Establishment of foreign liaison, branch and project offices in India: eligibility, permitted activities, approvals, reporting and closure requirements.
Foreign entities proposing Liaison Office, Branch Office or Project Office in India must apply in Form FNC via a designated AD Category I bank to the Reserve Bank under Reserve Bank or Government routes; eligibility requires specified profit track record and minimum net worth or a Letter of Comfort from an eligible parent. The Circular prescribes permissible activities and prohibitions for each office type, issuance of a Unique Identification Number, PAN requirement, annual Chartered Accountant activity certificates, procedures for extension, operation of foreign currency/INR accounts for project and branch operations, and detailed closure and remittance documentation requirements.

Rupee vostro account regulation mandates prior central approval, strict KYC/AML, collateral and reporting controls.
Prior Reserve Bank approval is required for AD Category I banks to open and maintain Rupee and foreign currency vostro accounts of non resident Exchange Houses; banks must perform due diligence, maintain separate credit only accounts per arrangement, prevent overdrafts, ensure Nostro credit before Rupee crediting, apply DDA/Non DDA/Speed Remittance procedures with prescribed collateral and audit or representative inspections, enforce KYC/AML/CFT compliance, and submit specified periodic statements and an annual Board approved review to the Reserve Bank.

Money Transfer Service Scheme: inbound personal remittances only, agent authorization, collateral and strict KYC/AML reporting.
Money Transfer Service Scheme permits only inward personal remittances to India through authorised Indian Agents tied to licensed Overseas Principals; Indian Agents must obtain RBI permission, satisfy entry and renewal criteria, and remain liable for sub agents. The scheme sets transaction caps (USD 2,500 per remittance, cash up to Rs.50,000), excludes certain purposes, requires Overseas Principals to maintain minimum collateral (USD 50,000 plus security) with half yearly review, and mandates comprehensive KYC/AML/CFT policies, ten year record retention, and reporting of cash and suspicious transactions to FIU IND.

External Commercial Borrowings: dual routes, eligibility, maturity and all in cost limits with strict end use and reporting rules.
External Commercial Borrowings, FCCBs/FCEBs, qualifying preference shares and trade credits are regulated under dual routes: an Automatic Route for specified real sector, infrastructure and service sector financing and an Approval Route for cases outside automatic thresholds or involving special entities. The framework prescribes eligible borrowers and recognised lenders, sector and annual caps, minimum average maturities, all in cost ceilings, permitted and prohibited end uses, conditions on security and guarantees, parking of proceeds, prepayment/refinancing rules, and mandatory reporting (LRN, Forms 83 and ECB 2) with FEMA enforcement for non compliance.

Master Circular: compounding process for FEMA contraventions, application, 180 day disposal, payment within fifteen days.
The Circular consolidates the procedure for Compounding of Contraventions under FEMA, 1999, describing the voluntary application process to the Compounding Authority (Reserve Bank or Directorate of Enforcement), prerequisites and exclusions (quantifiability of amount, repeat contraventions within three years, national security/money laundering concerns), the 180 day disposal timeframe, factors for quantifying the compounding sum, mandatory payment within fifteen days by demand draft, and referral of certain matters to investigative agencies.

Export of Goods and Services: declaration, repatriation, AD banks' procedures, time limits, and account/payment rules under FEMA.
Exports from India are governed by FEMA and related Rules/Regulations; exporters must submit prescribed declaration forms (GR, SDF, PP, SOFTEX), realise and repatriate full export value within specified periods (generally twelve months) and route receipts through AD Category I banks. The Circular prescribes permissible receipt/payment modes (ACU settlement, credit card, FCNR/NRE debits), foreign currency account types (EEFC, DDA, SEZ accounts), procedures for document handling, advance payments, extensions, write offs, and operational/reporting duties of AD Category I banks, with specified exemptions and prior approval requirements.

Overseas direct investment by Indian residents permitted via automatic and approval routes with caps, funding rules and mandatory reporting.
The Master Circular consolidates rules under FEMA 2004 for resident Indian direct investment in overseas JV/WOS through two routes: an Automatic Route permitting investments up to 400% of the investor's net worth (including equity, loans and 100% of guarantees) subject to conditions, and an Approval Route for other cases. It prescribes funding methods, valuation and reporting requirements, sectoral restrictions (real estate, banking, financial services), SPV rules, disinvestment conditions, mandatory routing via a designated AD Category I bank, use of Form ODI and allotment of a Unique Identification Number, and ongoing APR and compliance obligations.

Master Circular sets FEMA compliance, advance remittance conditions, and evidence/reporting rules for import transactions.
The Master Circular directs AD Category - I banks to ensure imports comply with FEMA and Foreign Trade Policy, KYC/AML norms, and to use Form A 1 for import payments above USD 500. It prescribes time limits (six months normally; up to three years for certain trade credits), conditions for advance remittances (guarantee/L/C thresholds and sectoral relaxations for rough diamonds, aircraft, BPO), evidentiary requirements for remittances above USD 100,000 (Exchange Control Bill of Entry or approved alternatives), follow up/reporting obligations (BEF, half yearly and special reports), document preservation and sectoral controls for precious metals and specialised imports.

Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Account rules permit limited repatriation and set permissible credits, debits, compliance requirements.
Consolidates rules for Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) Accounts: eligibility of NRIs/PIOs and certain foreign visitors; permissible credits (freely convertible remittances, legitimate Indian dues, sale/inheritance proceeds) and debits (local rupee payments, remittance of current income, repatriation for bonafide purposes subject to bank satisfaction); remittance of balances and sale proceeds subject to an overall annual ceiling, documentary evidence, remitter's undertaking and Chartered Accountant certificate; specified nationality-based restrictions; operational, loan, power-of-attorney and tax-compliance safeguards.

