Paperless Customs document submission via e-SANCHIT enables electronic uploading, IRN linking, and online assessment processes.
The e-SANCHIT facility requires stakeholders to upload digitally signed supporting documents for Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills via ICEGATE, obtain and link unique Image Reference Numbers (IRNs) when documents are added after bill generation or in response to queries, and ensures assessment, examination and post-clearance verification will be conducted using electronic documents while originals that must be verified are still to be produced as required; authorized persons must retain originals for five years and follow prescribed linkage and submission procedures.

Eligible collateral rules allow IFSC clearing corporations to accept bank guarantees and foreign securities with minimum cash composition required.
Clearing corporations in the International Financial Services Centre may accept as eligible collateral cash and cash equivalents (including specified foreign currencies, term deposit receipts and bank guarantees issued by IFSC bank branches), Indian securities held with foreign depositories, foreign securities including units of liquid mutual funds, and gold for trades in all product categories, provided cash and cash equivalents form at least half of total liquid assets. Clearing corporations must amend systems and bye laws, notify members and publish the change, and report implementation status monthly to the regulator.

IGST refunds on exported goods require GST-return and Customs shipping bill data to match for automated processing.
IGST refunds for exported goods require reconciliation of GST return data with Customs shipping bill records; a shipping bill plus filed EGM and valid return constitutes the refund application under Rule 96, and the Customs refund module automatically validates and processes refunds, with specific error codes (SB000-SB006) identifying mismatches and prescribed corrective steps such as amending GSTR-1 via Form 9A or approaching the shipping line to file EGM, and exporters must ensure accurate GST-compliant invoice and shipping bill details and validated PFMS bank details to receive refunds.

GST customs jurisdiction changes in the Chennai Zone: revised allocations and annexure issued for handling Customs-related GST work.
GST Trade Notice No.007/2018 amends Trade Notice No.003/2018 to revise the allocation of Customs-related GST work in the Chennai Zone, issuing a revised annexure that specifies which reorganised Customs formations (including Customs (Preventive) commissionerates) will handle Customs work for each GST & Central Excise commissionerate, with detailed territorial inclusions and exclusions, contact details, and cross-references to prior notifications and public notices.

Guest house allotment policy sets eligibility, priority and charges for departmental transit accommodation and booking procedures.
Rates, eligibility and administrative rules govern the departmental transit guest house at Custom House, Cochin. The Competent Authority controls allotment, maintenance and booking; allotment follows a specified priority order, applications are ordinarily required seven days in advance with confirmation three days before stay, and occupancy limits and special rules apply for transfers, medical stays and private visits. Room entitlements correspond to officer categories and a tariff schedule differentiates on duty and private visit charges. Occupants must pay charges, maintain register entries, and are liable for damage; inventories and periodic verifications are mandated.

Road and infrastructure cess on petrol and diesel introduced, with notifications modifying excise duty and temporary exemptions.
A Road and Infrastructure Cess on petrol and diesel was imposed in Budget 2018-19 and made immediately effective by provisional collection. Central Excise notifications rescind prior exemptions, reduce certain basic excise rates, incorporate the new cess into the appropriate duty for ethanol blended petrol and bio diesel, and provide temporary exemptions pending enactment. Amendments clarify that exemptions do not apply to goods manufactured on or before 01.02.2018 and cleared on or after 02.02.2018; targeted 50% relief for specified North East refinery clearances and exemptions for ethanol blends and bio diesel are addressed.

IGST refund error rectification: exporters must check ICEGATE status and follow the Guide's error-code rectification measures.
Advisory requires exporters to check IGST refund status and error codes against shipping bills via ICEGATE, create an ICEGATE account if needed, and follow the Annexure A Guide explaining error codes and rectification measures; difficulties may be reported to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Drawback & GST Refund at Air Cargo Complex, NSCBI Airport, Kolkata.

Extended Producer Responsibility requires prior authorisation for importing listed electronic goods, enforceable through prescribed application procedures.
EPR authorisation from the Central Pollution Control Board is required for importers offering to sell electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I of the E Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, including components, consumables, parts and spares; producers importing such goods must apply for EPR authorisation in the prescribed Form 1 and comply to avoid import clearance difficulties.

Export under Letter of Undertaking extended to all registered exporters with specified exclusions and procedural safeguards.
The facility to export without payment of integrated tax under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) has been extended to all registered persons subject to exclusions for prosecuted persons exceeding a specified evasion threshold; the LUT is valid for the financial year but may be withdrawn if exports are not completed within prescribed time unless tax is paid. Procedural rules require submission of FORM GST RFD-11 (or downloaded form) to the jurisdictional officer, acceptance within three working days (deemed accepted if not acted upon), acceptance of self-declaration, and where bonds are required they must be on stamp paper with a bank guarantee of fifteen percent; running bonds and record-keeping obligations are specified.

Proper officer designation under GST: Additional Commissioners authorised to issue show cause notices; adjudication allocation clarified.
All Central Tax officers up to the rank of Additional Commissioner are empowered to issue Show Cause Notices and orders under specified sub sections of Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act and corresponding IGST provisions; monetary limits for different officer levels are prescribed. Audit Commissionerate officers and DGGSTI may only issue Show Cause Notices, which must be adjudicated by the Executive Commissionerate where the noticee is registered. High value multi Commissionerate DGGSTI notices are to be adjudicated by an Additional Director/Additional Commissioner not on DGGSTI strength.

