Corporate governance compliance reporting: revised report formats and timelines mandated under Listing Regulations for listed entities.
SEBI has revised the format for corporate governance compliance reports and prescribed three templates: Annex I for quarterly filings, Annex II for annual year end reporting, and Annex III to be filed within six months after financial year end (may accompany the next financial year's second quarter report). These formats replace the Annexure to the 2015 circular and must be used to discharge the submission obligation under Regulation 27(2); exchanges are to disseminate the formats and the revision takes effect from the quarter ended September 30, 2019.

Clearance of goods subject to pending litigation requires maintenance of shipment details and notification to exporters and importers.
Clearance of persulphates consignments is to proceed subject to the final outcome of the pending Special Civil Application; details of goods cleared must be maintained and exporters and importers informed of the litigation, and customs officers are directed to follow the High Court order and related tariff unit instructions until the petition is finally resolved.

IGST refund on exports: rectify SB001-SB005 and GSTIN/EGM mismatches and submit required GST reconciliations to claim refund.
Refund of IGST on exports requires Shipping Bills to migrate from IGST temporary scroll to final scroll; exporters must rectify EGM/Stuffing errors (SB002), Invalid Invoice errors (SB005), GSTIN mismatches (SB003) and Shipping Bill detail errors (SB001) listed in annexures. Exporters must submit self certified GSTR 1/Table 6A, GSTR 3B and concordance tables per Circulars 05/2018 and 08/2018; file a Revised Refund Request for differential IGST where applicable. Manual officer processing for SB003, SB005 and supplementary refunds is limited to Shipping Bills filed up to 15.11.2018. HELP DESK and IGST Refund Cell contact details provided.

24x7 Direct Port Delivery by rail to Balmer Lawrie CFS allowed within 48-72 hours; monthly reporting required.
24x7 Direct Port Delivery/Direct Port Entry rail removal to Balmer Lawrie CFS is permitted within 48 hours of landing on request or agreement by eligible importers, subject to Out of Charge being taken within 48 hours (extendable to a maximum of 72 hours) from entry inwards. Balmer Lawrie CFS must submit a monthly performance report in the prescribed proforma (Annexure A). The earlier Public Notice is modified only to this extent.

Exemption from late filing charges for bills of entry where portal failures prevented timely filing, subject to documentation and review.
Late-filing charges for Bills of Entry impacted by e-Sanchit/ICEGATE technical failures are waived for consignments within the specified failure period, with waivers to be processed by the Additional/Joint Commissioner; delayed filings after that period require evidence of attempted submission (job numbers, screenshots, ICEGATE messages) for waiver consideration and the notice is to be treated as a Standing Order.

Sea cargo manifest compliance requires authorised carriers to register on ICEGATE and stakeholders to comply with new regulations
Authorised carriers filing arrival and departure manifests must register through the ICEGATE portal under the amended Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 before the Regulations come into force on 1 August 2019; all importers, exporters, agents, shipping lines and other stakeholders must take cognisance and comply, and may report difficulties in compliance to the issuing office.

Penal interest exemption clarified; interest covered by notification and not subject to GST; supply value unaffected.
The corrigendum to Trade Circular No. 23/2019 replaces the Case 2 text in paragraph 5 to state that additional/penal interest charged on a transaction between Y and M/s ABC Ltd. is covered under Sl. No. 27 of Notification No. 1136-F.T. dated 28.06.2017 and, accordingly, such penal interest would not be subject to GST; the declared value of the mobile supply by X to Y for GST purposes remains Rs. 40,000.

Paperless LPCO submission: PGA uploading required, beneficiary uploads disabled and ICEGATE email registration needed for access.
PGAs must upload digitally signed Licenses/Permits/Certificates/Other Authorizations (LPCOs) onto eSANCHIT; beneficiaries will be barred from uploading previously issued LPCOs once PGA uploading is fully enabled. PGAs are required to upload LPCOs issued during the prior 15-day window and may upload earlier LPCOs to enable beneficiary use. Communication of LPCO details and IRNs must be via email addresses registered in ICEGATE, utilising a simplified auto-registration process for limited eSANCHIT functions without digital signatures; customs formations must ensure correct beneficiary email registration and issue public notices.

Partial discharge of bonds: proportionate online crediting as export obligations are fulfilled, streamlining bond release.
Partial discharge of bonds and bank guarantees for gold imports will be credited proportionately as export obligations are fulfilled through an online mechanism in ICES 1.5, subject to prescribed documentation evidencing export fulfilment and application of existing standard operating procedures and timelines for expeditious bond discharge.

Late filing exemption for Bill of Entry due to portal failure, conditional waiver granted upon evidence and discretion.
Exemption from late-filing charges for presentation of the Bill of Entry is authorised for consignments with entry inward dates on 08.07.2019 and 09.07.2019 and corresponding Bill of Entry dates within that period; waivers for such late presentation will be processed by the respective Deputy/Assistant Commissioners. Delays in BE generation after 10.07.2019 must be supported by evidence of attempted electronic submission-job numbers, screenshots or ICEGATE messages-to enable consideration of discretionary waivers on merits.

