Coastal cargo transit through foreign territory allowed with prescribed marking, sealing, invoicing and manifesting requirements.
Movement of coastal goods through Sri Lanka and Bangladesh shall follow the Transportation of Goods (Through Foreign Territory) Regulations, 1965 with added requirements: consignor and vessel person in charge follow the transit procedure without filing a Bill of Coastal Goods; appendices must include GSTIN (or VAT/PAN) and invoice details; containers must be marked and sealed; manifests and e Way Bill details submitted; destination officers verify discharge and seals; tampering triggers adjudication. Imported containers under notification No. 104/94 may be used for domestic cargo during the permitted temporary period, and domesticated ISO containers may be used for EXIM cargo with procedural parity for export/import clearance.

Customs Broker Examination moved online by NACIN under licensing rules, computer based MCQ format with subsequent oral assessment.
The Customs Broker licensing examination will be administered by NACIN as a computer based bilingual MCQ test with a fixed duration, a stipulated pass mark and no negative marking; those who qualify will proceed to an oral examination. Practice question paper and admit card downloads are available on CBIC and NACIN websites, and candidates should report any issues to the provided helpline.

Inter-State supply rule for warehoused goods: payment of central and state tax treated as compliant if equal to integrated tax.
Supplies of warehoused goods during July 2017-March 2018 had the character of inter State supply, but owing to non availability of the reporting facility on the common portal suppliers reported them as intra State and paid central tax and state tax. As a one time exception, suppliers who paid central and state tax in that period will be deemed to have complied with tax payment obligations provided the sum of central and state tax paid equals the integrated tax due on those supplies.

Place of supply requirement: invoices for inter-state supplies must state place and State, non-compliance attracts penalties.
Suppliers making inter-State taxable supplies must specify the place of supply along with the name of the State on the tax invoice as required by rule 46(n) and the invoice provisions; this ensures tax accrues to the State of consumption. Determination of place of supply should follow the place-of-supply provisions for goods and services, and failure to mention these invoice particulars may attract penal action under the Act and rules.

Apportionment of IGST requires reporting inter-state supplies to unregistered persons in specified GSTR tables or face penalties.
Registered suppliers must report inter State supplies to unregistered persons with the place of supply in Table 3.2 of FORM GSTR 3B and in Table 7B of FORM GSTR 1. Reporting in Table 3.2 determines apportionment of IGST to the State where supply occurs; omission causes non apportionment, mismatches in apportioned tax, and non compliance with integrated tax apportionment obligations, and may attract penalties under the RGST Act.

Amendment of GST circulars applies to Uttar Pradesh SGST, with officers directed to follow the revised position.
The Uttar Pradesh Commercial Tax administration forwards the Central Board's circular on amendment of circulars previously issued under the CGST Act, 2017, and states that its contents will also apply to the Uttar Pradesh SGST Act and Rules. Subordinate officers are to be informed and instructed to take necessary action accordingly. The communication is issued with the approval of the Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Uttar Pradesh.

Hedging of exchange rate risk allowed for FPIs under Voluntary Retention Route subject to eligibility and operational conditions.
Permits hedging of exchange rate risk for Foreign Portfolio Investors under the Voluntary Retention Route using forwards, options, cost reduction structures and swaps with rupee as one currency, subject to operational conditions: dealers may offer contracts only where the FPI has VRR-related exposure; notional and tenor must not exceed exposure; duplicate hedging is prohibited; notional excesses must be adjusted unless due to market valuation; FPIs may cancel and rebook; payables must be met from repatriable funds or inward remittances.

Voluntary Retention Route enables FPIs to lock retained debt holdings in exchange for regulatory relaxations and hedging access.
The Reserve Bank introduces the Voluntary Retention Route allowing registered FPIs to invest in government or eligible corporate debt by accepting a Committed Portfolio Size and a Retention Period during which they must maintain a minimum proportion of the CPS on an end-of-day basis. Allocation is by tap or auction, with bids prioritised by retention period; limits constrain the share any single FPI or related FPIs may receive. VRR investments are additional to general limits, exempt from certain corporate bond restrictions, and permit limited repo use and derivative hedging. Custodians must monitor compliance and maintain separate accounts.

Electronic Authorisations for Advance/EPCG: physical security-paper copies discontinued; ICES records will govern customs verification and debits.
DGFT will discontinue printing Advance and EPCG Authorisations on security paper for registrations at EDI ports and will transmit Authorisation details electronically to the Customs ICES server. Authorisations, amendments and invalidations will be visible in ICES and relied upon for registration, assessment, examination, debits and export clearances; bond/bank guarantee requirements remain determined as before, and no physical Authorisation need be presented.

Discontinuation of security-paper authorisations for EDI-registered export authorisations streamlines issuance and requires stakeholder attention.
DGFT has discontinued issuing Advance and EPCG Authorisations on security paper for authorisations with EDI ports of registration, under Policy Circular 19/2015-2020 as communicated by Board Circular No. 07/2019-Customs; the change, intended to enhance ease of doing business, takes effect for authorisations issued from 01.03.2019 onwards, and stakeholders are asked to report any implementation difficulties to the customs office.

