Foreign exchange insurance rules allow IRDAI permitted policies, set premium and claim currency rules, and govern reinsurance and overseas funds.
The 2015 Regulations permit IRDAI authorised general/health insurance policies to be placed in foreign exchange without RBI permission and establish currency specific rules for premium payment and claim settlement tied to the payer's and beneficiary's residency and currency of premium. They prescribe documentary and procedural conditions for foreign currency remittances for claims, govern reinsurance arrangements and premium remittances subject to insurer board approvals and IRDAI guidelines, allow insurers to maintain limited foreign currency accounts abroad, and permit insurers' investments abroad and specified utilisation of overseas funds in accordance with host country and IRDAI requirements.

Container Freight Station procedures: permit, seal and register rules govern movement, custody and supervised stuffing of import/export containers.
Procedural framework for the CONCOR Container Freight Station at Vallarpadam prescribes authorization to handle FCL and LCL import/export cargo, mandatory bond and bank guarantee verification, and detailed requirements for transshipment/ movement permits with Space Availability Certificates. Gate officers must verify container and seal numbers and endorse out-times; containers must meet prescribed transit windows, seal tampering must be recorded and reported, and Customs bottle seals applied when required. The CFS operator must maintain comprehensive registers and weekly statements, supervise supervised destuffing and stuffing under Customs officers, ensure segregation of detained/hazardous cargo, and permit removal of goods only after Customs out of charge.

Simultaneous issuance of dual export incentives: option to return either benefit under Public Notice resolves pending cases.
Concurrent grant of zero duty EPCG and SHIS under FTP 2009-14 was found improper; an inter-departmental review led to a Public Notice establishing a remedial framework allowing resolution of simultaneous availing of both incentives. Pending matters are to be decided in terms of that Public Notice, and related bars in Customs notifications applicable to FTP 2015-20 have been removed by amendment. Stakeholders may report difficulties to Customs.

Re-export provisions allow re-credit of duty via customs-issued certificate subject to conditions and limited re-credit use.
Customs may permit re-export of goods imported under reward schemes and DEPB for defective goods or any other reason, and shall issue a customs re-credit certificate instead of a fresh DGFT scrip. Conditions: re-export from same port within six months of import; identity of goods verified; goods not used post-import; re-credit certificate to state scrip particulars, import date and debited duty; limited portion of re-credit amount permitted for use; certificate valid six months; remittances to be properly accounted.

Risk-based selectivity for customs clearance directs PGA referrals and targeted inspections through a single electronic window.
Under the integrated declaration framework, consignments are automatically routed to Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) for necessary permissions without separate approaches by importers or exporters. A risk-based selectivity mechanism in the Risk Management System (RMS), using PGA-defined risk criteria and delegated authority, generates instructions for documentary checks, inspections/examinations and sample drawal that appear on customs officers' screens, enabling simultaneous processing by Customs and PGAs to reduce dwell time and transaction costs.

RMS selection governs examination orders; officers must seek supervisory authorization before overriding no-examination flags.
RMS instructions govern whether a Bill of Entry requires physical examination; Assessing Officers must not override RMS-facilitated no-examination flags except for specific reasons and only after obtaining an examination order from the Addl./Joint Commissioner. Officers must also refrain from issuing examination orders solely to secure PGA NOCs when RMS provides for waiver, and must follow EDI-system flags and report difficulties to the Commissioner.

Bond and BG registration for export transhipment now required to be recorded at CMFC Section in ICES.
A corrigendum amends the registration location for export securities in the Export Transhipment Module: the Bond and Bank Guarantee for export must be registered at the CMFC Section in ICES, replacing the earlier reference to the Enquiry Section.

Deferred payment of customs duty for AEO importers requires ICEGATE nodal authentication and Bill of Entry flagging.
Deferred payment of customs duty is permitted for AEO (Tier-Two) and AEO (Tier-Three) importers who obtain ICEGATE login and nominate a nodal person to authenticate transactions via OTP; eligible importers must intimate the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs (or AEO Programme Manager with copy) and mark flag "D" in the Bill of Entry for deferred payment. Clearance under deferred payment requires nodal authentication. Due dates follow the Deferred Payment Rules, importers may pay selected challans anytime before the due date, and port-wise reports are available in ICES for monitoring.

Product description amendments align MEIS schedules with ITC(HS), correcting tariff line descriptions, effective retrospectively to original inclusion dates.
Amendments correct product descriptions in MEIS Schedule Table 2 of Appendix 3B by replacing inaccurate descriptions for specified ITC(HS) tariff lines with wording aligned to ITC(HS); the corrected descriptions are operative for the listed tariff lines and are declared applicable from the original dates when those products were included in the MEIS Schedule.

Transit goods movement procedures extended to Visakhapatnam-ICD Birgunj route, with one-time-lock, permit and bond safeguards enforced.
The notice applies the Rail Services Agreement to the Visakhapatnam-ICD Birgunj route, prescribing that carriers and shipping agents present ICCD/ECCD in quadruplicate, obtain Transshipment Permits, and furnish bonds or bank guarantees securing duties. Indian Customs will affix an additional one-time-lock whose serial number is recorded on transit declarations; intact seals permit onward movement without examination, while broken seals trigger verification, resealing and endorsement procedures. Carrier and shipping agent bonds may be enforced if endorsed TPs or export evidence are not produced within prescribed timelines.