Post-sales discounts under GST: characterisation determines whether they reduce supplier value or constitute taxable separate supplies.
Post-sales discounts under clause (b) of section 15(3) CGST are to be characterised by their commercial nature: discounts without further dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply; discounts that require the dealer to perform promotional activities are separate supplies of services on which the dealer must charge GST and the supplier may claim ITC; discounts paid to induce dealers to lower customer prices must be added to the dealer's consideration for valuation. Where discounts cannot be excluded, suppliers may issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce original tax liability, and dealers need not reverse ITC if they pay the reduced value after adjusting such credit notes in line with applicable provisos.

Refund processing: accept electronically transferred claims despite incorrect portal mapping and notify portal to correct assignment.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority that is not the taxpayer's administrative assignee and the portal lacks a re assignment facility, the receiving tax authority should proceed to process the refund claim. After processing, that authority must inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request an update so subsequent applications are routed to the correct jurisdiction.

Place of supply rules clarified: port cargo-handling follows contractual determination; temporary import repairs follow export-linked supply rule.
Place of supply for port cargo-handling and ancillary services is determined by contract and not as services related to immovable property; place of supply for services on goods temporarily imported for repair or processing and re-exported without being put to use (e.g., cutting and polishing unpolished diamonds) is determined under the provision for services in respect of temporarily imported goods for repair or processing, not by the general rule locating services where performed.

GST on penal interest: seller charged late interest is taxable; financier charged interest may be exempt under interest rules.
Where a seller embeds credit in the sale of taxable goods and charges penal interest for delayed instalments, that penal interest is includible in the value of the taxable supply and taxable. Conversely, penal interest charged by an independent financer on a loan qualifies as interest under the relevant notification and is exempt from GST; the taxable value of the goods in that case excludes the financier's penal interest. Penal interest does not fall under Schedule II entry 5(e), while non interest service fees charged by a financer are taxable.

Composition levy opt-in deadline extended for eligible suppliers to file CMP-02 and submit ITC-03.
Correction revises the filing timeline for opting into the composition levy: eligible registered persons must file FORM GST CMP-02 selecting "Any other supplier eligible for composition levy" and furnish FORM GST ITC-03 as required by the governing sub rules; the corrigendum replaces the earlier deadline with a later cutoff. The department requests issuance of trade notices and asks that implementation difficulties be reported to the Commissioner of State Tax.

Refund of taxes on indigenous goods at airport retail outlets: eligible outlets may claim invoice based GST refunds for sales to outgoing tourists.
Retail outlets beyond immigration counters at international airports that sell indigenous goods to outgoing international tourists for foreign exchange may claim refund of taxes paid on inward supplies of those goods, subject to registration with a valid GSTIN and prescribed location. Refunds are invoice based (not input service tax) and require maintenance of electronic records with an audit trail, passport and boarding pass verification, passenger declaration, and supporting returns and invoices filed in FORM GST RFD 10B, with manual processing, acknowledgement, validation and inter authority disbursal procedures.

Post sale discounts: treated as supply value or separate service depending on dealer obligations and GST implications.
Post sales discounts affect the value of supply and must be classified by examining whether the supplier imposes further obligations on the dealer. Discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's taxable value if statutory conditions for exclusion are met. Discounts that require promotional actions by the dealer constitute a separate supply of services by the dealer, on which the dealer must charge GST and the supplier may claim input tax credit. Where statutory exclusion is not permitted, suppliers may issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce their original tax liability; dealers need not reverse ITC if they adjust payments in line with the credit notes and original tax charged.

Refund processing: accept and process applications received despite incorrect portal mapping, then request mapping correction.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority other than the one to which the taxpayer is administratively assigned, and portal reassignment is not available, the authority that received the application must proceed to process the refund without delay; after processing, that authority should inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request correction for future transfers.

Place of supply for cargo handling services clarified as determined by contract under IGST place-of-supply rules.
Clarification: cargo handling activities by ports are ancillary and not immovable-property services; their place of supply is determined under the service-place rules according to the contract between supplier and recipient. Services performed on goods temporarily imported for treatment and exported without being put to use (e.g., cutting and polishing unpolished diamonds) fall under the temporary-import exception; their place of supply is determined by the rule applicable to services on such temporarily imported goods.

GST on penal interest: included in taxable value when charged by seller, exempt if charged by separate lender as loan interest.
Clarifies that penal interest levied by a seller on delayed EMI payments must be included in the value of the taxable supply and is subject to GST, whereas penal interest charged by a separate lender in the course of extending loans falls within the exemption for interest on loans and is not subject to GST; fees or charges that are not interest remain taxable.