Remittance facilities for NRIs, PIOs and foreign nationals: repatriation limits, documentation and country-specific restrictions outlined.
Remittance facilities under FEMA permit repatriation of current income and up to USD one million per financial year from NRO account balances or sale proceeds for NRIs/PIOs and eligible foreign nationals, subject to documentary evidence, an undertaking by the remitter and a Chartered Accountant certificate in prescribed formats; Authorised Dealer banks must satisfy themselves on eligibility, tax compliance, preserve verification documents and apply country-specific exclusions and property-specific limits.

Master Circular: authorised dealers may permit resident remittances under FEMA rules, including a USD 200,000 liberalised annual limit.
Authorised Dealers may permit residents to draw and remit foreign exchange under Section 5 FEMA and the FEM (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000, subject to prohibitions in Schedule I, prior approvals for Schedule II items and Reserve Bank approval for specified Schedule III limits; ADs may rely on self declaration for specified transactions (including medical treatment and certain travel/education/emigration purposes), implement the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of USD 200,000 per financial year for resident individuals with PAN and due diligence, accept specified forms of payment and cards for permissible transactions, and must retain records, ensure KYC/AML compliance and report or refuse transactions that appear designed to contravene FEMA.

Reverse charge liability on services from non-residents arises for recipients in India, requiring defence of levy applicability.
Service tax depends on place of receipt and provider status: services received outside India from non-residents are taxable only from enactment of the relevant territorial provision, while services provided by non-residents without Indian office and received in India attract reverse charge liability for the recipient under the notification-based scheme; field formations must defend the reverse charge position for services received in India and apply the INSA territorial rule for services received outside India, examining the factual question of place of receipt in pending disputes.

Computerized processing of Shipping Bills now operational at ICD Maliwada for Duty Exemption, DEPB and EPCG schemes.
Computerized processing at ICD Maliwada implements electronic filing and processing of Shipping Bills under the Duty Exemption Scheme, DEPB and EPCG via the Customs EDI system ICES1.5, and directs exporters, CHAs, custodians and steamer agents to specified superintendent contacts for technical or filing difficulties.

TAN database cleanup: re categorization and closure measures to secure government TANs and map them to PAOs.
Instruction directs TDS Assessing Officers to identify and re categorize TANs misclassified as Government in the TAN database, using the attached Annexure for the re categorization procedure. The exercise includes mapping active Government TANs to Principal Accounts Officers/Tax Officers for allocation of Account Officer Identification Numbers, and closing TANs for offices that have ceased operations to prevent misuse, with closure steps provided in the Annexure.

Online transmission of DGFT licenses enables automatic population into Customs systems, allowing quoting of license numbers for EDI processing.
DGFT-issued licenses and file numbers will be automatically populated into the Customs ICES environment for use at the port, allowing exporters to quote DGFT file or license numbers on shipping bills and importers to quote license numbers on bills of entry; manually registered licenses are subject to verification steps for imports to enable subsequent EDI filing, while manual registration remains available for licenses issued prior to the implementation threshold.

Adjudication authority assignment: customs show cause notice transferred for adjudication to designated commissioner in New Delhi.
The Board, under notifications issued under section 4(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 and in continuation of its earlier order, assigns Show Cause Notice No. 15/Commr.Alld/2009 dated 21.08.2009 in the matter of M/s Kaka Carpets, Bhadohi & others to the Commissioner of Central Excise (Adjudication)-I, New Customs House, New Delhi, for adjudication and directs circulation of the order to listed officials for information and necessary action.

Reporting of securities lending moves to weekly submissions; fresh short positions must be reported immediately to the regulator.
Foreign Institutional Investors must submit consolidated reports of securities lent on a weekly basis (filed every Friday) with public dissemination weekly on Tuesdays; PN-issuing FIIs must include an undertaking that any fresh short position will be reported immediately, and all material must be sent to the regulator's dedicated email address.

Classification of polyester staple fibre as textile material affirmed, requiring treatment under textile headings rather than as plastic articles.
Polyester staple fibre produced from PET scrap and waste bottles is a man-made textile fibre; the production process from bottle flakes to staple does not change the nature of the finished product. Chapter notes defining man-made fibres govern classification, and the product's commercial uses in apparel, home furnishings and industrial textiles support treating it as a textile material rather than an article of plastic. Divergent practices are addressed and uniform classification under the appropriate textile heading is directed, with pending cases to be disposed accordingly.

Certificate of Origin authorisation updated: agency name and contact details changed for a regional issuing body.
Amendment under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy updates the authorised issuer entry for Certificates of Origin - Non Preferential by changing the agency name at serial number twenty three in Maharashtra from "Indian Oilseeds & Produce Exporters Association EPC" to "Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council," and by providing updated telephone, fax, email and website contact details for the authorised issuing agency.

Realisation and repatriation timelines extended for export proceeds, maintaining SEZ and warehouse provisions and FEMA authority.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks are notified of an extension of the relaxation increasing the period for realisation and repatriation of the full export value of goods and software; the extension lasts until the cut off date announced in the circular. Provisions for units in Special Economic Zones and exports to overseas warehouses remain unchanged. The Directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and banks should inform their constituents.