Extension and conversion of external commercial borrowings allowed by authorised banks subject to lender consent and reporting.
Designated Authorised Dealer Category I banks are empowered to approve extensions of matured but unpaid External Commercial Borrowings and conversions of such borrowings into equity, provided there is no additional cost, lender consent is obtained, and reporting requirements are fulfilled; conversions must comply with existing conversion terms and, where the borrower has other banking credit, are subject to prudential restructuring guidelines and coordination or consent of other lenders.

Use of stock exchange infrastructure now permitted for RIAs to purchase and redeem mutual fund units for clients.
SEBI permits SEBI Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) to use recognised stock exchange infrastructure to purchase and redeem mutual fund units directly from Mutual Funds/Asset Management Companies on behalf of their clients, including direct plans, while other provisions of the earlier circular for distributors remain unchanged and implementation follows existing exchange, clearing and depository protocols under the regulatory authority of Section 11(1).

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation of second hand machinery; advisory certificates and importer borne service charges.
Empanelment of Chartered Engineers is sought for valuation and examination of imported and second hand machinery within the Ahmedabad customs jurisdiction; applicants must be affiliated to the Institution of Engineers, show relevant specialization and submit supporting certificates. Selected engineers will be panelled for one year, submit annual self appraisals, and produce advisory valuation reports following prescribed circular instructions after verification of goods. Importers bear service charges. Incomplete or false applications risk cancellation and penal action, and a public list of empanelled engineers will be published.

Verification of Certificates of Origin: procedural checks and custodian led specimen comparison ensure preferential tariff claims are validated.
Verification of certificates of origin under Free/Preferential Trade Agreements requires production of a prescribed Certificate of Origin and permits verification where there is doubt about genuineness of format, signature or seal, doubt about accuracy of origin or where random checks are selected based on risk factors. Specimen seals and signatures are circulated to Chief Commissioners; an online ICES repository is being developed. Each Customs House must designate a JC/ADC as custodian of specimens for on site comparison, with escalation to CBEC Director (ICD) if specimens are unavailable. Other verification requests need Commissioner approval and supporting documents.

Cargo handling compliance mandates timely container evacuation and transparent charges to reduce dwell time in customs areas.
Port terminals, CFSs, shipping lines, transporters and other Customs Cargo Service Providers must comply with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 by providing adequate infrastructure, equipment and manpower, publishing schedules of charges, making movement information available, and accepting Commissioner-specified facilities. To reduce dwell time, port terminals must ensure imported containers are removed within 24 hours of Entry Inward, issue advance arrival intimations, implement ICES gate modules, record gate-out time of vehicles, and report defaults for action under the Regulations.

Removal of mandatory warehousing requirements for export-oriented units replaced by digital records and procurement certificate regime.
Mandatory warehousing provisions for EOUs, STPIs, EHTPs and similar units have been removed, de-licensing them as warehouses while preserving the duty-exemption conditions of Notification 52/2003-Cus and the FTP. Units must maintain prescribed digital records with an audit trail of receipts, storage, processing and removals, furnish monthly transaction copies to the proper officer, and use procurement certificates and reconciliation procedures in place of re-warehousing certificates and bond-to-bond movements for inter-unit transfers.

Self-assessment of Anti Dumping Duty requires importers and CHAs to declare leviability; non-declaration invites penal consequences.
Importers and Customs House Agents must correctly declare the leviability of Anti-Dumping Duty when filing Bills of Entry under the self-assessment regime; incorrect or omitted declaration discovered during examination or audit will attract penal action under the Customs Act and related provisions.

Risk-based selectivity: low-risk consignments exempted from participating agency NOCs under Single Window, subject to RMS instructions.
The Single Window's Risk Management System applies risk-based selectivity for PGA involvement: low-risk consignments will have PGA NOCs waived with a system prompt on the Bill of Entry, and manual referrals in such cases require Assistant/Deputy Commissioner approval. The RMS will issue on-screen instructions for documentary checks, inspections, and sample drawal per PGA-delegated authority. Importers and brokers must accurately declare product details and intended end-use to enable correct automated processing.

Prosecution timing: offences involving Gold and other restricted items may prompt immediate proceedings after show cause notice.
The guidance provides that, while prosecution normally follows completion of adjudication proceedings, offences involving Gold, foreign exchange notes (FEN), arms, ammunitions and explosives, antiques, art treasures, wildlife items and endangered species of flora and fauna may preferably attract prosecution immediately after issuance of a show cause notice.

GST compensation base set to include ITC reversals; CST at 2% and projected growth rate fixed at 14%.
The Council fixed components and formulas for GST compensation: include ITC reversals and specified devolved receipts in the 2015-16 revenue base; count State-granted tax exemptions subsumed in GST for eleven Special Category States; calculate CST at 2% for the base year; and adopt a fixed projected growth rate of 14% for the five-year compensation period. The Council presented a provisional four-slab rate structure (6%, 12%, 18%, 26%) and discussed funding compensation by a dedicated cess, but deferred final decisions on compensation mechanism and rate bands for further officer-level examination.

