Extension of filing deadlines for VAT returns; staggered online and hard-copy dates with tax deposit and late-payment penalties.
Extension of filing deadlines for DVAT/CST returns under Rule 49A allows additional time for online and hard-copy submission for March 2013 and the fourth quarter 2012-13; quarterly dealers are assigned staggered online and hard-copy dates by net tax paid. Tax due must nonetheless be deposited as required by Section 3(4) of the DVAT Act, 2004, and penalty and interest for late deposit will apply.

Infrastructure Debt Fund private placements require a filed Placement Memorandum, investor caps, securitisation for bank loans, and disclosure rules.
SEBI allows IDFs to be launched by private placement to fewer than 50 investors provided a prescribed Placement Memorandum is filed and published; the Placement Memorandum must include scheme features, risk factors, minimum five investors, a 50% single investor cap at allotment with refund/rejection rules for breaches, asset allocation limits (90-100% debt/securitised infrastructure debt, up to 10% equity/convertibles), requirement that bank loans be acquired only via securitisation, due diligence certification by AMC/trustees, specified fee and expense limits, periodic disclosures and unitholder exit protections for changes to fundamental attributes.

Automatic route for overseas oil sector investment extended to Navratna PSUs, OVL and OIL for incorporated ventures.
Navratna PSUs, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd may invest in incorporated overseas joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries in the oil sector (e.g., exploration and drilling) if investments are duly approved by the Government of India; such investments are permitted without any limits under the automatic route, extending the prior facility for unincorporated entities, with other terms and conditions remaining unchanged.

Extension of ST-3 filing deadline to end-August due to delayed ACES availability, under Service Tax Rules authority.
An administrative order under sub-rule(4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules extends the submission deadline for Form ST-3 for the period 1 October 2012 to 31 March 2013 from 25 April to 31 August, citing expected availability of the Form ST-3 on the ACES electronic filing system around 31 July; the instruction is issued to relevant Commissioners and departmental heads for implementation.

Section 49 storage permission for duty-paid timber allowed in private warehouses within five-kilometre zone, subject to strict conditions.
Storage of duty-paid imported timber is permitted in private warehouses within five kilometres of the Notified Customs Area under Section 49, subject to payment of MOT and compliance with conditions: application with ground plan, on-site registers and separate lot-wise stock cards, production of bill of entry copies, port gate passes for vehicles, insurance in the name of the Commissioner, fencing and security verification, legal undertaking/bond and NOCs from affected importers; PQC, examination and OOC to be completed normally within 30 days; non-compliance may lead to cancellation of permission or licences and penal action.

Revalidation of duty credit scrips permits utilisation of re credited SAD without RA endorsement; final extension applies.
For purpose of utilisation of re credit of 4% Special Additional Duty (SAD), freely transferable duty credit scrips (including DEPB) shall be deemed revalidated until 30.09.2013 without further Regional Authority endorsement; if Customs issues a consolidated certificate by 30.06.2013, the SAD amount in that certificate shall be deemed re credited in the scrips without reference to any DGFT Regional Authority. This is the final extension and no further extensions will be considered; future refunds require payment of SAD in cash.

Remote work authorization permits IT export unit employees to work outside their unit while preserving unit liability and export-from-premises rules.
Permits persons/ employees of IT-related EOU, STP, EHTP or BTP to work from outside the unit provided the unit issues an authorization specifying duration, retains responsibility and supervision for the work and remains liable for misuse, and ensures that export of resultant products or services takes place only from the premises of the unit.

Zero duty EPCG Authorisation validity extended to eighteen months, with immediate effect from date of issue.
Amendment increases the validity period of Zero duty EPCG Authorisation from nine months to eighteen months, with the revised validity running from the date of issue and taking immediate effect under powers conferred by the Foreign Trade Policy.

Reward and incentive scheme amendments alter product classifications, eligibility and benefit rates, effective for exports from May.
Amendments to the Reward/Incentive Schemes effective 01.05.2013 delete specified castor oil cake entries, reclassify aromatic oil items from VKGUY Table 2 to FPS Table 1, and add new VKGUY items with stated admissible rates. Appendix 37D (FPS) is expanded with numerous products and assigned benefit rates and bonuses, certain Table 1 rates are amended, MLFPS and Focus Market Scheme listings are updated, MLFPS benefits for Chapters 61-62 to USA/EU are extended, and editorial corrections and additions to Towns of Export Excellence and country lists are made.

Clubbing of authorisations: procedural disposal of specified pending requests under prior Handbook provisions, subject to stipulated conditions.
Paragraph 4.20.5 is amended to allow Regional Authorities to dispose of certain pending clubbing requests for Advance Licences/Authorisations received by the specified cut off under the prior Handbook provisions subject to conditions in the cited public notice. Appendix 21C NOTE 3 is corrected to insert DFIA in the Procedure of Electronic Fund Transfer, and the practice for issuing duplicate authorisations in lieu of cancelled ones is aligned with the standard additional application fee.

