands, clays, rock aggregates, ores, vermiculite, perlite, gypsum and similar materials; such consignments require Plant Quarantine inspection and clearance prior to import, and importers and associated stakeholders must comply with the Plant Quarantine orders when presenting these goods for Customs processing.

Prohibition on importing mobile phones with duplicate or fake IMEIs: GSMA IMEI certificates and Customs ICDR verification required.
Imports of mobile handsets are prohibited if devices bear duplicate, fake, non genuine, or all zero IMEI/ESN/MEID; importers must obtain GSMA/MSAI IMEI certificates following TAC/IMEI allocation and submit consignment wise certificates to Customs. Customs will verify certificates via the ICDR system for genuineness, correct allocation to the Type Allocation Holder, matching make/model/form factor, and absence of prior entry into India, validate consignments on a 100% basis with limited random physical sampling for green channel consignments, and treat ICDR red marked shipments as improper imports subject to penal provisions and confiscation.

Import/export of gifts by courier: follow extant instructions and report refusals to ensure clearance of bona fide gift consignments.
Indian Customs identifies refusals by foreign courier agencies to book bona fide gift consignments for export to India citing non-clearance or embargo, and directs that extant instructions on import of bonafide gift items through Post/Courier be scrupulously followed; any such incidents should be reported to the undersigned for remedial action.

Exercise of Chapter X powers requires report-based audits and forwarding records to local assessing officers for tax assessment.
Officers exercising Chapter X powers (audit, survey/inspection, stopping and detention of goods vehicles) must prepare reports based on information and records examined by them and mandatorily forward those reports and records to the ward/branch officer having jurisdiction over the dealer for assessment of tax and penalty; non-compliance will attract disciplinary action.

Restriction on field collection of VAT: deputed teams must not accept cheque payments during surveys and must refuse voluntary payments.
Officers deputed for field surveys are instructed not to collect VAT by cheque or any other mode during surveys; if a dealer offers payment to address a tax deficiency, the officer must decline receipt and advise the dealer to deposit tax through the prescribed VAT deposit procedure; noncompliance by officers will invite disciplinary action.

Service tax on legal services: stay orders prompt government to seek consolidated review and vacatur through transfer petitions.
Stay orders restraining the levy of service tax on legal services provided by Senior Advocates have been issued by multiple High Courts. The Board has directed engagement of the Attorney General to seek vacatur and aggregation by filing transfer petitions, and requests urgent transmission of all relevant High Court files from Zones to enable filing.

Mandatory full testing of imported limestone at designated laboratory; importers must provide samples and bear testing costs.
Import consignments of limestone must undergo full testing to verify parameters in IS:10345 of 2004 because the prior laboratory could not perform certain determinations; samples shall be forwarded to the designated external testing facility in Kolkata capable of conducting the complete test matrix (items (i)-(vi) of table 1, clauses 5, 6.1.1 and 7). Importers shall bear testing costs, submit the prescribed sample quantity for a full test, and pay fees by Demand Draft at submission.

Legal Metrology labelling and measurement rules require supplier contact details on packages and approved unit declarations in trade filings.
The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 amendments redefine industrial consumer and institutional consumer and adopt the Food Safety Act definition for retail food package; require every package to display the name, address, telephone number and e mail of a contact for consumer complaints effective 1 January 2016; and mandate that importers, exporters and customs brokers declare all measurements in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills only in units approved under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, with earlier related public notices amended as applicable.

Deeming of manufacture for lubricating oils can trigger Central Excise duty when marketability processes are performed.
Processing of waste oil into products fit for use as lubricating oil does not automatically constitute manufacture, but chapter note creating a deeming fiction provides that labelling, re-labelling, re-packing from bulk to retail, or any other treatment to render lubricating oils marketable shall be treated as manufacture for lubricating oils and lubricating preparations; where such processes are carried out, Central Excise duty is leviable, demands should be raised within normal limitation and SSI benefits extended where admissible.

Applicability of Section 234B(2A): CBDT issued administrative clarification on whether it applies to pending or newly filed cases.
The Board received representations about whether the Finance Act, 2015 insertion of Section 234B(2A) (effective 01.06.2015) applies to cases pending before the Settlement Commission as on that date or only to applications filed after it. CBDT has enclosed a communication from its TPL division clarifying the applicability issue and has directed principal chief commissioners and other concerned officers to note the clarification and ensure necessary compliance.

Customs exemption availability clarified as applicable to all Indian airlines, prompting public notices and administrative dissemination.
The customs exemption under Notification No. 151/94-Cus (Serial No. 1) is clarified to apply to any Indian airline, not limited to the former Indian Airlines, and public notices or standing orders should be issued to inform stakeholders and departmental officers; implementation difficulties are to be reported to the Board.