Direct Port Delivery eligibility allows AEOs and compliant importers meeting TEU or MSME-relief criteria, with specified exclusions.
Eligibility for DPD permits importers with AEO Tier I-III status or a clear compliance record and about 25 FCL TEUs in the prior year to apply via Annexure-A; the TEU requirement may be relaxed for deserving cases including MSMEs. Exclusions cover importers with mis-declaration/duty evasion issues in the last five years, those under prosecution, consignments subject to mandatory examination, and mainly LCL importers. DPD applies only to fully facilitated or unexamined consignments, requires opening PD accounts, arranging own transport for container pickup, and adherence to procedural formalities and undertakings in Annexure-A.

Double payment customs duty claims: updated verification procedures require PAO, ICEGATE, ICES and bank confirmations.
Refund claims for double or multiple payment of Customs Duty must be verified by the proper officer through (1) PAO/e-PAO and bank scroll checks for transfers to the government account, (2) ICEGATE Challan enquiry to confirm payments and ICES acceptance/rejection status, (3) System Manager verification of ICES payment-integration records, and (4) direct bank confirmation of transfer of excess payments; specified paragraphs of a prior public notice are withdrawn and implementation issues are to be raised with the Centralized Refund Section.

Inclusion of cesses in brand-rate duty drawback affirmed; some levies included while stowage excise excluded.
Calculation of the Brand Rate of duty drawback must include Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge, and Clean Environment cess where those levies are treated as duties of Customs or Excise and made subject to refund/drawback provisions; these elements are reflected in AIRs. Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act is not made subject to Customs or Central Excise refund/drawback provisions and therefore must not be included in duty drawback calculations.

GST clarification withdrawal requires State tax officers to follow the subsequent central instruction for uniform legal implementation.
The State tax administration withdraws its earlier circular corresponding to the withdrawn central GST clarification to ensure uniform implementation of GST law. State tax officers are directed, under the power to issue instructions for uniform implementation of the Tripura State GST Act, to follow the subsequently issued central clarification on the withdrawal.

GST refund claims after favourable appellate orders must follow the prescribed FORM GST RFD-01 clarification framework for uniform implementation.
GST refund claims following a favourable appellate or other forum order are to be made in FORM GST RFD-01 under the prescribed clarification framework. The State tax administration directs specified officers to follow the central tax clarification on such refund claims, with the objective of ensuring uniform implementation of GST law.

GST refund eligibility after NIL filing is governed by uniform instructions for FORM GST RFD-01 applications.
Eligibility to file a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01 for a period and refund category in which a NIL refund application has already been filed is addressed through a clarification intended to secure uniform implementation of GST refund provisions. State tax field formations are instructed to follow that clarification for consistent administration of refund applications following NIL refund filings.

GST treatment of state liquor licence fees treats State grants as non-supply, limiting exemption to state-issued liquor licences.
Granting of liquor licences by State Governments for licence or application fees was taxable and initially subject to reverse charge; the GST Council recommended exempting transitional demands and the Central Government enacted relief. Later, the Council recommended and the Central Government notified that State grants of alcoholic liquor licences for consideration are to be treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service, a dispensation limited to State-issued liquor licences and not applicable to other fee-based licences.

GST treatment of liquor licence fees clarified as neither supply of goods nor service; applies only to State grants.
State-granted liquor licence fees for alcoholic liquor are treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service for GST purposes, implementing a GST Council decision and Notification No. 25/2019-Central Tax (Rate). The clarification is confined to State Government grants of such licences and does not affect GST liability for other licences or fee-based privileges; earlier transitional relief for specified pre-GST taxable periods is acknowledged.

Explanation under Section 11(3) clarifies retrospective effectiveness from the original entry despite a later effective date statement.
The explanation excluding Government and Local Authority activities from 'business' was inserted under Section 11(3) of the CGST Act within the permitted one year period and therefore has effect from the inception of the original concessional entry; a later statement of an effective date in the implementing notification does not alter that retrospective operation.

Explanation under Section 11(3) confirmed effective from inception of concessional entry, clarifying retrospective operation period.
The explanation excluding Government and Local Authority activities from the term 'business' in Sl. No. 3(vi) of notification No. 11/2017 CTR, inserted by notification No. 17/2018 CTR, was made under Section 11(3) and therefore operates from the inception of the original concessional entry; a subsequent line in the later notification stating a later commencement date does not alter that retrospective operation.