Execution of Triple Duty Bond required for bond to bond warehouse transfers; buyer must file bond and port notified for monitoring.
Purchasers of warehoused imported goods must execute a consignment specific Triple duty bond with applicable security at the port of import before bond to bond transfer. The buyer's application to the port Bond Section must include seller confirmation, warehouse bill of entry details, description, value and duty, warehouse identity and the executed bond. Where EDI cannot receive subsequent buyer bonds the port will accept bonds manually and record them in a Bond Register, and will notify the Bond Officer of the warehouse of bond details; transfer at the warehouse follows verification and issuance of Annexure recording bond particulars.

AEO Programme digitization enables online T1 application processing and synchronises certificate validity with periodic onsite compliance reviews.
An online web application for AEO T1 applications has been launched to enable digital filing, processing and issuance of AEO certificates while manual filing remains available for a limited transition period. AEO T1 and T2 certificate validity and the frequency of periodic review and onsite PCA are synchronised and extended to three years, with the Directorate empowered to initiate review any time if compliance appears compromised. Stakeholders are urged to adopt the web portal and report issues to the AEO Cell.

AEO programme digitization enables online AEO T1 filing while permitting temporary manual filing to ensure a smooth transition.
A web-based application for online filing and processing of AEO T1 applications has been launched to digitize the AEO Programme while manual filing will continue during a defined transition period. Changes synchronize certificate validity and oversight cycles: AEO certificate validity for T1 and T2 is extended and review/onsite PCA intervals for AEO-T1 and AEO-T2 are set to a three-year cycle, with the Directorate empowered to initiate reviews outside those intervals if compliance concerns arise.

Entity registration under Sea Cargo Manifest regulations requires ICEGATE applications and customs approval for shipping stakeholders and exporters.
The Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment Regulations require entity registration and ICEGATE filing by shipping lines, agents and exporters; master applicants must submit authorised persons, intended operations and supporting documents via ICEGATE, after which jurisdictional customs officers in ICES will verify, approve, or raise queries. A technical guidance note and application materials are available on ICEGATE, and unregistered entities-notably E Seal users-are advised to register.

Task force for drafting a new direct tax law: deadline extended, report now required by end of May.
The Task Force, reconstituted under the Member (Legislation), CBDT and authorised to co opt members, was tasked to review the Income tax Act, 1961 and draft a new direct tax law reflecting international best practices and national economic needs. Its original deadline for submitting the report has been extended by three months, and the Task Force is now required to submit its report by 31.05.2019, this extension having been approved by the Finance Minister.

Inter State supplies reporting: concurrent disclosure in GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 required to secure correct IGST apportionment.
Registered suppliers must report inter-State supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxable persons and UIN holders in Table 3.2 of FORM GSTR-3B, and must also report inter-State supplies to unregistered persons in Table 7B of FORM GSTR-1; omission from GSTR-3B causes incorrect IGST apportionment to the State of supply and mismatches with actual supplies, and non-compliance may attract penal consequences under the Act.

Customs self-registration expedites clearance by enabling electronic registration, automated CCV and system-driven release upon duty payment.
Turant Customs authorises importer self-registration of goods on ICEGATE after arrival but before duty payment; supporting documents and digital signature requirements remain. A system-enabled Customs Compliance Verification permits officers to complete statutory verifications after registration while duty is pending; once CCV is recorded and duty is paid, the automated system issues electronic clearance, subject to RMS interdictions and agency alerts. ICES enhancements provide an automated queue routing Bills of Entry ready for clearance to mapped officers for system-based release.

Electronic authorisation transmission replaces security paper Advance and EPCG authorisations, with ICES handling registration and debits.
Advance and EPCG authorisations issued with EDI ports will cease to be printed on security paper and will be transmitted electronically by DGFT to the Customs server; ICES will display authorisation details for registration, assessment, examination and debiting, while bond/bank guarantee determination and registration procedures remain unchanged and physical presentation of the authorisation is not required.

Outside laboratory testing temporarily addresses pending customs sample reports, requiring importers to bear notified testing costs.
Customs sample testing for specified goods is temporarily routed to outside laboratories for two months to address pending test reports at the DYCC Laboratory, JNCH. Importers or owners of the goods must bear the testing costs under section 145 of the Customs Act, 1962. Specific operational difficulties may be raised with the Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs in charge of DYCC, JNCH.

Mandatory e-SANCHT implementation requires electronic upload of export supporting documents, streamlining clearances and reducing compliance costs.
Mandatory electronic uploading of digitally signed export supporting documents via e-SANCHT is required for shipping bills filed from 1 January 2019, using the procedure previously prescribed by CBIC. Trade participants, including exporters and customs brokers, must use the ICES-integrated facility for all export clearances to reduce costs and expedite processing. The notice operates as a standing order for ICD Mulund (Export) staff and provides EDI contact points for reporting difficulties.