Round-the-clock customs clearance enables priority assessment for shipments linked to China, with email requests and designated appraisers.
A round-the-clock customs clearance facility at New Customs House, Mumbai Zone I enables priority assessment and clearance of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills related to imports from and exports to China. Importers, exporters or customs brokers may request priority assessment by email in a prescribed format; duty officers will list and transfer such cases online to designated appraisers. Designated DC/AC/Appraisers will assess only requests linked to China, applying Customs and allied law, and the facility covers Import I, Import II, Export and ICD Mulund commissionerates.

Foreign investment caps in insurance updated; equity limits and control conditions govern insurers and intermediaries under automatic route.
The Press Note revises the insurance-sector FDI framework: Indian insurance companies are limited to forty-nine percent total foreign investment, allowed via the automatic route subject to IRDAI verification, Insurance Act compliance and RBI pricing rules for increases; foreign portfolio investment follows FEMA and SEBI FPI regulations. Intermediaries (brokers, consultants, corporate agents, TPAs, surveyors and loss assessors) may have full foreign equity under the automatic route but must satisfy corporate form, resident Indian senior officer, dividend repatriation permission, disclosure and board/management composition requirements prescribed by regulators.

Customs Transit Declaration requirement governs transit through foreign territory, mandating CTD, bond, sealing and electronic filing transition.
The regulations supersede the 1965 rules and govern transit of goods through foreign territory under the agreed port and inland waterway arrangements; every transit shipment must be accompanied by a Customs Transit Declaration (CTD) and a customs bond, sealed with a customs one time lock at Indian exit, endorsed at each entry/exit point, and presented on re entry for verification and bond closure; manual CTD filing will operate initially with a transition to electronic EDI filing, and Cross Border Certificate requirement is waived for movements under these regulations.

Export data reporting: District and State origin required in shipping bills; GSTIN mandatory for registered taxpayers.
Electronic Shipping Bills must include, for each item, the State of Origin and District of Origin, applicable Preferential Agreement details, and the Standard Unit Quantity Code (SQC) for the relevant tariff heading; additionally, GST-registered importers and exporters must declare their GSTIN in import/export documents.

Late fee waiver for delayed import filings due to document delays from China - requires importer declaration to avoid charges.
Customs permits waiver of late fee for Bills of Entry filed late for consignments from China where delay arose from non receipt of basic import documents due to the coronavirus outbreak, conditional on a written statement by the importer or Customs Broker; the measure is issued as a standing order for officers and provides escalation to ADC/JC or DC/AC, Appraising Main (Import), NS I for any difficulties.

Transportation of goods via foreign territory requires a Customs Transit Declaration, bond, one-time-lock sealing and EDI transition.
The Transportation of Goods (Through Foreign Territory) Regulations, 2020 supersede the 1965 rules and cover India-to-India transit through Bangladesh under the ACMP and PIWTT and land routes partly over foreign territory; consignors, carriers or authorised agents must file a prescribed Customs Transit Declaration and bond, seal cargo with a customs one-time-lock, and follow endorsement, retention and copy-distribution procedures at exit, entry and re-entry ports, with manual CTD filing to be replaced by EDI when developed and electronic arrival entries acceptable for bond crediting/closure.

Electronic RFID sealing requirement for bonded warehouse movements mandates vendor certified seals and Reader data capture for tracking and inspection.
Electronic RFID anti-tamper one-time-locks are mandated where warehousing regulations require a one-time-lock for deposit into or removal from Customs bonded warehouses; RFID seals must be procured from CBIC-listed vendors, conform to prescribed ISO specifications, be linked to warehouse codes and serial numbers, and be scanned by prescribed Readers with specified data elements captured in a web-application. Licencees must procure Readers and seals for supply or use, vendors must maintain seal and TID linkages and enable uploads, tamper detection triggers refusal of unloading and customs examination, and specified exceptions to RFID use remain.

24x7 customs clearance instituted to manage supply-chain disruptions, requiring continuous staffing, extended lab testing, and daily reporting.
CBIC directed implementation of 24x7 Customs clearance at all Customs formations, with CRCL laboratories operating round-the-clock, requiring Chief Commissioners to deploy sufficient staff, maintain station-wise records of BEs/SBs filed beyond normal hours, and report daily to the Board by email; existing designated 24x7 ports/airports to continue, with the measures scheduled to remain in effect until end of May 2020.

Reverse charge mechanism for rented immovable property requires mandatory GST registration and zone-wise compliance reporting.
Renting of immovable property is treated as a supply of services, and the general registration threshold for service providers is Rs. 20 lakh per annum. Renting services provided by the Central Government, State Government, Union Territory, or local authority to a business entity are taxable under the reverse charge mechanism, and where tax liability arises under reverse charge, the usual registration threshold does not apply and GST registration is mandatory.