Classification of telecommunication antenna clarified as classifiable under a specified tariff heading for GST compliance and trade notice.
Telecommunication antennae used at base transceiver stations/Node B/eNode B are classifiable under CTH 85176290 as stated in Instruction No. 01/2018 Customs; the Trade Notice instructs that this classification be communicated to trade, industry associations and concerned persons within the Commissionerate's jurisdiction for uniform tariff and GST application.

Direct Port Delivery extension allows importers to receive non-selected containers under No Use Bond pending PGA clearances.
DPD importers may take delivery of containers not selected for examination to their premises on execution of a No Use Bond, while containers selected for examination, PGA clearance or NOC shall be moved to an approved CFS. Sampling by PGAs may be conducted at terminal, bonded warehouse or preferred CFS with resealing and movement under No Use Bond. No Use Bonds may be single or continuity bonds, are registrable with Customs, and cover circumstances pending PGA NOC or when containers are selected for examination; misuse triggers examination and penal action.

Control of Documents under Service Quality Manual designates process owners and enforces time bound service standards for SEVOTTAM implementation.
Designation of officers implements Control of Documents under the Service Quality Manual to operationalise SEVOTTAM in the Central Excise & Service Tax Commissionerate, Patna and its divisions. Named Process Owners are assigned responsibility for document control and for specific time bound services including acknowledgement of communications, decisions on declarations and assessments, refund disposal, registration, release of seized documents not relied upon in show cause notices, and export consignment clearance. Citizens must submit communications at a Centralized Receipt Section to obtain dated acknowledgement.

Power to summon CDR/SDR details enables customs officers to obtain telecom records directly without DRI referral.
Field formations of Customs may obtain SDR/CDR and customer details directly from telecom service providers by invoking the summons powers under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962; telecom providers' reliance on the Telegraph Act does not preclude compliance with such summons. DRI likewise uses this summons power, so routine referrals to DRI for obtaining telecom records are unnecessary.

Refund approval delegation requires committee consent for large VAT refunds, with Special Commissioner I chairing the approval.
Under Section 38 of the DVAT Act, 2004, where a refund to a dealer exceeds the high value threshold, AVATO/VATO shall issue the refund order only after obtaining approval from a committee of all Special Commissioners, with the Special Commissioner I serving as Chairman; all other provisions of the earlier delegation order remain unchanged.

High-value VAT refund approvals now require prior committee authorization by designated Special Commissioners.
Assistant/Deputy Commissioners (AVATO/VATO) are to issue high-value VAT refund orders only after obtaining prior approval from a committee of Special Commissioner I, Special Commissioner II and Special Commissioner III, with Special Commissioner I as Chairman, thereby aligning Sl. No. 4 of the earlier order with Sl. Nos. 2 and 3 and creating a mandatory internal approval mechanism for specified refund transactions.

Manufacture and tax liability on wire from wire rods clarified under the Uttar Pradesh Trade Tax Act.
Tax liability on wire manufactured from tax-paid wire rods under the then prevailing Uttar Pradesh Trade Tax Act, 1948 is addressed in the light of the Supreme Court's decision in Commissioner Trade Tax v. S.S. International Electrodes. The Supreme Court held that iron rods and iron wires are one and the same commodity, and that extraction of wire from iron rods does not amount to manufacture under the relevant tax context.

Processing of MEIS claims: RAs must rely on Shipping Bill ITC(HS) codes, with listed exceptions requiring description matching.
Regional Authorities must process MEIS claims primarily on the basis of the ITC(HS) code recorded in the Shipping Bill; for ITC(HS) codes listed in the Annexure, RAs must also match the Shipping Bill Export Product Description with the description in Table 2 of Appendix 3B before processing. The Annexure may be updated periodically. These directives apply only to applications not finalized as on the date of the Public Notice and do not require reassessment of earlier finalized cases.

Seaport inclusion expands eligible ports for export promotion benefits under Chapter 4, enabling exporters at listed ports to claim incentives.
Two seaports are added to the Handbook of Procedures list of ports of registration, making them eligible for export promotion benefits under Chapter 4 of the Foreign Trade Policy. The addition places Dhamra Port and Dighi Port at the end of paragraph 4.37(a), with their alphabetical placement to be corrected in the revised handbook. The amendment is an administrative inclusion enabling exporters using these ports to claim benefits governed by the Handbook and Chapter 4, subject to existing policy conditions.

Finality of High Court orders requires field formations to apply accepted precedents in pending excise and CENVAT cases.
The Department has accepted sixty-three High Court and CESTAT orders that have attained finality (no SLPs filed) and directs field formations to apply these accepted precedents to identical pending excise and CENVAT cases. The Circular is in two parts: Part I lists orders deciding points of law (e.g., invalidation of mandatory penalty rules, entitlement to CENVAT credit despite procedural irregularity, rebate filing rectification, re-insurance as input service), and Part II lists orders decided on facts or monetary limits (e.g., failures to prove clandestine removal, unreliable evidence, pre-deposit adjustments). Field units are urged to decide identical cases expeditiously.