Investor grievance redressal: shortened timelines and staged monetary relief from exchange protection funds pending arbitration.
SEBI mandates shortened timelines and a staged grievance resolution: exchanges must attempt resolution at exchange level, proceed to conciliation, and permit the Investor Grievance Redressal Committee (IGRC) to determine admissibility. If a claim is admissible, exchanges shall block the claim from the Member's deposit and allow the Member a brief period to elect arbitration; if arbitration is chosen, exchanges may grant staged monetary relief from the Investor Protection Fund (IPF) subject to undertakings, caps, recovery from blocked Member funds, and measures against misuse.

Arbitration appeal fee reform reduces filing costs for small client claims; exchanges and protection funds share ensuing expenses.
The amendment revises appellate arbitration fees: while maintaining the existing maximum fee for appeals generally, clients with claims or counterclaims up to ten lakh rupees shall pay a reduced capped filing fee, and further expenses arising from such appeals shall be borne equally by the stock exchanges and the Investor Protection Fund of the stock exchanges.

Special Currency Basket revision fixes rupee value and directs authorised dealer banks to notify constituents under FEMA authority.
The Reserve Bank revised the Rupee valuation of the Special Currency Basket used for Deferred Payment Protocols and fixed a new rupee value effective in September 2013; Authorised Dealer Category I banks are directed to notify their constituents of the revision. The circular is issued under FEMA authority and is without prejudice to other legal permissions or approvals.

Foreign currency borrowing maturity eased to permit one year tenure for specified swap-eligible borrowings, reverting to longer term subsequently.
AD Category I banks may borrow overseas foreign currency beyond their unimpaired Tier I capital subject to minimum maturity rules: borrowings made on or before November 30, 2013 to avail the Reserve Bank's swap facility may have a minimum maturity of one year; borrowings beyond that date must have a minimum maturity of three years. The directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and do not affect other required statutory permissions or approvals.

Incremental export scrutiny tightened; enhanced documentation, CA certification and specific filing timelines required for high growth claims.
Claims under the Incremental Exports Incentivisation Scheme with growth beyond prescribed thresholds will face enhanced Regional Authority scrutiny requiring evidence of manufacture or purchase, verification of suppliers' export performance, and any other evidence to justify growth and entitlement. The amendment applies Handbook procedural rules to affected claims for the specified benefit year, prescribes use of the revised ANF 3F, requires Chartered Accountant certification of exports and quarterly incremental figures, and confirms filing timelines and late cut applicability.

Depository connectivity enables shifting securities from trade-for-trade to rolling settlement subject to dematerialisation and certification.
Stock exchanges may shift securities from Trade for Trade Settlement to Normal Rolling Settlement if the issuer has connectivity with both depositories, at least fifty percent of non promoter holdings are dematerialized (certified by the RTA or, if no RTA, by a practicing company secretary/chartered accountant) and there are no other grounds for continued TFTS; exchanges must report actions taken to the regulator in their development reports.

Trade credit rules expanded for capital goods imports, longer tenor allowed with shorter contract start period.
Companies in all sectors may now avail trade credit up to USD 20 million for import of DGFT classified capital goods for up to five years; the ab initio contract period is reduced to six months. AD Category I banks remain subject to existing terms and conditions but are not permitted to issue LC/guarantees/LoU/LoC for any extended period beyond three years. Other Trade Credit policy aspects remain unchanged and the amendment is effective immediately under regulatory directions.

Line of Credit terms require majority India sourced supplies and prescribe compliance, documentation and FEMA based regulation.
Exim Bank's LOC for financing a low cost housing project in Burkina Faso mandates that at least 75 percent of contract price be supplied from India and up to 25 percent may be procured abroad. The Credit Agreement effective from September 13, 2013 prescribes 48 month disbursement timing for project exports and 72 months from execution for supply contracts. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC, though exporters may pay commission from their own resources or EEFC balances subject to AD Category I bank compliance. Directions issued under FEMA sections 10(4) and 11(1).

Border trade commodity description corrected; three wheelers and cars reclassified to include vehicles below one thousand cc.
The DGFT amends Sl. No. 22 of Para 2(iii) of Public Notice No. 30(RE-2012)/2009-2014 to correct a typographical error: the item is to be read as Three Wheelers/Cars below 1000 CC in place of the incorrect description Three Wheelers/Cars below 100 CC. All other provisions of the Public Notice remain unaltered.

