Refund of excess electronic cash ledger balance exempt from time limit; TDS/TCS credits refundable and deemed export refunds follow supplier's return date.
Refunds of unutilised electronic cash ledger balances are exempt from the time limit in section 54(1) and do not require Rule 89(2)(l)/(m) certifications because unjust enrichment does not apply. TDS/TCS credited to the electronic cash ledger is equivalent to cash and may be used via credit or cash ledger; any unutilised amount after payment of dues is refundable per the proviso to section 54(1) read with section 49(6). For deemed exports, the relevant date for refund is the date the supplier's return relating to those deemed exports is furnished under Explanation (2)(b) to section 54.

Extension of revocation application period delegated to Special Commissioner to allow further limited filing time under section 30.
Authority is delegated to the Special Commissioner of State Tax to extend the sixty-day period for applying for revocation of cancellation of registration under the proviso to section 30(1) for a further period not exceeding thirty days, exercisable only within the delegate's jurisdiction; the order is effective immediately.

Lifetime validity endorsement for customs brokers' licences enabled; brokers may submit licences for endorsement subject to revocation provisions.
Amendment to Regulation 9 allows licences issued under Customs House Agents and Customs Brokers licensing rules to receive a Lifetime Validity endorsement, subject to existing revocation provisions; operational brokers meeting the prescribed conditions may submit licence copies to the designated commissionerate for endorsement.

Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) applications must be submitted through the e TRQ online system with specified portal guidance.
All import Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) applications for FY2022-23 must be submitted online via the DGFT e-Tariff Rate Quota (e-TRQ) system (DGFT Website Services Import Management System Apply for TRQ); TRQ applications must not be submitted as licences for restricted imports. Applicants should follow Annexures I-III of Appendix 2A of the Handbook of Procedures and may use the Help Manual, FAQs, DGFT Helpdesk ticketing, toll-free number, or email for assistance.

Special Situation Funds: new AIF rules set corpus, investor eligibility, stressed loan conditions and due diligence obligations.
Special Situation Funds as a Category I AIF sub-category require a prescribed minimum corpus and tiered minimum investor commitments, include a carve out for internal employees and directors, and must meet Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code eligibility when acting as resolution applicants. SSF may acquire stressed loans only after inclusion in the RBI Annex, subject to a general lock in except upon borrower recovery, and must apply investor due diligence standards equivalent to those for Asset Reconstruction Company investors.

SEZ approvals and co-developer authorisations extended and conditionally granted, with lapsed LoAs rejected and cancellations ordered.
Board of Approval administered SEZ governance by ratifying prior minutes, granting conditional extensions of formal approvals and LoAs, rejecting an expired LoA under Rule 19(5) of the SEZ Rules, 2006, directing Development Commissioners to list and action long-lapsed LoAs, approving multiple co-developer statuses subject to standard SEZ Act and Rules terms and DoC Instruction No. 98 lease-period compliance, cancelling certain co-developer approvals with revenue and indemnity safeguards, and declining a job-work permission due to binding quantitative import restrictions.

Dematerialization requirement: securities issued on investor service requests must be demat only; unclaimed shares moved to suspense escrow account.
Listed companies must issue securities in dematerialized form for specified investor service requests (duplicate certificates; unclaimed suspense claims; renewal/exchange; endorsement; sub-division/splitting; consolidation; transmission; transposition). Holders submit Form ISR-4; RTAs/issuers verify requests and issue a Letter of Confirmation in lieu of physical certificates, which the holder must use to request dematerialization via a DP within the letter's validity. Absent demat request, securities are credited to the company's Suspense Escrow Demat Account.

License validity under amended CBLR confirmed as continuing unless revoked under specified revocation provisions.
Amendment to the Customs Brokers Licensing framework establishes that a licence issued under prior and current Customs Brokers/Customs House Agents licensing regulations remains valid unless and until revoked in terms of the specified revocation provisions. The Board's Notification amends Regulation 9 to make continuity of existing licences the default position, subject to revocation under the procedural grounds set out in the cited revocation provisions.

Mandatory electronic filing extended for non-preferential Certificates of Origin; agencies must onboard or face de notification.
The transition period for mandatory submission of Non-Preferential Certificates of Origin via the e-CoO electronic filing platform is extended to 31 March 2022, with manual/paper systems permitted only until that date. Issuing agencies listed under Appendix-2E must complete onboarding by 31 March 2022 or be de-notified. Exporters and agencies are urged to familiarise themselves with the platform and its enhancements; technical or procedural assistance is available through the CoO Helpdesk and a designated DGFT contact, and guidance materials are on the e-CoO landing page.

Territorial jurisdiction assignment for GST business audits assigned to State Tax Business Audit officers across Rajasthan zones.
The order designates Joint Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners of State Tax in the Business Audit Wing and Business Audit Circles as having territorial jurisdiction to audit registered persons under the Rajasthan GST Act, allocating responsibility for the whole State and for each notified Zone, with zone areas defined by a prior notification and the assignment taking effect from the stated commencement date.

