Rupee denominated bond investor eligibility expanded to include multilateral and regional financial institutions, effective immediately.
Permit Multilateral and Regional Financial Institutions where India is a member to invest in Rupee denominated bonds issued overseas, expanding the recognised investor class under prior circulars; all other provisions of A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.60 (April 13, 2016), Master Direction No.5 (January 1, 2016) and A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.29 (September 29, 2015) remain unchanged. The change is effective from the date of this circular, relevant Master Direction paragraphs will be updated, and the directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(2) of FEMA, 1999.

Place of provision of sea transportation: services to an Indian customs station for confirmed transshipment abroad are not taxable in India.
Where goods landed at an Indian customs station are declared in the import manifest or import report for transhipment to a country outside India and are transshipped under the Customs Act and rules, the place of provision of transportation by sea is the foreign destination; consequently, transportation services from outside India to that customs station are not taxable in India.

First time importer document verification: assessment proceeds but Out of Charge withheld until Group NOC confirms document acceptance.
Group Assessing Officers will raise queries for prescribed documents from first time importers; they will assess bills of entry without awaiting those documents but must instruct the Import Shed Officer to withhold grant of Out of Charge until a Group NOC confirming acceptance of the prescribed documents is produced. First time importers may alternatively obtain pre-filing scrutiny from the Assessment Group; if proof of payment is unavailable pre-filing, remaining documents may be scrutinized and the missing proof treated under the post-filing procedure. RMS-facilitated entries require submission of documents to the Shed Officer.

Direct Port Delivery facility for Authorised Economic Operators enables expedited release of import and export containers pending port verification.
AEO certificate holders may apply to the Principal Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad for Direct Port Delivery/Direct Port Entry; permission is to be granted within seven working days, subject to verification of import/export container volumes by the relevant port, with 100% EOUs to follow the prior Public Notice procedure.

Submission deadlines for custodians: monthly reports now due by the later of the third working day or the fifth of the succeeding month.
Custodians must submit monthly securities reports by the later of the end of the third working day of the succeeding month or the fifth of the succeeding month, replacing the prior seventh day deadline; the change is effective immediately and issued under the regulator's statutory authority.

Custodianship of the Perishable Cargo Terminal extended, subject to statutory conditions and bank guarantee validity.
Extension of custodianship of the Perishable Cargo Terminal at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar, Andheri, Mumbai is granted to M/s Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. under Section 45(2) of the Customs Act until the validity of the bank guarantee. The custodian has executed a bond and furnished a bank guarantee as security for safe custody of perishable export cargo. Operations will be governed by Chapter VIII of the Customs Act, the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, prior notification terms, and other applicable rules, and the Commissioner may terminate the appointment after assigning reasons and hearing the custodian.

GST migration assistance via Seva Kendra helps central excise and service taxpayers complete GSTN registration, filings and document uploads.
Establishes a GST Seva Kendra to assist migration of Central Excise and Service Tax assessees to the GSTN, providing infrastructure and in person help to complete GSTN registration, fill required online details, and scan/upload supporting documents; names designated officers and invites trade members to use the service in accordance with prior procedural guidance.

Action on ITSC orders requires quarterly reporting to Member (Investigation) to ensure remedial measures and timely filings.
A quarterly reporting requirement requires Commissioners of Income Tax (Direct Tax) to review ITSC orders for acceptability, confirm whether their written and oral submissions were considered, and propose further action including remedial measures such as filing writ petitions where necessary. Standardized quarterly reports using Annexure A must be submitted to Member (Investigation) by the tenth day of the month following each quarter to enable oversight and timely remedial action on ITSC orders.

Extension of filing deadline for third-quarter VAT returns; tax payment obligations remain and digital filers need not submit hard copy.
Extension of the statutory period for submission of third-quarter VAT returns is authorised for specified DVAT forms, applying to Forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48 with required annexures. Tax payment obligations remain unchanged under the DVAT payment provisions, and dealers filing with a digital signature are not required to submit a hard copy of the return/Form DVAT-56.

Cabotage relaxation permission allows foreign-flag passenger ships to call multiple Indian ports subject to customs duties and baggage rules.
Granting cabotage relaxation permission permits foreign-flag passenger ships to call at multiple Indian ports for domestic passengers, with jurisdictional discretion to deploy escort officers. There is no exemption from customs duty for alcohol or products consumed onboard within Indian waters; domestic passengers cannot purchase duty-free onboard and must pay duty on any on-board purchases when disembarking. International passengers are entitled to baggage allowances under the applicable baggage rules.

Financial close-out framework revised: highest trade date price plus markup and mandatory uniform auction mechanism for shortages.
In cases of shortage of delivery, exchanges/clearing corporations may effect a financial close-out at the highest price on the trade date (which becomes the trade price) with a 1% markup, and must introduce a uniform auction mechanism to deal with settlement shortages, with exchanges required to implement systems, amend bye-laws, and notify members.

