Defending revenue interests before corporate tribunals urged; empanelled counsels must represent effectively, with local counsel preferred.
Empanelment orders for Senior and Junior Standing Counsels include representation before corporate tribunals, requiring sensitization to ensure diligent defence of revenue interests; laxity may prompt critical review and recommended action by Zonal Chief Commissioners/Director Generals to the Board. Commissionerates/Directorates should, where practicable, appoint locally available counsels at tribunal bench locations to improve coordination and effective representation.

Transhipment of Bangladesh export cargo to Delhi Air Cargo allowed from 15 Feb 2023 under prescribed customs procedure.
Transhipment by road of Bangladesh export cargo from LCS Petrapole to Air Cargo Complex, Delhi is permitted from 15.02.2023 under the existing transhipment procedure: filing a Bill of Transshipment in triplicate by the shipping line/airline or authorised representative, use of ECTS seals with seal numbers recorded, submission of a Transshipment Bond equal to twice the goods' value, customs supervision for transfer and verification of seal integrity via the ECTS web application, recording of export manifest details and generation of a trip report for bond action.

SEZ conditional renewals require production, export and DTA sale undertakings before longer term approval is granted.
The Board approved extensions of formal approvals and LoAs, granted co-developer statuses subject to co-developer agreements and standard SEZ Act and Rules conditions, authorised area increases preserving contiguity, and directed Development Commissioners to enforce a conditional renewal regime for plastic recycling units requiring production during the specified 18 month period, some exports in that period, and undertakings to refrain from DTA sales until NFE/export shortfalls are verified and remedied; non compliant appeals were rejected.

Import quota restriction on pet coke imports enforced with environmental compliance and reporting requirements for licence allocation.
The notification implements judicially prescribed annual import limits for Calcined Pet Coke and Raw Pet Coke for 2023-24, requiring applicants to comply with environmental OM guidelines and to submit SPCB/PCC capacity and consent certificates specifying permitted monthly and annual quantities. Applications follow DGFT procedure with paid online submission by the deadline; unutilised prior-year quantities must be surrendered or will be deducted from future entitlements. Licences issued by DGFT Hqrs are valid only until fiscal year-end and imports must be completed and reported with consignment and bill of entry details; EFC will evaluate and allocate quota.

Pre shipment inspection agencies enlisted, equipment approved, and operational obligations set for PSIC issuance under trade policy.
Three agencies are newly included in Appendix 2G and recognised to issue Pre Shipment Inspection Certificates under Para 2.55(e) with a three year validity; annexed approved spectrometers and survey meters are specified. The notice also records additional areas of operation for four agencies and instrument additions for seven agencies, prescribes that notified PSIAs update membership and contact details within 30 days, and requires prior intimation to DGFT when inspectors are deputed to countries in an agency's area of operation as per Para 2.55(f).

Toy safety compliance: importers must verify BIS licences and record manufacturer details to ensure conformity with Indian Standards.
The Toys Quality Control Order requires imported toys and toy parts to conform to specified Indian Standards and bear the Standard Mark under a BIS licence. Customs officers must verify compliance using BIS online portals and the BIS Care app. The QCO's definition of toys covers parts, including CKD and SKD, and where other technical regulations apply those provisions govern. Importers must record manufacturer details and BIS licence information at item level in the Bill of Entry, and DG Systems will advise on data-entry procedures.

Transshipment procedure for SEZ cargo: mandatory one-time-lock sealing, Bill of Entry endorsement, and reporting of seal discrepancies.
Procedure requires sealed FCLs to be transferred to SEZ on the basis of the registered or assessed Bill of Entry after seal verification without customs escort, while other cargo may move under escort or transshipment at the SEZ importer's option; no separate transshipment bond or documents are required and transshipment permission is stamped on the fifth copy of the Bill of Entry. Sealing rules mandate durable bags or serially numbered one-time-lock customs bottle seals provided at declarant/transporter cost, with the OTL number, date/time and truck number endorsed on the Bill of Entry and discrepancies reported to the transshipment section.

NCH Laboratory Mumbai: specified sample quantities, packaging, labelling and duplicate test memos required for listed commodity testing.
NCH Laboratory Mumbai requires specified sample quantities for listed commodities and mandates that each sample be properly packed, labelled, sealed and forwarded with an individual test memo in duplicate; officers at docks and customs formations must submit samples in the exact quantities indicated, and the notice functions as a standing order with implementation issues to be reported to the Additional Commissioner in charge of Dycc/NCH Mumbai Lab.