Risk based selection for PGA clearances requires modified RMS and enhanced plant quarantine declaration requirements.
Risk based selection for NOC processing by RMS applies to consignments involving Participating Government Agencies and NOC or waiver status will be printed on the first/out-of-charge copy. For Plant Quarantine, the PLC qualifier must include Info_code plus the prescribed Unit Quantity Code; an inspection date must be provided in the Control Table with the specified control type and result codes, user values in control location, control start date as inspection date, and invoice and item numbers set to zero.

Self-assessment obligation: importers must declare anti-dumping duty liability on online bills of entry or face penal action.
Importers and CHAs must, under the self-assessment regime, correctly declare the leviability of Anti Dumping Duty in online Bills of Entry; failure to declare or pay applicable ADD detected during examination or audit will attract severe penal action, and any implementation difficulties should be reported to the Commissioner.

Authorized Economic Operator programme expanded into a three tier facilitation scheme offering entry, payment and procedural benefits for compliant traders.
Consolidation of ACP and AEO into a three tier AEO programme expands facilitation-including Direct Port Delivery/Entry, deferred duty payment, paperless declarations, acceptance of self certified origin documents, expedited refunds and drawback, and recognition of partner agencies-while broadening eligibility to entities handling 25 annual documents and prescribing migration of existing ACP/AEO holders to specified AEO tiers subject to compliance and application to the AEO Programme Manager.

Simultaneous issuance of Zero Duty EPCG and SHIS now governed by a public notice and amended customs notifications.
Concurrent availment of Zero Duty EPCG and Served From India Scheme (SHIS) under FTP 2009-14 was found inconsistent with policy wording; inter-departmental consultations resulted in a Public Notice directing that pending issues of simultaneous issuance or availing of Zero Duty EPCG/Post Export EPCG and SHIS be decided in terms of that Public Notice. Customs has amended notifications to remove overlapping prohibitions for the subsequent FTP period; stakeholders may report implementation difficulties to the customs office.

Standing counsel engagement rules clarified: drafting and filing bills amended and dispute resolution makes regional fee determination final.
Modifications revise CBDT standing counsel guidelines: require recording diary and ITA numbers for appeals and other petitions; change wording from "For Drafting" and "Bills for drafting" to "For Drafting and Filing" and require bills for drafting and filing of appeals only after defects are removed and ITA number is available; amend proforma fields and academic-record marking; add a Dispute Resolution clause making the Principal Chief Commissioner's regional fee determination final and binding.

Extension of filing deadline: due date for income-tax returns and audit reports in Jammu & Kashmir extended to a later final date.
The tax authority extended the due date for filing income-tax returns and statutory reports of audit for all categories of taxpayers in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, responding to difficulties in meeting the original deadline and providing statewide procedural relief by prescribing a revised final submission date for the relevant assessment period.

Failure to remit TDS/TCS: risk based prosecution selection with mandatory processing, section 278AA consideration, and compounding priority.
Selection for prosecution of failures to remit TDS/TCS will follow a risk based approach reflecting deductor compliance behaviour; DGIT(Systems) will generate periodic lists of defaulters for processing by the TDS/TCS jurisdictional officer. Processing is mandatory in the sense of formal consideration but does not mandate filing; the CIT concerned must apply mind to facts. CIT(TDS) may also select cases from surveys, grievances or searches; defaults for other years may be included. Reasonable cause considerations must be weighed and compounding applications handled on priority.

Fee adjustment for delayed furnishing of certified judgments reduces prosecutor payment when certified copy is supplied late.
Modification to CBDT Instruction No. 6/2016 updates Part B of Proforma 'P4' for Special Public Prosecutor billing by adding entries for Date of Judgment and Date of furnishing the certified copy, and prescribes a deduction from hearing fees where the certified copy is furnished to the Department more than ten days after the judgment (court time excluded). Existing billing heads such as substantial and non effective hearings, conference fees, clerkage, out of pocket expenses and duties outside headquarters remain.

Disposal of confiscated goods: cooperatives may buy eligible lots at a uniform rebate; higher value lots go to e auction without discounts.
Disposal of confiscated goods distinguishes between sale through Army Canteen/CSD, cooperative purchases at a uniform rebate subject to eligibility, verification, direct sale to bonafide consumers and first come first served allocation with departmental scrutiny, and sale of higher value or other goods exclusively by e auction/auction cum tender where no discount is allowed and centralized electronic auction platforms and prior procedural safeguards remain in force.

Single Window risk-based selectivity: PGA NOC waived for low-risk consignments, with procedural exception and reporting requirements.
Single Window integration places PGAs on EDI and applies risk based selectivity so low-risk consignments receive an automatic NOC waiver on the Bill of Entry and need no manual PGA reference; exceptions require Commissioner approval and weekly reporting of referred cases to the Commissioner (Single Window), while importers and brokers must accurately declare end-use and product details in the integrated declaration.