Mandatory e-filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin extended; agencies must onboard by deadline or face de-notification.
The DGFT extended the deadline for mandatory electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin via the Common Digital Platform to 31st October 2021 while allowing manual submissions until then. Issuing agencies must complete onboarding onto the platform by the deadline or face de-notification; a revised notified list of onboarded agencies will be published thereafter.

Transmission of securities to surviving joint holders: RTAs must effect transfer under company law unless articles provide otherwise.
Registrars to an issue and share transfer agents must transmit securities to surviving joint holder(s) in accordance with clause 23 of Table F and section 56(2) and 56(4)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013; RTAs should not withhold transmission due to counterclaims by legal representatives of a deceased holder, except where the company's Articles of Association provide otherwise, and must act to protect investor interests consistent with listing obligations.

Reorganisation of SEZ entities requires continued operation, unchanged liabilities, and compliance with tax and regulatory reporting.
Reorganisations of SEZ developers, co developers and units - including name change, shareholding change, business transfers, court approved mergers/demergers, constitution or director changes - may be approved by the Unit Approval Committee only if the entity remains in the SEZ as a going concern and all liabilities remain unchanged. Such reorganisations must ensure continuity of SEZ activities, satisfy eligibility and security clearance requirements, comply with revenue and company/securities laws, furnish full financial details and PAN/jurisdictional assessing officer information to tax authorities, and remain subject to tax assessment of gains or losses arising from the transactions.

Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) authorization: three agencies added to Appendix enabling issuance under FTP administration
Director General of Foreign Trade authorizes three named agencies to issue Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential), adding Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs, Urban Exim Care Association and Federation of Industries & Associations to Appendix 2E of the Foreign Trade Policy, thereby expanding the list of bodies permitted to sign and issue non-preferential Certificates of Origin under the policy framework.

Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) issuance moved to all India jurisdiction; electronic filing via Common Digital Platform required.
Agencies enlisted under Appendix 2E are authorized to issue Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) on an all India jurisdiction basis; new enlistments will likewise cover all India and branch office enlistments need not be filed separately. Enlisted agencies must complete mandatory electronic onboarding on the Common Digital Platform for issuance of electronic CoO (NP), and applications for CoO (NP) may be made by registered/head/branch offices or factories to any Appendix 2E agency.

SCORES authentication: online credential issuance for companies seeking securities listing, requiring a compliance officer declaration.
An online mechanism is introduced for issuance of SCORES authentication to companies intending to list securities; applicants must complete the SCORES online form and attach a Compliance Officer/Dealing Officer declaration (DRHP submission for Main Board or listing application/in principle approval for SME/Debt platform). Credentials will be sent to the e mail of the Compliance/Dealing Officer; physical Form A submission is no longer required. An instruction document accompanies the form to guide companies.

Revised reporting formats require issuers of listed nonconvertible securities to use specified audit and limited review templates and file quarterly results.
The circular mandates adoption of standardised limited review and audit report formats for issuers of listed nonconvertible securities pursuant to amendments requiring quarterly financial results including balance sheet and cash flow disclosures; it provides six annexed templates for various entity types (including separate templates for banks, NBFCs, and consolidated results), makes the revision effective immediately, supersedes prior circulars for such issuers, and requires stock exchanges to notify and disseminate the formats.

Tariff Rate Quota allocation enables preferential sugar exports to the USA, subject to certification and reporting conditions.
Allocation designates 8,424 metric tonnes of raw and refined sugar to the USA under a Tariff Rate Quota for 1 October 2021-30 September 2022; exports under the TRQ are classified as Free subject to the notified Nature of Restrictions. Certificate of Origin for preferential export shall be issued by the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Mumbai, and prescribed reporting and other country specific certification obligations continue to apply.

GST classification: clarified applicable tax rates and exemptions for cloud kitchens, ice-cream outlets, coaching, launches, tolls, and rentals.
Cooking and supply of food by cloud/central kitchens constitute restaurant service and attract the concessional rate without input tax credit; sales of pre-manufactured ice-cream by parlors are supplies of goods and taxed at the rate applicable to such goods. Government-funded coaching under the scholarships scheme is exempt. Satellite launch services to foreign customers qualify as export of service and are zero-rated. Overloading fees at toll plazas are treated as toll charges. "Giving on hire" includes renting to State Transport Undertakings and local authorities for exemption. Grant of mineral exploration and mining rights is classifiable as licensing services for use of minerals and was taxable at the standard residuary rate for the disputed earlier period. Admission rates to amusement facilities depend on access to casinos/race clubs; job work for alcoholic beverages is excluded from the reduced food job-work rate and attracts the standard rate.

GST classification clarifications define rate treatment for agricultural goods, medical products, petroleum transfers, renewable projects, and fibre drums.
GST treatment is clarified for goods whose classification or applicable rate was disputed. Fresh fruits and nuts are exempt only if neither frozen, dried, nor otherwise processed; copra, pure henna products, brewing and distilling residues, specified pharmaceutical goods, and laboratory reagents receive the respective stated classifications and rates. Original essentiality certificates may support eligible inter-State petroleum stock transfers within the same company, subject to record-based nexus. Separately identifiable UPS or inverter units and external batteries are distinct supplies. Renewable-energy projects may apply the prescribed goods-services valuation mechanism to the stated earlier period, subject to no-refund limits.

Refund of wrongfully paid tax clarified: claimable when correct tax is paid and filed within the prescribed limitation period.
Clarifies that "subsequently held" covers both taxpayer-initiated and authority-initiated reclassification of supplies; refund is available if the taxpayer pays tax under the correct head and files the refund within the limitation period prescribed by the amended rule, with temporally prior correct payments governed from the amendment's effective date; refunds are not available where liability has been adjusted by issuance of a credit note.

