Refund and credit note procedures govern adjustment of GST on cancelled supplies and advances, enabling return adjustment or RFD-01 claims.
Where tax was paid on advances or on supplies subsequently cancelled or returned and an invoice had been issued, the supplier must issue a credit note under section 34 and declare it in the return for the month of issuance to adjust tax liability; no separate refund claim is needed unless there is no output liability, in which case a claim may be filed as excess payment of tax via FORM GST RFD-01. If no invoice was issued on advance, a refund voucher must be issued and refund sought via FORM GST RFD-01.

Faceless assessment: measures to ensure continuous assessment and prompt clearance of time-sensitive import consignments and streamlined reassessment procedures.
Operational directions require continuous faceless assessment by extending Saturday work (except second Saturday), prioritising time sensitive consignments, and deploying DG Systems dashboards for proactive monitoring by NACs, PAGs and FAGs. Query management must avoid piecemeal queries and ensure complete linked documentation at filing; statutory compliance verification is reserved for port level Customs Compliance Verification. First Check is limited to specified categories (e.g., used machinery lacking export appraisal, items needing valuation or identity verification), with other cases ordinarily routed to Second Check unless senior approval is obtained. Reassessment routes are prescribed by timing and impact on assessment, original Certificates of Origin must be accepted as per certification procedures, and TSKs will serve as facilitation helpdesks with designated nodal officers for grievances.

Faceless assessment: enhanced procedural measures require additional working Saturdays and streamlined first check and reassessment procedures for timely clearance.
Faceless assessment procedures are amended to expedite processing: designated faceless assessment groups will work most Saturdays, ports must identify and fast track time sensitive consignments with end use indicated on the Bill of Entry, and traders must upload and link complete supporting documents to the Bill of Entry. Criteria distinguishing First Check and Second Check examinations are prescribed, and reassessment under section 149 is allocated by three scenarios depending on timing and impact on assessment. Turant Suvidha Kendras will act as facilitation helpdesks and designated officers will serve as escalation nodal points.

Faceless assessment: Trade must upload and tag complete e-Sanchit documents to speed customs clearance under new procedures.
Prompt facilitation of import clearance under the Faceless Assessment regime is reinforced by operational measures and trade-facing procedural guidance aimed at reducing queries and recall of Bills of Entry. Trade must upload and tag comprehensive supporting documents through e Sanchit at filing, enter correct Bank Guarantee percentages in the Bond Management module (expressly zero if none), and where applicable opt for the Continuity Bond option to avoid repeated bond registration. A Facilitation Helpdesk at Turant Suvidha Kendra and a nodal officer are designated for escalation of clearance grievances.

Coercive recovery procedures require exhaustion of alternatives and collegiate approval before surveys or attachments proceed.
Assessing Officers and Tax Recovery Officers may exercise recovery powers only after exhausting alternative measures and must obtain prior approval from designated senior officers before undertaking attachment; recovery surveys are limited to Investigation or TDS Wing officers, require specified Collegium or senior approvals depending on charge, must involve the concerned AO/TRO, remain within approved scope, and be reported and uploaded on the ITBA platform.

Extension of export obligation submission deadline for advance authorisations provides temporary relief for exporters affected by COVID-19.
Amendment adds para 4.44(g) to extend, as a one time temporary measure, the date for submission of documents for Export Obligation fulfilment to 31.12.2020 for all Advance Authorisations whose EO period is expiring or has expired in the COVID 19 affected window. The extension operates as relief in the monitoring of EO compliance under the Handbook of Procedures 2015-20.

Sea cargo manifest compliance requires electronic advance declarations, stakeholder registration, cargo identification, and phased filing for transhipment movements.
The Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 create an ICEGATE-based framework for advance electronic declarations for sea cargo and inland transhipment. Authorised carriers, sea agents, notified carriers and transhippers must register and file prescribed arrival, departure, cargo summary and inland manifests. Arrival and departure filings replace earlier import and export vessel manifests, while Cargo Identification Numbers permit cargo information to be reused across subsequent declarations. A single Authorised Transhipper is responsible for inland Customs cargo movement and must file manifests for each conveyance stage. Mandatory compliance was introduced through phased filing schedules, with penalties for non-adherence.

Foreign Direct Investment policy: sectoral caps and automatic or government routes set entry, conditionalities and reporting obligations.
The Circular consolidates FDI policy and defines eligible investors, investee entities and instruments; prescribes two entry routes-automatic and government-with sectoral caps, conditionalities and prohibited activities; governs issuance, transfer and conversion of capital instruments with pricing and reporting rules; sets rules for downstream and indirect foreign investment and requires notification to RBI and compliance with FEMA/RBI/SEBI requirements; and establishes procedural governance, competent authorities and monitoring mechanisms for approvals and compliance.

Appeal notice requirement under GST orders demands prescribed intimation, online filing procedure, and pre-deposit conditions for appeals.
Every appealable order passed by Proper Officers in Section and Enforcement Offices must be accompanied by a prescribed notice informing the affected person about the appellate process. The notice provides for a free copy of the order, filing of an online appeal in FORM GST APL-01 before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 read with Rule 108 within 90 days, submission of the original or certified copy within one week of filing, and pre-deposit of the admitted tax, interest, penalty, fee and fine, along with 10% of the disputed tax amount.

Revenue laboratory testing preferred for customs samples, with CRCL as national referral and external referral when tests unavailable.
Preference is prescribed for testing customs-derived samples in Central Revenues Control Laboratories, with CRCL, New Delhi designated as a national Referral Laboratory for pharma, textile and food testing; where a Revenue Laboratory cannot perform a particular test, samples must be referred to the nearest appropriate government laboratory or approved external agency, while existing arrangements continue for Animal Quarantine, Plant Quarantine and Wildlife Crime samples.

