Lease tenure amendments in SEZs may be approved by the Development Commissioner, subject to state policy compliance.
Amendments to lease-tenure clauses for developers, co-developers and units in SEZs not owned by the Government of India may be considered and, if suitable, approved by the jurisdictional Development Commissioner, subject to compliance with extant rules and State/UT policy; Development Commissioners are directed to ensure immediate compliance and implementation.

Offer document filing location tied to estimated issue size; large issues file at head office, others at regional offices.
SEBI requires draft offer documents to be filed at the SEBI Head Office for issues above the specified size threshold and at the regional office having jurisdiction over the issuer's registered office for issues at or below the threshold; the circular lists regional mappings, modifies an earlier 2012 circular, is effective for filings on or after its issuance date, and is issued under SEBI's statutory authority, with a later rescission noted.

PMLA reporting requirement: Customs must submit ML I and ML II monthly to Enforcement Directorate for predicate offences.
Instruction requires Customs formations to report predicate offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to the Enforcement Directorate monthly using prescribed ML I and ML II formats. It lists scheduled offences for Part A, identifies higher value Customs offences for Part B, and requires reporting of cross border predicate offences under Part C. ML II specifies detailed case particulars including FIR data, investigator contacts, accused and property details, and current case status.

Withdrawal of trade circular rescinds prior ITeS GST clarification, restoring uniform implementation across field formations.
The Commissioner withdraws Trade Circular No. 28/2019 ab-initio, which contained clarifications on supply of Information Technology enabled Services under GST, in response to representations and apprehensions, to ensure uniform implementation across field formations, exercising powers under section 168(1) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Job work classification limits reduced GST treatment to processing of goods owned by registered persons, excluding services on inputs owned by others.
Clarification confines the job work entry to treatment or processing undertaken by a person on goods belonging to another registered person, while the manufacturing services entry applies only to services on physical inputs owned by persons other than registered persons, thereby maintaining a clear distinction for GST applicability under heading 9988.

Group exposure limits: excess debt holdings grandfathered to maturity; AMCs and AMFI must publish and quarterly disclose lists.
The circular revises rules on group exposure by allowing investments in excess of prescribed limits made on or before October 1, 2019 to be grandfathered only until the instruments' maturity as applicable on that date, and requires AMCs to publish lists of their group companies while AMFI must publish a consolidated list with group identifiers and sector classification; these disclosures are to be updated on the first working day of each calendar quarter beginning January 1, 2020.

Mandatory eSANCHIT upload requirement: invoices, transport contracts must be uploaded and document codes plus IRNs declared in Bills of Entry.
For every Bill of Entry the Invoice (or Invoice cum Packing List) and the relevant Transport Contract must be uploaded to eSANCHIT, with the prescribed document code and the eSANCHIT-generated Image Reference Number (IRN) declared in the Bill of Entry; all other supporting documents (e.g., Country of Origin certificates, PGA licences/permissions) must likewise be submitted electronically via eSANCHIT and physical copies are to be avoided.

Optional annual GST returns allow eligible taxpayers to file before due dates while permitting voluntary correction of tax shortfalls.
Eligible registered persons with aggregate turnover not exceeding two crore rupees may elect not to furnish annual returns for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, with non-filing by the due date treated as deemed furnishing. Eligible composition taxpayers may file FORM GSTR-9A, and other eligible registered persons may file FORM GSTR-9, before the due date only. Taxpayers identifying short-paid tax or ineligible input tax credit during reconciliation may voluntarily pay the liability through FORM GST DRC-03.

Electronic GST refund processing centralises filing, scrutiny, disbursement, and credit revalidation through a portal-based single-authority workflow.
GST refund claims must be filed electronically in FORM GST RFD-01 for eligible categories, with prescribed electronic statements, undertakings and supporting records and without physical submission. An Application Reference Number is generated only after completion and relevant ledger debit, marks the filing date, and triggers electronic transfer to the jurisdictional officer. Within fifteen days, the officer must issue either an acknowledgement or a deficiency memo. A deficiency stops processing, automatically restores debited credit or cash, and requires a corrected fresh application. Refund payments under every tax head are issued by the single assigned tax authority after bank-account validation.

GST refund process now fully electronic via FORM GST RFD-01 with single PFMS disbursement and prescribed timelines.
From 26.09.2019 all specified categories of GST refund applications must be filed and processed electronically through FORM GST RFD-01 on the common portal; ARN is generated only after completion of filing, uploads and required ledger debits. Applications are forwarded electronically to the jurisdictional proper officer who must issue FORM GST RFD-02 or FORM GST RFD-03 within 15 days; provisional refunds (typically 90%) and final orders follow prescribed rules, disbursement is effected via PFMS after bank validation, interest accrues if refund is not credited within 60 days, and specific documentation and computation rules apply for ITC, compensation cess, deemed exports, inverted duty refunds and other categories.