SEZ approvals and LoP extensions reaffirm conditional co developer authorisations and transfer controls under SEZ regulatory framework.
The Board extended and approved multiple formal approvals and LoPs, authorised co developer approvals subject to SEZ Act and Rules and lease period limits, approved several sector specific SEZ proposals while withdrawing or deferring others for lack of state recommendation or pending review, and required certification or refunding of tax/duty benefits where area reductions or cancellations occurred. Transfers of LoAs and changes in ownership were allowed subject to continuity, eligibility, financial disclosure and tax assessment conditions. Appeals regarding O&M power benefits were rejected in light of departmental demarcation of power plants as non processing area and applicable power guidelines.

Filing deadline extension for VAT returns: second-quarter filings extended, tax remains payable, digital signatures waive hard-copy requirement.
Extension of the deadline for filing second-quarter VAT returns for 2016-17 is granted under Rule 49A, requiring submission of online or hard-copy returns in Forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48 with requisite annexures by 21/11/2016. Tax payment obligations remain unchanged and must be discharged as usual. Dealers filing returns with a digital signature need not submit the hard copy of the return/Form DVAT-56.

Day count convention for debt securities clarified: Actual/Actual leap-year denominator and holiday payment scheduling maintained.
If a coupon payment date falls on a holiday, payment may be made on the next working day while the original coupon schedule remains unchanged; postponed payments do not alter subsequent scheduled coupon dates or accrual periods. For leap years where February 29 falls within the tenor, a 366-day denominator under the Actual/Actual day count convention applies for the whole one-year period regardless of coupon frequency. Interest and redemption payments must be made only on days when the money market is functioning in Mumbai.

Inclusion of new regional DGFT office in Vijayawada establishes jurisdiction over eight districts and reallocates regional boundaries.
Inclusion of a new Regional Office at Vijayawada, located at Door No.55-17-2, 4th Floor, C-Block, Industrial Estate, Autonagar, Vijayawada, is assigned jurisdiction over Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Anantapur and Kurnool. Consequently, the territorial jurisdiction of the Regional Authority at Vishakhapatnam is reallocated to cover the whole of Andhra Pradesh excluding the districts under the Vijayawada office.

Pre-paid instruments permitted for foreign tourists in exchange for foreign exchange, with passport accepted as identity verification.
Authorised Persons may issue Pre-paid instruments to foreign tourists in exchange for foreign exchange tendered, with passport accepted as valid identification, to facilitate exchange transactions following withdrawal of certain banknotes; instructions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and do not override other statutory permissions.

Central KYC Records Registry obligation: intermediaries must upload existing clients' KYC, exchanges must monitor compliance.
Registered intermediaries must upload existing individual clients' KYC to the Central KYC Records Registry using the CKYCR template and follow prescribed phased timelines; exchanges and depositories must notify participants, amend rules as needed, monitor compliance through half yearly audits and inspections, and report implementation status, with boards of asset managers, trustees and directors responsible for internal compliance.

Classification of garment sets clarifies "suit" criteria and limits drawback claims in exports.
Guidance states Salwar-Kameez, dupatta sets and Choli-Ghagra/lehenga-choli do not qualify as suits unless Chapter Note 3 criteria-identical shell fabric in construction, colour/shade and composition and the upper being a jacket and lower a trouser/short/skirt-are satisfied; otherwise garments must be classified individually (kameez/kurta as dress, salwar/pyjama as trouser) and analogous treatment applies to knitted headings, with existing export clearance procedures unchanged.

Transferability of imported goods under SFIS: sale/transfer allowed after three years, with consumables excluded.
Goods imported or procured under SFIS scrips issued in terms of FTP 2009-14 may be sold or transferred after three years from the date of clearance, per Department of Commerce Notification No. 30. Goods under FTP 2004-09 will be considered on merits under permissive FTP provisions with regard to three year transferability; however, consumables (including food and alcoholic beverages) remain non transferable even after three years. Exports or sales any time after import may be permitted on merits only without any claim to export incentives, and any re import will be treated as a fresh import.

Import of metal scrap: shredded allowed widely; un-shredded clearance subject to guidelines and risk-based port checks.
Clearance distinguishes shredded scrap, permitted through all ports without pre-shipment certificate, from un-shredded compressed or loose metallic scrap, which must be cleared only at EDI-enabled ports with Risk Management Module selection for documentary or physical checks; scanning is required based on available facilities and risk assessment until radiation portal monitors and container scanners are operational; re-warehousing to importer premises may be permitted under conditions and at importer's risk and cost.

Exchange of information on tax matters expanded, with authorised law enforcement sharing and mutual assistance in tax collection strengthened.
Protocol entered into force and establishes standards for exchange of information, including bank information and information without domestic tax interest, permitting authorised sharing with law enforcement; it exempts source taxation of interest on government insured debt-claims and inserts mutual assistance in collection of taxes obligations.