Quality assessment reporting requirement increases monitoring; officers must submit detailed case compilations or face reporting consequences.
Pr. CCsIT/CCIT(central)/Pr. CCIT(International tax)/CCIT(Exemptions)/DsGIT(Inv.) must submit consolidated reports of quality assessment cases in the prescribed annexed format by the specified deadline, covering assessments up to the cut off date, indicating selection criteria, items of addition, penalty/prosecution status and supervisory notes; compilations must exclude PSU/government cases and recurrently contested additions, and failure or delay in reporting will be recorded and may be treated as absence of quality assessments for APAR purposes.

Jurisdictional RA choice for export incentive claims requires an annual option and prescribes MEIS/SEIS filing authorities.
Applicants must elect one Jurisdictional RA at the start of the financial year based on IEC endorsed office address; that election is fixed for the year. MEIS jurisdiction: DTA/EHTP/BTP/STP units use DGFT Jurisdictional RA; SEZ/EOU units use respective SEZ Development Commissioner; mixed units apply to respective jurisdictions. SEIS requires a single annual application: DTA units to DGFT RA, SEZ units to respective Development Commissioner, multiple SEZ units to the Commissioner of the SEZ with highest forex earnings, and mixed DTA+SEZ units to DGFT Jurisdictional RA.

Pre-shipment inspection agencies recognised for issuing PSICs; four agencies approved and additional instruments authorised under FTP.
Four private agencies (CWM Survey & Inspection; Global Multitrade Inc.; SMV International Incorporation; Nectar Inspection Services LLC) are recognized and included in Appendix 2G for issuance of Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificates for three years under Para 2.55(d) of HBP 2015-20. The notice lists each agency's offices, operational scope, and records approval of additional spectrometers and survey meters with calibration and purchase documentation in an annexure to validate equipment for PSIC issuance.

Checkpoint screening requirement: public entry limited to a designated entrance with metal detector and baggage scanning enforced.
A checkpoint screening facility using a RAPISCAN 620 DV and metal detector has been installed; all public and stakeholders must enter the New Custom House via the designated main entrance where hand baggage will be screened and persons will pass through metal detectors. Entry to the Annexe Gate is restricted to officials and staff only, who must carry no bags and produce Customs-issued identification. Implementation issues must be reported to the Additional Commissioner of Customs/Prev. (General).

Manual SMTP issuance for rail bound ICD cargo mandates email/SMS notification and immediate manual generation when system fails.
When system failures prevent electronic Entry Inward or SMTP generation for cargo destined to ICDs by rail, the Boarding Officer must email CONCOR, the terminal operator and designated customs officers with the date and time of Entry Inward and send an SMS to a responsible CONCOR officer requesting manual SMTP generation. Manual SMTPs must be provided immediately on site and are issued without waiting for full vessel discharge. Delays must be reported to designated customs officers by phone or email, the Boarding Office must submit a daily proforma report with vessel and timing details, and operational difficulties escalated to the Additional/Joint Commissioner in charge of Preventive General.

Endorsement of ARE-1 may be carried out by the Superintendent granting LEO after EGM, with no document production required.
Pending Board instructions, ARE-1 endorsement may be performed at all CFSs by any Superintendent responsible for granting LEO after the EGM has been filed; no supporting documents need be provided because export details can be verified using ICES 1.5. The Customs House has implemented interim arrangements for EP copy printing and temporary deployment of officers at Punjab Conware, and has referred the larger question of discontinuing ARE-1 endorsement to the Board.

DPD facility stacking rules clarified: advance intimation and stacking code determine container placement and terminal responsibilities.
Importers availing the DPD facility must send an advance intimation by official email to the shipping line containing Bill of Lading, consignment details, the DPD Client Code and preferred CFS/transport stacking code, with copies to Customs, the CFS/Transporter and the Terminal Operator; stacking will follow the indicated Stacking Code, CFS-stacked containers will not attract shifting charges if Out of Charge is obtained before removal, and where no advance intimation exists terminals will provisionally assign DPD codes, stack separately and apply the specified clearance and time-limit procedures.

Seizure orders under Section 110: formal written orders required alongside panchnama and statutory timelines must be met.
Proper officers must pass formal seizure orders alongside panchnama stating reasons to believe goods are liable for confiscation; if seizure is impracticable, serve an order prohibiting the owner from dealing with the goods and fast-track investigations to decide seizure or release. Statutory time limits for issuing show cause notices apply regardless of provisional release. Circulate these guidelines and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Claim of rehabilitation scheme tax reliefs require prior central approval before allowance in returns to prevent revenue leakage.
Reliefs envisaged in sanctioned rehabilitation schemes do not operate automatically for tax purposes and may be claimed and allowed only after formal processing and issuance of appropriate orders by the central approving authority. Assessing Officers must examine company assessment records from the cut-off date to identify and remediate any instances where such reliefs were claimed and wrongly allowed without departmental processing or central approval.