Margin collection compliance: penalties for members failing to collect client margins within prescribed timelines and reporting requirements.
Requires members to collect specified margins (including initial, ELM, mark to market, special/additional and delivery margins), with initial margins payable upfront and other margins collectible within T+2 working days; members must report short collection/non collection to the Exchange on T+5. A graduated per day penalty applies per client shortfall, higher rates for larger shortfalls, with penalties for initial margin shortfalls applying from T. Repeated defaults (three or more instances in a month) invoke a 5% shortfall penalty from the fourth instance. Exchanges collect penalties monthly, credit proceeds to the Investor Protection Fund, inspect compliance and may levy up to 100% penalty for incorrect reporting.

Due Date Rate fixation requires committee-led spot price polling, audio recording and Board approval with preservation and reporting obligations.
Regional Commodity Derivatives Exchanges must fix the Due Date Rate through a board-level DDR Committee (majority non-trading members) that establishes a 15-member Spot Price Polling Panel from upcountry entities. Spot prices are polled by telephone with speaker on, recorded and retained for six months; polling occurs once daily during peak hours and the average of the last three days' available spot prices (not earlier than seven days before due date) is used. The Committee recommends DDR to the Board, which must approve or record reasons for modification; DDR is announced and records sent to the regulator.

Daily Price Limits for commodity derivatives use staged relaxations and VWAP-derived first-day base pricing.
Daily Price Limits for non-agricultural commodity derivatives are set in tiered slabs with category-specific initial and enhanced slabs; steel has a two-slab structure with a cooling-off-triggered enhancement, while gold and other non-agricultural commodities use a three-slab mechanism with an immediate first enhancement and a cooling-off-triggered second enhancement. Exchanges may relax limits further if international reference markets move beyond the aggregate DPL but must notify surveillance with justification. For a contract's first trading day the base price for DPL is derived from VWAP of opening trades and governs the day's limits; exchanges may prescribe narrower limits and must update rules, disseminate changes, and report implementation to the regulator.

Transaction charges regulation caps differential and mandates post-facto, incremental slab charging to ensure fair, non-discriminatory markets.
Exchanges may levy varying transaction charges across commodities and contracts provided the highest-to-lowest charge within any turnover slab does not exceed 1.5:1; concessional slab rates apply only to incremental turnover and charges must be levied on a post-facto basis. Revisions must preserve system capacity and risk management, avoid selective treatment, artificial demand or market irregularities, and be applied uniformly, fairly and transparently. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, notify members, disseminate on websites and report implementation to the regulator.

Sub Manifest Transshipment Permit issuance: require SMTPs for rail bound ICD cargo without waiting for full vessel discharge to avoid delays.
Directs Customs to issue Sub Manifest Transshipment Permit (SMTP) for cargo destined to Inland Container Depots by rail without waiting for full vessel discharge, implementing an inter ministerial recommendation accepted by the Board, and requires field formations to take immediate steps to ensure there is no delay in granting SMTPs.

Direct port entry for factory stuffed export containers enabled, allowing manufacturing units DPE subject to terminal processing facilities.
Customs Houses are advised to permit direct port entry of factory stuffed (including self-sealed) export containers of all manufacturing entities prior to grant of Let Export Order, subject to port terminals providing requisite facilities to process export documentation and handling increased container inflow; Customs should issue trade notices after consulting port authorities, building on existing direct-entry categories and prior AEO facilitation.

Standing Counsels engagement revised: new eligibility, panel sizing, duties, performance review and fee schedule effective 07.09.2016.
Guidelines revise empanelment, eligibility, allocation, duties, performance review and payment for Standing Counsels representing the Income tax Department. Reappointment must begin six months before expiry, panels include a 25% non paid buffer, and selection follows advertised calls, Screening Committee evaluation using prescribed pro formas and minimum benchmarks. Senior and Junior eligibility requires advocacy enrolment and specified direct tax experience or prior departmental/tribunal service subject to disciplinary clearance. CCIT manages allocation (approx. 450-500 appeals per Senior), quarterly and annual performance reporting is mandated, duties and private practice restrictions are set, and Annexure II prescribes a fee/retainer schedule effective 07.09.2016 with billing, deduction and dispute resolution procedures.

Special Public Prosecutor engagement: standardized eligibility, selection, duties and a revised fee and payment regime for tax prosecutions.
Instruction prescribes engagement, qualifications, selection, term, renewal and duties of Special Public Prosecutors for representing the Income Tax Department in criminal trials, with applications in Proforma P1, evaluation by a five member Screening Committee, initial 18 month engagement renewable after annual performance appraisal (Proforma P2) and normally thereafter for three years (Proforma P3). It mandates CCIT administration of case allocation and centralized records, duties including trial representation, drafting, witness assistance and prompt certified copy procurement, termination and handover procedures, and a revised fee, allowance and payment regime with billing in Proforma P4 and specified rules for connected cases, out of pocket expenses and travel.

Relaxation of additional fees permits late filing of Form IEPF 1 without surcharge if filed within the extended deadline.
Companies unable to file the earlier Form I INV during MCA21 deployment may instead submit the new Form IEPF I, which replaces Form I INV under the IEPF (AATR) Rules, 2016. As a one time measure, companies whose filing due dates fell within the portal unavailability period may file Form IEPF I without additional fees provided they file by the prescribed extended deadline.