Export of services: supplies by Indian incorporated affiliates to foreign parent can qualify as exports if statutory conditions are met.
Clause (v) of section 2(6) of the IGST Act excludes supplies that are between establishments of the same person as per Explanation 1 to section 8; Explanation 2 treats branches/agencies as establishments; and the definitions of "person," "company" and "foreign company" establish that an entity incorporated in India and a body corporate incorporated outside India are separate persons. Therefore, supplies by an Indian incorporated subsidiary or related company to establishments of its foreign parent are not supplies between merely establishments of a distinct person and may qualify as export of services, subject to fulfillment of the other conditions in section 2(6).

Input tax credit timing: date of debit note, not underlying invoice, determines financial year for ITC availment under amended law.
The circular clarifies that for input tax credit timing the date of the debit note, not the underlying invoice, determines the relevant financial year; the amended rule applies to ITC availment on debit notes from the amendment's operative date forward while prior availments remain governed by the earlier provision. It also confirms that an electronically produced QR code with the Invoice Reference Number suffices instead of a physical invoice for verification, and that the refund prohibition tied to goods "subjected to export duty" applies only where export duty is actually payable at export, excluding goods with NIL or exempt export duty.

Intermediary services require a distinct facilitation role, not performance of the main supply on one's own account.
Intermediary services under GST require three parties, a main supply between two principals, and a distinct ancillary service of arranging or facilitating that supply. The intermediary must act in a supportive broker- or agent-like capacity and cannot itself supply the relevant goods, services or securities on a principal-to-principal basis. A subcontractor performing the substantive outsourced service on its own account is not an intermediary, even when dealing with the principal supplier's customer. The special place-of-supply rule applies only where either supplier or recipient is located outside India.

Faceless customs assessment reforms accelerate import clearance through higher facilitation, specialised assessment groups, automated examination orders and anonymised escalation.
Faceless customs assessment is expedited through a higher Risk Management System facilitation level, uniform FAG working hours, a first-decision timeline for Bills of Entry, limited and clearly framed assessment queries, and commodity-based FAG specialisation. Direct Port Delivery is extended to fully facilitated advance Bills of Entry, subject to port, terminal and custodian delivery requirements. Uniform Risk Management System-generated examination orders and First Check routing are introduced. An anonymised ICEGATE escalation mechanism permits importers and Customs Brokers to seek expeditious clearance of Bills of Entry delayed in assessment or examination.

Intermediary services under GST require three parties, a facilitative role, and no principal-to-principal supply.
Clarification under the GST framework explains the scope of intermediary services and aligns the definition with the pre-GST service tax position, with the added reference to supply of securities. The circular states that intermediary activity requires a minimum of three parties, namely two principals to the main supply and one person arranging or facilitating that supply, and that an activity between only two parties cannot be treated as intermediary service. It further emphasizes that the intermediary performs a supportive role and does not supply the main supply on its own account.

Export of services: supplies by Indian incorporated affiliates to their foreign group companies may qualify as export if conditions met.
Supplies between a branch, agency or representational office and another establishment of the same person are treated as inter establishment supplies and excluded from export treatment under condition (v). However, an Indian company incorporated under domestic law and a foreign company incorporated outside India are separate persons; therefore supplies by an Indian subsidiary or related group company to its foreign related company incorporated abroad are not barred by condition (v) and may qualify as export of services, subject to other export conditions including place of supply and receipt in convertible foreign exchange.

Time bound issuance of show cause notices required to protect statutory limitation periods and ensure timely GST adjudication.
The circular directs time bound issuance of show cause notices and strict supervisory monitoring to protect limitation periods under Section 73 and Section 74 of the CGST/UPSGST Act, 2017. It notes few SCNs were issued in detected GST evasion and fraudulent ITC cases for relevant financial years, observes that annual return filing deadlines have elapsed thereby starting statutory limitation clocks, and requires officers to complete investigations promptly, issue SCNs well before limitation cutoffs, prepare action plans to avoid investigations lingering beyond one year, and ensure timely adjudication.

GST classification clarifies rates and exemptions for food delivery, mining rights, amusement admissions, vehicle rentals, and contract manufacturing.
Cloud kitchens and central kitchens supplying cooked food through takeaway or delivery are treated as restaurant services and attract GST at 5% without input tax credit, while pre-manufactured ice cream sold by parlors is a supply of goods taxable at 18%. Government-funded coaching under the Scholarships for Students with Disabilities scheme is exempt where the full expenditure is borne by Government. Renting eligible passenger vehicles to State Transport Undertakings or Local Authorities is covered by the exemption for giving vehicles on hire. Mining rights, specified amusement admissions, and job work relating to alcoholic liquor are subject to the clarified applicable GST treatment.

GST classification clarifications prescribe treatment for food products, reagents, petroleum transfers, bundled batteries, renewable projects and fibre drums.
GST classification clarifications distinguish fresh fruits and nuts from dried or processed products, classify tamarind seeds according to sowing use, and treat copra separately from coconut. They prescribe rates for pure henna, sweet supari, flavoured illaichi, brewing and distilling residues, pharmaceutical goods, and laboratory reagents. Separate pricing of a UPS or inverter and external battery results in distinct supplies. The circular also addresses essentiality certificates for petroleum-operation stock transfers, deemed valuation for specified renewable energy projects, and the treatment of fibre drums during periods of rate ambiguity.