Refund claim by diplomatic missions and international organisations: use mission TIN on invoices and claim VAT refund.
Entities listed in the Sixth Schedule may claim VAT refund within the prescribed filing period under Rule 35(2); invoices must quote the Registration No./TIN of the Embassy/High Commission/International Organisation and show the VAT amount separately. Diplomats and staff can use the mission Registration No./TIN for purchases and refund claims without obtaining a separate Registration No./TIN, provided the invoice records the name of the diplomat or staff member as the individual purchaser.

Non-filers Monitoring System compliance: officers must issue notices and may initiate assessment proceedings if returns remain unfurnished.
Assessing Officers must issue letters to assessees within fifteen days of NMS assignment and record delivery in the NMS module; use alternate addresses from the Online Monitoring System where necessary. E-filed returns are automatically pushed to NMS; paper returns or late notifications must be entered in AST within fifteen days. Mark "No return is required" or "Assessee not traceable" in NMS with Range head confirmation as applicable. If an identified assessee fails to file within thirty days of the time allowed, consider initiation of assessment proceedings in AST. Weekly system processing will close NMS records when return details, issued notices, or confirmed no-return markings exist.

Online reporting of foreign contributions becomes mandatory for banks; register credentials and submit prescribed data formats.
Banks must report receipts of foreign contribution to the Central Government using the Ministry's online software, which is optional until the transition cutoff and compulsory thereafter; banks must create user IDs and passwords and submit reports in prescribed formats (Excel, CSV, or txt) following the Ministry's user guide.

Exemption claim scrutiny: cases lacking charitable registration or denied institutional approval flagged for manual review.
Manual scrutiny must compulsorily include cases where taxpayers claim tax exemption despite refusal or cancellation of registration for charitable status, except where such refusal or cancellation has been reversed or set aside on appeal, and cases where approval for specified exempt institutions has been denied or withdrawn by the competent authority; the amendment requires communication to all officers for implementation.

Continuance of proceedings: Board of Company Law Administration to exercise Tribunal powers until Tribunal is notified.
Pending notification of the date for transfer of matters to the Tribunal, the Board of Company Law Administration is authorised to exercise the powers of the Tribunal concerning prospectus, return of allotment, redemption of preference shares and appeals related to refusal of registration and rectification of the register of members, under the removal of difficulties provision to ensure continuity until the Tribunal is duly constituted.

Tax refunds under administrative directive must be issued promptly and progress reported to senior officials for compliance.
Authorities are directed to expedite issuance of pending tax refunds for the specified assessment year, ensure refunds are processed within the established set-off and refund framework, and require Assessing Officers to clear outstanding refunds without further delay. Senior officials must personally monitor progress and submit a report explaining any reasons for non-issuance as part of the central action plan to restore compliance and accountability.

Project export form submission dispensed to streamline compliance while preserving reporting to financing and insurance participants.
Submission of forms DPX-1, PEX-1, TCS-1 and DPX-3 to the Reserve Bank by the Approving Authority may be dispensed with, while submission to financing or insurance participants with participatory interests must continue; all other PEM instructions remain unchanged and the change does not affect approvals required under other laws.

Form ORA reporting: Authorized dealers no longer must forward regional submissions, must retain approval records locally.
Mandatory forwarding of Form ORA to regional offices is discontinued; Authorized Dealers must retain particulars of approvals for opening Trading Offices, Non Trading Offices, Branches or Representative Offices abroad at their end. The change is issued under FEMA and does not affect other approvals or statutory compliance required under other laws.

Special Currency Basket value revised under FEMA directives; authorised dealer banks must implement change and notify constituents.
The Reserve Bank of India notified a revised Rupee value for the Special Currency Basket to be used in transactions under the Deferred Payment Protocols between India and the erstwhile USSR, directed Authorised Dealer Category I banks to apply the revised value and to inform their constituents, and stated the directions are issued under FEMA and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency delisting renders the firm immediately ineligible to issue inspection certificates under trade policy.
Under authority of the Foreign Trade Policy, M/s. Geo Chem Far East Pte. Ltd. has been deleted from the roster of Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies and is immediately ineligible to issue Pre Shipment Inspection Certificates; the amendment updates the Appendix listing in the Handbook of Procedures and references prior public notices that had listed the agency.

Education services exemption covers auxiliary services to institutions, excluding outsourced transport, catering and related services from service tax.
Education services are exempt from service tax under the negative list and by notification: services provided to an educational institution in respect of education exempted from service tax are exempt when rendered as auxiliary educational services or renting of immovable property. "Auxiliary educational services" include imparting skill or knowledge, course content development, admission-related services, conduct of examinations, transportation of students/faculty/staff, government-sponsored mid-day meal catering, and other outsourced services ordinarily carried out by institutions; such outsourced services (e.g., transport, hostels, housekeeping, security, canteen) are therefore exempt.