Export transhipment module in ICES enables container movement to gateway ports with ETP permits and TP bond requirements.
The ICES Export Transhipment Module requires Transhippers to register a continuous TP Bond (with BG), file an ETP Application at the Service Centre after Stuffing Report, verify a generated checklist, and obtain preventive officer approval. A printed ETP Permit must accompany containers moving to the Gateway Port; bond/BG may be debited upon approval. Gateway Port preventive checks precede an Allowed for Shipment entry in ICES, after which the steamer agent files the EGM and Shipping Bills route to Drawback processing.

Provisional assessment: importer must execute bond and provide bank guarantee or cash deposit; 20% deposit dispensed.
Section 18 provisional assessment requires the importer to execute a prescribed bond to undertake payment of any deficiency between provisional and final duty and to furnish security as the proper officer deems fit; the Board dispensed with the 20% deposit rule and limited acceptable security to a bank guarantee or cash deposit (no sureties). The Board rescinded the 2011 Regulations and issued a uniform schedule setting security levels by importer class and nature of import, computed on duty differential, with Commissioner discretion to reduce security where justified.

Delegation of food safety enforcement to customs officers requires regionally organised one-day training and coordination.
FSSAI delegated functions of an Authorised Officer to Customs officers and CBEC instructed Commissioners to coordinate with regional FSSAI offices to organise regionally delivered one day training. The programme instructs on SWIFT and risk management for import clearance, sampling and laboratory testing procedures, and labelling and packaging requirements, lists faculty allocations for Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, identifies nodal FSSAI contacts, and annexes Customs locations mapped to nearest regional offices to facilitate training logistics.

Precincts of religious place: exemption covers immovable property within outer boundary and adjacent property under same management.
The circular clarifies that precincts in Notification No. 25/2012-Service Tax should be given a broad meaning: all immovable property of a religious place located within the outer boundary walls of the complex, and immovable property in the immediate vicinity owned by or under the same management, may be regarded as within the precincts and eligible for the renting exemption. Field formations are instructed not to take a restricted view and to publicize this interpretive guidance, reporting implementation difficulties to the Tax Research Unit.

Standard Unit Quantity Code compliance: waivers permitted for incompatible UQCs to prevent clearance delays and mis-declarations.
Compliance with the Standard Unit Quantity Code (UQC) is mandatory for Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; declarations must include comprehensive descriptions to improve EDI data quality. Where statutory UQC is incompatible with trade practice or in MRP-based assessments, Group AC/DCs (non-RMS) and concerned ACs/DCs (RMS docks) are authorised to waive the prescribed UQC, while RMS docks must return bills to the assessment group if a UQC change is required, and trade must correctly declare UQC and full descriptions initially.

Statutory licensing: communication to the public under section 31D covers internet broadcasting organizations and similar digital broadcasts.
Section 31D's statutory licensing covers broadcasters who engage in communication to the public, defined to include making works available by any means of display or diffusion and simultaneous transmission to multiple households. Read with that definition, "any broadcasting organization desirous of communicating to the public" is not limited to radio or television, and therefore internet broadcasting organizations are included within the scope of section 31D.

Name substitution in industrial order: mill entry amended to a private limited company in the Schedule.
Under powers conferred by Section 18G of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, S.O. 2895(E) dated 5 September 2016 amends S.O. 1371(E) by substituting, in the Schedule at paragraph 2(1) against serial number 77, the name "M/s. Surya Chandra Paper Mills Limited" with "M/s.Surya Chandra Paper Mills Private Limited."

Removal of EGM LEO Error: Batch Officer may clear LEO errors on request after verification, other errors via EGM coordination.
The Batch Officer in the Export Shed will clear LEO Error (Error L) on a written request from the Airline/CHA after verifying shipping bill and EGM details in the EDI system; other EGM errors ('P' and 'H') will continue to be handled by the EGM Coordination Section.

Spot Price Polling Mechanism requires exchanges to publish polling methods and daily participant prices with oversight.
SEBI requires commodity derivatives exchanges to have a documented spot price polling policy, display the polling mechanism and contract-specific details online, and disclose whether polling is outsourced. Exchanges must publish coded participant details (location, profession, quoted price, timestamp) daily and retain records for three years post-expiry. They must increase sample size during the last 15 days, review participants monthly to identify and discipline unrealistic pollers, provide a feedback window with audit trail and time bound redressal, amend bylaws, notify brokers, and report implementation to SEBI.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme: declaration halts appeal proceedings and prescribes forms and deposit reporting obligations.
The scheme permits appellants before the Commissioner (Appeals) to file a declaration in Form 1 with a Designated Authority (an officer not below Assistant Commissioner). The authority issues a Form 2 acknowledgement which halts appellate proceedings for sixty days. The declarant must deposit required sums within a fortnight and report deposits in Form 3 within seven days. The Designated Authority issues a discharge order in Form 4; the Commissioner matches the order and removes the appeal from pendency, but such removal carries no precedent value.

Classification of inorganic chemicals: composition, not trade name, determines whether a product is treated as a fertiliser for tariff purposes.
The Board clarifies that mono potassium phosphate, calcium nitrate and potassium magnesium phosphate as single chemically defined compounds are classifiable under Chapter 28, but mixtures or salts in which those compounds are constituents are classifiable under the Chapter for fertiliser mixtures; trade name does not determine classification and assessment must be based on actual product composition.