Container scanning compliance: automated selection mandates on site MXCS scanning and 100% examination for suspicious images before release.
A Mobile X Ray Container Scanner at New Mangalore Port Trust is operational and scans import containers selected automatically by the Container Selection Module/RMS. Selected containers must be presented at MXCS and verified against EIR/pick up tickets; post scan endorsements-"SCANNED CLEAN", "SCANNED SUSPICIOUS" or "NOT SCANNED DUE TO ODC"-determine subsequent handling. Containers marked suspicious require 100% examination under Docks supervision before Out of Charge is permitted; failure to present or unauthorized removal attracts penalties under the Customs Act and HCCAR, 2009. Weekly monitoring and reporting and a five day presentation target are mandated.

Steel Import Monitoring System registration not required for re imports for packaging and SEZ round trip imports.
Re imports of steel solely for packaging are excluded from SIMS because they are not primarily for value addition. Exports from DTA to SEZ and subsequent imports back into DTA do not require SIMS registration, whether returned without value addition or after value addition.

GST rate revision for works contracts supplied to governmental authorities and entities withdraws prior reduced treatment and exemption.
Amendments to Kerala GST notifications remove Governmental Authority and Government Entity from concessional and exempt entries for specified works contract and related services, resulting in withdrawal of the previously reduced rate and exemption for supplies to those bodies. Definitions of Governmental Authority and Government Entity are reproduced, and the amendments apply from the notified commencement date so that supplies completed on or after that date are chargeable at the revised rate without the prior conditional provisos for Government Entities.

Self-assessed tax recovery demands prior notice before section 79 action when GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B mismatch.
Recovery under section 79 applies to unpaid self-assessed tax and interest where tax declared in GSTR-1 is not paid, wholly or partly, through GSTR-3B, including outward supply tax covered by the explanation to section 75(12). The proper officer should first issue a communication requiring payment or an explanation within a reasonable time. If the mismatch is satisfactorily justified or the amount is paid, recovery action need not be initiated.

E commerce operator GST liability: e commerce operators must pay GST on restaurant services supplied through their platforms, not collect TCS.
E commerce operators are liable to pay GST in cash on restaurant services supplied through their platforms, and will not be required to collect TCS for those services; this liability applies even where the supplier is unregistered. ECOs need not obtain a separate registration to discharge this liability, must include such supplies in the supplier's aggregate turnover, are not recipients for reverse charge purposes, may continue to avail input tax credit but cannot use ITC to pay the GST on restaurant services, and should issue/report invoices and returns in the specified GSTR tables for accounting.

Arrears recovery: mandatory Tax Recovery Cells and time-bound enforcement, attachment and write-off procedures to secure overdue indirect taxes.
The Circular prescribes a consolidated framework for management of confirmed indirect tax and customs arrears, classifying arrears by litigation status and recoverability, mandating a dedicated Tax Recovery Cell in each Commissionerate, and detailing recovery remedies including appropriation of monies, attachment and sale of goods and property, garnishee proceedings, enforcement of bank guarantees, and recovery from successors. It requires proactive tracing of defaulters using departmental records, financial and registry databases, engagement with insolvency and recovery fora (IRP/NCLT/DRT/Official Liquidator), and imposes time-bound recovery actions and prescribed write-off procedures via committees and delegated authorities.

Preferential origin procedure under CAROTAR now governs AEO bank-guarantee dispensations for duty preference claims.
The CAROTAR, 2020 regime and the statutory procedure for claiming preferential rates of duty prevail over specified bank-guarantee dispensations in Circular No. 33/2016 and Circular No. 54/2020; those circular provisions are to be aligned so that competent-authority directions to furnish bank guarantees for provisional release remain unaffected and AEO relaxations are read subject to the origin-claim procedure.

ULIP exemption rule limits tax-exempt proceeds where annual or aggregate premiums exceed the prescribed threshold.
The Finance Act, 2021 added provisos to clause (10D) of section 10 restricting exemption for sums from ULIPs issued on or after 01.02.2021 where the annual premium for any year, or the aggregate premium across multiple eligible ULIPs (including previously exempt "old ULIPs" where claimed), exceeds a prescribed threshold; death proceeds remain exempt. The Board's guidelines explain operational rules for testing single and multiple ULIPs against the aggregate premium constraint and illustrate application by examples covering pre- and post-amendment policies, surrender and maturity receipts, and taxpayer selection of policies for exemption.

Area of Operation inclusion expands a PSIA's operational scope by adding an additional country to its authorised jurisdictions.
The Directorate exercised delegated policy powers to include the United States of America in the Area of Operation of M/s Hamilton Steel Logistics Inc, a registered PSIA, thereby adding a United States branch address to the firm's operational jurisdictions and amending the relevant trade appendix with immediate effect.

Retention of ISO containers: extension for re-export and IGST lease clarification to ease medical oxygen logistics.
The Board permits extension of time for re-export of ISO containers imported temporarily for transportation of Liquid Medical Oxygen upon importer request, and clarifies that for ISO containers imported on lease with IGST paid on lease amounts under CGST law, IGST on container value is not required and re-export need not occur while containers remain under valid lease.