Alignment of export product codes: draft VKGUY/FPS/MLFPS posted for stakeholder feedback; duty credit rates and deadlines specified.
DGFT issued a Trade Notice seeking stakeholder views on draft revisions to Appendix 37A (VKGUY) and Appendix 37D (FPS and MLFPS) to align item descriptions with ITC (HS) classification. Draft appendices listing eligible export items and admissible duty credit rates (VKGUY largely 5%; FPS/MLFPS bonus benefits typically 2% or 5%) are posted on the DGFT website; stakeholders were invited to submit feedback by e mail by the stated deadline. Exports via specified Land Custom Stations attract an additional 1% Duty Credit Scrip.

EPCG authorizations require Nexus certification and are tied to proportional export obligations under structured block fulfilment.
DGFT revised Chapter 5 consolidating the EPCG Scheme effective 18 April 2013: authorizations in ANF5A are issued with a specific duty-saved amount and corresponding specific export obligation, require a Nexus Certificate from an independent Chartered Engineer, and obligate installation certification to the RA. EO is structured in two blocks (50% in years 1-4; 50% in years 5-6) with permitted automatic 10% adjustments, extensions subject to 2% composition fee or 10% EO enhancement, monitoring by RA, redemption via ANF5B, and penalties for default under FT(D&R) Act, FTP and Customs Act. Post-export duty credit scrips and Green Technology product lists are provided.

Investor grievance redressal via SCORES requires listed companies to register and report or face statutory consequences.
Listed companies must redress investor grievances through the SEBI Complaints Redress System (SCORES), obtain SCORES user ID and password by submitting prescribed details, and file Action Taken Reports within the prescribed period; failure to obtain credentials or to file Action Taken Reports will be treated as non-redressal or may attract statutory penalties. Stock exchanges must notify listed companies and publicize the obligations; an authentication annexure sets out contact and processing details.

Master Circular consolidation of cash market circulars provides single-source compliance guidance and supersedes prior master circular.
Issuance of a Master Circular consolidating all circulars and communications for the stock exchange cash market issued up to the end of March, 2013, effective on issue and expressly superseding the prior master circular; organized into annexures covering Trading Part I, Trading Part II, Settlement, Comprehensive Risk Management, and connectivity with both depositories including eligibility for shifting from Trade-for-Trade to Rolling Settlement.

TDS certificate issuance requirement: Part A must be generated via TRACES portal and authenticated before delivery to employee.
Part A of Form No. 16 for payroll TDS must be generated and downloaded exclusively via the TRACES Portal for deductions on or after 1 April 2012, contain a Unique Identification Number, and be authenticated and verified by the deductor (manual or digital signature) before issuance; Part B (Annexure) containing income details shall be prepared manually and issued with authenticated Part A, and the designated systems authority will specify procedures, formats and standards for electronic download and administration.

Deployment of CLRI officials to selected ports and ICDs to assist customs in examination and testing of leather exports.
Industry-funded technical personnel will be deployed at specified ports and ICDs to assist Customs in examination of leather export consignments; deployment costs are borne by the industry council. Customs shall, where required, draw samples in the presence of those personnel and forward samples to the research institute or approved laboratories for testing. Chief Commissioners must ensure cooperation and issue standing orders so the inspection, sampling and laboratory testing procedures are implemented at the listed locations from the stated commencement date.

FDI policy correction: an internal paragraph reference is amended to ensure accurate regulatory cross referencing and guidance.
Corrigendum to the Consolidated FDI Policy (Circular I of 2013) corrects an internal cross reference: the phrase 'paragraph 6.2.24' in paragraph 3.10.3.1 is to be read as 'paragraph 6.2.17.8'. The correction is issued by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and instructs publicity, website upload, transmission to the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India, and Hindi translation.

Inclusion of export promotion schemes enables Kattupalli port to process DEPB, EPCG and EOU transactions under ICES procedures.
Kattupalli Minor Port (INKATI) is included within the operational scope of Export Promotion Schemes and clustered with Chennai Custom House under ICES. The notice allocates assessment groups by scheme code and prescribes mandatory procedures for licence and TRA registration, bond registration and automatic debiting, DEPB ledger maintenance and balance checks, and system-based handling of DEPB, EPCG/DES and EOU imports and exports. Licences transmitted online by DGFT are receivable in ICES; non-transmitted licences require presentation of original documents for manual registration and verification.

Depositories Master Circular consolidates SEBI rules up to March 31, 2013, setting KYC, ISIN, BSDA, settlement and disclosure obligations.
This Master Circular compiles SEBI circulars up to March 31, 2013, supersedes the April 13, 2012 master circular and prescribes consolidated operational rules for depositories and DPs, including PAN and KYC requirements, BSDA eligibility and charges, ISIN activation and temporary freezing of additional issues, DIS and transfer safeguards, timelines for T+2 settlement and clearing member pool account transfers, disclosure of investor complaints and arbitration details on depository websites, and obligations on electronic payment data and preservation of records.

Erection services for pandals and shamianas constitute a declared service and attract service tax under applicable law.
Erection and laying of pandal or shamiana to prepare a place for events is a declared service under section 66E B(f), typically performed with the supplier's specialised labour and often bundled with ancillary supplies. Applying the Supreme Court's attributes for a transfer of right to use goods, the supplier retains effective possession and control after erection, so the activity does not amount to transfer of right to use goods and is subject to service tax as preparation of an event site.