Input tax credit reconciliation requires capping ITC to uploaded supplier details and reversal of excess in returns.
Taxpayers must reconcile ITC availed in FORM GSTR-3B for February-August 2020 with invoices uploaded by suppliers in FORM GSTR-1 by the September 2020 due date; cumulative ITC claimed for those months must not exceed the permitted cap based on eligible uploaded invoices, and any excess ITC identified must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of FORM GSTR-3B for September 2020, with the cumulative treatment being a temporary modification to prior clarifications and not expanding overall credit eligibility.

Cumulative input tax credit reconciliation governed February to August 2020, requiring reversal of excess credit in September returns.
For February through August 2020, rule 36(4) required cumulative reconciliation of input tax credit availed in GSTR-3B with eligible invoices and debit notes uploaded by suppliers up to the September 2020 GSTR-1 due date. Cumulative credit could not exceed 110% of eligible credit reflected in uploaded documents and remained subject to general credit eligibility conditions. Excess credit identified through reconciliation had to be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September 2020 GSTR-3B, while the restriction applied independently for September 2020.

Cumulative input tax credit reconciliation requires September reversal where claimed credit exceeds the permitted supplier-uploaded invoice threshold.
ITC availed in GSTR-3B for February to August 2020 had to be reconciled cumulatively with eligible supplier-uploaded invoices and debit notes reflected up to the due date for September 2020 GSTR-1. Aggregate credit for those months could not exceed 110% of cumulative eligible uploaded credit, and could not exceed the tax otherwise eligible on supplies received. Excess ITC had to be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September 2020 GSTR-3B; failure to do so was treated as availment of ineligible ITC in September.

Cumulative ITC reconciliation required for pandemic months; excess credit must be identified and reversed in September return.
Clarification directs cumulative reconciliation of ITC for February-August 2020 under sub-rule (4) of rule 36 of the CGST Rules, requiring taxpayers to reconcile ITC claimed in GSTR-3B with supplier-uploaded invoice details available until the GSTR-1 due date for September 2020. The cumulative ITC availed for those months must not exceed 110% of the cumulative eligible credit reflected by supplier uploads, subject to the ceiling under section 16, and any excess must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of GSTR-3B for September 2020.

Electronic filing of Preferential Certificate of Origin enabled for additional agreements, requiring DSC and online submissions from mid-October.
Preferential Certificate of Origin for exports under GSP, GSTP, India-Malaysia CECA and India-Singapore CECA will be applied for and issued through the centralized e COO platform from 15 October 2020; GSTP, IMCECA and ISCECA CoO applications must be submitted via e COO and manual applications filed before that date may be processed. GSP applicants may use e CoO from 15 October 2020 while a three month transition permits physical submissions until 14 January 2021. The system issues electronic CoO copies with image signature and stamp; a DSC (Class II/III with IEC embedded) and prior registration are required.

Export controls on diagnostic kits require manufacturer authorization via DGFT ECOM, documentation, and single application per IEC.
A conditional authorization regime allows export of specified diagnostic kits only within a prescribed quota and time window; exporters (manufacturers only) must apply via DGFT's ECOM system, submit proof of manufacture, a single application per IEC, and specified self attested documents including purchase orders, IEC and an undertaking certifying domestic commitments are met. Applications will be examined under the Handbook of Procedures and granted licences will have limited validity; late or incomplete submissions will not be considered.

Cumulative application of rule 36(4) limits input tax credit claimed; excess ITC must be reversed in September GSTR-3B.
Clarifies that for February-August 2020 taxpayers must cumulatively reconcile ITC claimed in FORM GSTR-3B with supplier-uploaded invoices as per GSTR-2A up to the due date for FORM GSTR-1 for September 2020; cumulative ITC claimed must not exceed 110% of the cumulative eligible uploaded credit and any excess ITC must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of FORM GSTR-3B for September 2020, while the 110% allowance applies independently for September 2020.

Investor consent for debt restructuring: trustees must obtain specified consents before enforcing security or entering inter creditor agreements.
Prescribes Debenture Trustee(s)' obligations on default of listed debt securities: treat default at the ISIN level; send investor notice promptly with proof, including options for negative consent on enforcement and positive consent for signing an ICA; allow 15 days for consent and convene a meeting within 30 days unless default is cured; act according to majority decisions at the ISIN level; form a representative committee if needed; and sign ICA only if the resolution plan complies with applicable laws and contains exit and protection clauses, with prescribed timelines for finalisation.

Faceless assessment: operational measures to ensure timely customs clearance and strict document submission and examination protocols.
Faceless Assessment implementation is refined to ensure timely assessment and clearance of Bills of Entry by prescribing continuous working days for Faceless Assessment Groups for prompt clearance of time sensitive consignments, strict requirements for provision and linking of complete supporting documents at filing, defined circumstances in which First Check examinations are ordinarily required, and structured reassessment routes depending on timing and impact on assessment, with original Certificates of Origin to be submitted at designated facilitation centres and TSKs serving as grievance and facilitation points.

Faceless assessment grievance facilitation creates helpdesk and nodal escalation channels for urgent Bill of Entry clearance concerns.
Faceless assessment grievance facilitation is established through the Turant Suvidha Kendra, functioning as a Facilitation Helpdesk for grievances concerning clearance of Bills of Entry. Importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders may approach designated officers or use specified electronic and telephone channels. A nodal officer acts as the single escalation point for urgent Bill of Entry clearance grievances, while implementation difficulties may be raised before the responsible additional or joint commissioner.