Restriction on Input Tax Credit: claim limited pending supplier invoice uploads, with balance claimable after uploads.
Restriction applies where suppliers have not uploaded invoice or debit note details; ITC claimable is limited to a percentage of the eligible input tax credit attributable to invoices whose details have been uploaded. The limitation is assessed on a consolidated basis across suppliers, excludes items outside the upload requirement and documents otherwise ineligible for ITC, and is to be computed from the recipient's auto-populated purchase register as on the due date for suppliers' outward-supply filings. Balance credit may be claimed in later periods once suppliers upload details.

Mandatory eSANCHIT uploading: invoices and transport contracts must include document codes and IRN in Bills of Entry.
Every Invoice (or Invoice-cum-Packing List) and every Transport Contract (Bill of Lading / Airway Bill) declared in the Bill of Entry must be uploaded to eSANCHIT and the Bill of Entry must record the prescribed document code and the IRN generated by eSANCHIT; the system mandates entry of those document codes and IRNs. Other supporting documents (e.g., COO, licences or PGA permissions) should be submitted only electronically via eSANCHIT by beneficiaries or PGAs and physical copies should not be submitted.

GST seized goods release requires strict compliance with Section 67 and bond-security rules, not contrary High Court directions.
Instructions concerning release of seized goods under GST state that High Court orders contrary to the statutory provisions are not to be given effect to by the authorities. Claims are to be processed afresh under Section 67 of the Act read with the relevant rules, and the competent authority must require assessees to complete the prescribed formalities strictly in accordance with the statutory requirements, including the bond and security framework under Rule 140.

Contract manufacturing treated as manufacturing under FDI policy, permitting wholesale, retail and e commerce sales subject to compliance.
Contract manufacturing by a third party under a legally tenable contract is treated as manufacturing for FDI purposes, making the principal with foreign investment a manufacturing entity; such principals may sell products via wholesale, retail and e commerce without separate government approval, subject to compliance with applicable FDI policy conditions and FEMA requirements, for which the manufacturing entity remains responsible.

GSTIN jurisdiction transfer procedure requires approval-based routing, prescribed data format, and direct submission only through the designated channel.
GSTIN jurisdiction transfer data is to be routed through the prescribed departmental channel and not sent directly to the Head Office. Where a taxpayer's jurisdiction has not previously been changed, the assessing authorities must forward the transfer data only after approval of the concerned Zonal Additional Commissioner, and the Additional Commissioner must send it from the departmental email ID to the specified IT Section address in the prescribed Excel sheet format.

Additional MEIS benefit limited to exports with let export date until year-end, with annexed product exceptions.
The Director General of Foreign Trade limits previously notified additional 2% MEIS incentive rates to exports with Let Export date until 31 December 2019, except for the product entries listed in the annexure; this amendment modifies Appendix 3B, Table 2 and confirms that the incremental benefit notified earlier will not apply after the stated Let Export date save for the annexed ITC HS codes.

Withdrawal of administrative circular directs field formations to apply replacement CBIC guidance ensuring uniform GST implementation.
The Board ab-initio withdrew Circular No. 107/26/2019-GST by issuing Circular No. 127/46/2019-GST under section 168 to address apprehensions and ensure uniform legal interpretation; the Tripura State Tax administration directs field formations to follow Circular No. 127/46/2019-GST and to issue trade notices publicizing the replacement guidance.

Conflict of interest restrictions bar ARCs from bilateral acquisitions with sponsors, lenders or group entities; transparent auctions allowed.
ARCs are barred from bilateral acquisition of financial assets from (i) a sponsoring bank or financial institution, (ii) a bank or financial institution that is a lender to the ARC or a subscriber to funds raised by the ARC, and (iii) any entity in the ARC's group. Despite this prohibition, ARCs may participate in auctions for financial assets if auctions are transparent, conducted on an arm's length basis, and prices are determined by market forces.

Hazardousness testing for off-specification oil imports requires parallel laboratory reports before final customs assessment can proceed.
Where hazardous or non-hazardous testing is prescribed for imported furnace oil, fuel oil or waste oil, the assessing officer must arrange three samples. The in-house laboratory tests the first sample for all Test Memo requirements except hazardous character, while the nominated external laboratory determines hazardous or non-hazardous status at the importer's or owner's cost. The third sample is retained. Assessment may proceed without the external report only where the in-house result shows that off-specification oil criteria are not met and hazardous-character testing is unnecessary; otherwise, both reports are required.

Voting procedure for creditors requires authorised representative to circulate agenda and minutes and provide voting windows.
Voting by creditors in a class must follow prescribed procedures: the authorised representative must circulate the agenda and minutes and announce voting windows enabling creditors to give instructions at two stages; internal or pre-polling on matters not on the Committee of Creditors' agenda is inconsistent with the Code and Regulations and may vitiate the voting process. The Resolution Professional and authorised representative must conduct and publicise the timing and manner of voting in strict compliance with the Code, the Regulations and applicable judicial directions.