Securities lending fees are taxable; lenders paid IGST until 30 Sep 2019, borrowers liable under reverse charge from Oct 1, 2019.
Lending of securities under the Securities Lending Scheme is a taxable supply of services when a lending fee is charged; intermediaries' facilitation services are also taxable. The supply attracts GST at 18%. From 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2019 the lender was liable under forward charge (IGST), and from 01.10.2019 the borrower is liable under the reverse charge mechanism (IGST).

Securities lending fees are taxable under GST; lender liable initially, then borrower liable under reverse charge from October 2019.
Lending of securities does not amount to disposal of securities and thus is not a transaction in securities; however, the lending fee charged by the lender is consideration for a taxable service and taxable under GST. Intermediary services facilitating lending are also taxable. Classification and rate are specified; from 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2019 GST was payable by the lender under forward charge (IGST), while from 01.10.2019 GST is payable by the borrower under reverse charge (IGST).

Place of supply: software and design services using sample hardware treated at recipient's location when testing is ancillary.
Where testing of software/design on prototype hardware supplied by the recipient is ancillary to a composite supply of chip design/software development, the activity is an ancillary part of a single supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST place-of-supply rule. The rule concerning goods made physically available by the recipient does not separately determine place of supply for such ancillary testing; the contractual facts must be examined without artificially separating the composite supply.

Place of supply: composite software/design services with ancillary hardware testing are located at the service recipient's location.
Where software or integrated circuit design services include testing on prototype hardware provided by the recipient and that testing is ancillary to the principal software/design development, the entire engagement is a composite supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST framework; separate place-of-supply rules for performance-based supplies do not apply to the ancillary testing component.

GST exemption for DG Shipping approved maritime training courses applies where courses form part of a recognised qualification, subject to notification conditions.
GST exemption for services by educational institutions applies to maritime training institutes and courses approved by the Director General of Shipping when the courses form part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by law. Approval and designation powers under the Merchant Shipping Act and the associated STCW rules establish that DG Shipping approved institutes and courses qualify as education recognised for GST exemption, subject to the conditions set out in the relevant Central tax notification entry for educational institutions.

GST exemption for DG Shipping approved maritime courses affirmed, subject to the notification's specified conditions under GST law.
Maritime Training Institutes and courses approved by the Directorate General of Shipping under the Merchant Shipping Act and related STCW Rules meet the GST definition of an educational institution, and services they provide are exempt from GST provided they satisfy the conditions specified in the applicable GST notification entry for educational services.

GST on donor recognition: no tax where name displays are mere acknowledgements without commercial promotion or quid pro quo.
Where donations to charitable organisations are acknowledged by placing donor name plates solely as expressions of gratitude and public recognition, without promoting the donor's business or any quid pro quo obligation by the recipient, such placements do not constitute a supply for consideration and are not liable to GST; the non-levy applies where the recipient is charitable, the payment is a genuine donation, and the purpose is philanthropic without advertising intent.

GST on donor name display: gratuitous acknowledgements that do not amount to advertising are not taxable supplies.
Where a charitable institution receives a donation or gift and acknowledges the donor by displaying the donor's name on its premises solely as an expression of gratitude without promoting the donor's business, there is no supply for consideration because no quid pro quo exists; GST is not leviable when the recipient is a charitable organisation, the payment is a genuine donation, and the purpose is philanthropic and not advertising.

GST on airport levies: airlines may collect PSF/UDF as pure agents while airport operators remain liable to pay GST.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators are consideration for services to passengers and are taxable under GST; airlines that collect these charges act as agents and, if they satisfy Rule 33's pure agent conditions, must separately indicate the actual PSF/UDF and GST in invoices and exclude those amounts from their taxable value. Airlines may not claim ITC on GST paid on PSF/UDF. Airport operators remain liable to pay GST on PSF and UDF collected, and collection charges paid to airlines are taxable as consideration for airline services.

Pure agent treatment: airlines may exclude airport levies from supply value if conditions met, airport liable for GST.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators are consideration for services to passengers and are taxable under GST; airport operators are liable to pay GST on these levies even when collected through airlines. Airlines may exclude such amounts from their supply value if they qualify as a pure agent under Rule 33 by separately indicating the charges and GST in invoices, but airlines cannot take ITC on GST payable on PSF/UDF. Collection charges paid to airlines are taxable to airlines and ITC is available to airport operators; passengers may claim ITC on the basis of the pure agent invoice.