Line of Credit support enables export financing with minimum Indian content and Export Declaration Form compliance.
Exim Bank's Government of India supported Line of Credit to Suriname finances rehabilitation of a milk processing plant, requiring at least 75 per cent of contract value to be supplied from India and permitting up to 25 per cent procurement abroad. The agreement is effective from January 27, 2020 with a terminal utilization period of 60 months after project completion. Shipments must be declared in the Export Declaration Form; no agency commission is payable under the LoC though exporters may use own resources or EEFC balances after realization, subject to AD Category I bank compliance and FEMA directions.

Exporters must include State and District of Origin, SQC, PTA/FTA details, GSTIN, and eSanchit IRN in Shipping Bills.
The electronic Shipping Bill must include for every item the State and District of Origin (district code linked to the declared state), SQC with actual quantity, Preferential/FTA details where applicable, and mandatory GSTIN declaration; GST Compensation Cess must be separately reported. Invoices must be uploaded to eSanchit and the eSanchit IRN and relevant document code provided in the Shipping Bill.

Pre-shipment inspection exemption: metallic scrap from listed safe regions may enter via designated ports, subject to supplier certification and scans.
Amendment adds Kattupalli to the list of designated ports where pre-shipment inspection certificate (PSIC) is not required for metallic waste and scrap from the USA, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the EU, provided consignments are cleared through those ports with supplier/scrap yard certification of absence of radioactive materials and explosives; such consignments remain subject to radiation and explosive checks via portal monitors and container scanners, and trans-shipments through those regions are not eligible for the exemption.

Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies issued as electronic duty credit scrips to offset customs and excise duties.
RoSCTL and an Additional Ad hoc Incentive for garments and made ups replace prior RoSL and MEIS benefits; rebates and incentives are issued as electronic duty credit scrips, freely transferable and usable for payment of specified Customs and Central Excise duties, issued as a single electronic scrip for exports within prescribed LEO date ranges, with procedures for issue, use and recovery for over claims or mis declaration set out in the notifications and accompanying guidance.

Condonation of delay in tax filings: commissioners may admit belated Form 9A/Form 10 where return filed by year end.
The Board authorises Commissioners of Income tax (Exemptions) under section 119(2)(b) to admit belated applications for condonation of delay in filing Return of Income and decide on merit where an application for belated condonation of Form 9A/Form 10 has been filed and the Return of Income was filed on or before 31st March of the relevant assessment year; other applications remain subject to extant authorities and practice.

No-incentive certificate requirement: importers must produce DGFT certification on re-import to enable recovery of export incentives.
Importers must submit a no-incentive certificate from the Regional Authority of DGFT at the time of re-import of previously exported goods. Past re-import cases should be reviewed and recovery action coordinated with DGFT where duty credit under Chapter 3 reward and incentive schemes was inadmissibly availed; the requirement is reiterated as a standing order and trade stakeholders are asked to publicize the instruction.

Mandatory GSTIN declaration required in import documents for GST-registered importers, enforceable as a standing departmental order.
Mandatory GSTIN declaration in import documentation is required for importers registered under GST laws; importers must declare GSTIN in the Bill of Entry and related import documents. Trade associations must publicize the requirement. The notice is to be treated as a Standing Order for departmental officers, and implementation difficulties should be reported to the Additional Commissioner of Customs (Technical).

Input tax credit deadlines restrict delayed claims, while e-commerce supply mismatches trigger action for short reporting.
Input tax credit under section 16(4) of the RGST Act, 2017 is unavailable where returns for the specified periods are filed after the applicable deadline for claiming credit. For financial year 2018-19, the stated deadline was 20 October 2019. IGST paid on imported goods, claimed on the basis of a bill of entry through Table 4(A)(1) of FORM GSTR-3B, remained available. Short reporting identified through discrepancies between GSTR-8 and GSTR-3B requires proceedings under sections 73 or 74.

SCOMET export control: legal undertaking requires return and reporting of temporarily exported controlled items under prescribed conditions.
The notification prescribes a proforma legal Undertaking as a condition for export/re export authorisations of SCOMET items for repair/replacement or temporary demo/display/exhibition/tender purposes, detailing scenario specific conditions requiring declaration of origin and recipient, prohibition on value addition and onward transfer, custody and non commercial use during temporary exports, mandatory return within the stipulated period (with DGFT discretion for extensions), execution formalities on stamp paper, and post import reporting to DGFT using Annexure I with supporting documents for monitoring compliance.

Extension of time for FORM GST TRAN-1 submission extended for eligible registrants due to portal technical difficulties.
Extension of time for filing FORM GST TRAN-1 under rule 117(1A) of the Haryana GST Rules is granted until 31st March, 2020 for registered persons who could not file by the due date due to technical difficulties on the common portal and whose cases were recommended by the Council; the order is issued by the Commissioner of State Tax and supersedes the earlier order 306/GST-II except as to prior actions or omissions.

Service tax compliance in showroom leasing arrangements sought for report on building owners' obligations under the rules.
A State Government communication asked the Commercial Tax Commissioner to submit, within one week, a report on whether building owners who have leased premises for large showrooms are paying the applicable service tax in accordance with the rules. The request was made in the context of a review of zonal and divisional officers of the Commercial Tax Department and sought a factual account of compliance with service tax obligations in such leasing arrangements.