Custodianship of port terminal assigned to private terminal operator as customs cargo service provider subject to regulatory conditions.
Nhava Sheva Free Port Terminal Private Limited is appointed as custodian of imported and export cargo at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal under powers of the Customs Act and the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, responsible for custody of berth, yard, gate complex and rail siding until delivery to CFSs or lawful transhipment and exportation. The designation as Customs Cargo Service Provider is for two years and is conditional on compliance with customs laws, transfer of environmental consent or interim operation under JNPA consent, and submission of required insurance documentation, with the Commissioner empowered to review or withdraw approval for non compliance.

AoA amendment requirement: first-time debt issuers must amend AoA within six months after listing, with an in-principle undertaking.
Regulation 23(6) requires companies issuing debt securities to provision in their Articles of Association for appointment of the person nominated by the debenture trustee. Stock exchanges may accept, at in-principle approval, an undertaking from first-time issuers to amend their AoA within six months of listing; issuers must report compliance and exchanges will monitor such amendments.

Integration of ECCS with IDPMS/EDPMS requires mandatory courier data fields and provides a transmission-status utility for corrections.
The ECCS is integrated with IDPMS/EDPMS to auto-upload validated courier CBE/CSB data daily. Mandatory fields for transmission include a valid seven-digit AD code, invoice number(s), government/non-government classification, and exporter bank account number for CSB; amount fields must be paired with corresponding currency codes (currency code required even if amount is zero; do not enter currency if amount blank). Transmission-status can be checked via an ECCS mobility utility by HAWB and courier name. Filing errors may be corrected by amending the CBE/CSB in ECCS, and unresolved issues should be referred to IDPMS/EDPMS technical support.

Appeal reassignment: administrative reallocation of pending Central Excise and Service Tax appeals to designated officers for Orders in Appeal.
Order No. 01/2023 dated 9 February 2023 reassigns appeals filed on or before 30 June 2017 under section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or section 85 of the Finance Act, 1994. Exercising powers under the Central Excise Rules, 2017, Service Tax Rules, 1994 and relevant CGST provisions, the CBIC, superseding Order No. 04/2021, reallocates specified appeal files to named Central Excise or Central Tax officers (as listed in the Annexure) for passing Orders in Appeal.

Assistance in filing Standard Input Output Norms via daily VC facility enables trade to obtain guidance and expedite SION applications.
A permanent daily video-conference facility accessible via the DGFT website allows trade members to obtain guidance for filing Advance Authorisation applications for fixation/finalization of Standard Input Output Norms (SION); each RA session is attended by an officer not below Deputy DGFT to assist in ensuring application completeness and expediting SION fixation.

e-KYC Aadhaar Authentication allowed for notified entities as sub-KUA; must register with UIDAI and enter KUA agreement.
Newly notified entities may act as sub-KUA to perform e-KYC Aadhaar Authentication in the securities market provided they enter the UIDAI-prescribed agreement with a KUA, register with UIDAI as sub-KUAs, adhere to SEBI's established Aadhaar-based KYC procedures and any further UIDAI requirements, and be onboarded by KUAs to enable Aadhaar authentication for KYC.

Perpetual securities compliance: instruments with RBI authorisation and discretionary loss absorbing features must follow Chapter V listing rules.
Instruments are subject to Chapter V only if the issuer has RBI permission, the instruments form part of non-equity regulatory capital, they are perpetual debt or perpetual non cumulative preference shares or similar, and they include issuer/RBI discretion over events such as conversion, write off, deferment/skipping of payments, early recall or change of terms. Stock exchanges and depositories must amend rules, disseminate the circular, raise stakeholder awareness and monitor compliance; the circular takes immediate effect.

Customs pass management through CBLMS now mandatory for issuance, renewal and cancellation of brokers' employee passes.
Issuance, renewal and cancellation of Customs Passes for employees of Customs Brokers must be processed exclusively through the Customs Broker Licensing Management System (CBLMS) portal. The new functionalities are live nationwide and apply to existing brokers with validated CBLMS profiles and to newly licensed brokers whose licences are issued via CBLMS. A user manual explaining the process flow will be available under the "Knowledge Centre" tab on the portal.

Import restrictions on high-risk food products to designated ports require customs implementation and trade notification for enhanced monitoring and traceability.
Import of specified high-risk food products-including milk and milk products, egg powder, meat and meat products, infant nutrition foods, and nutraceuticals/health supplements-shall be permitted only through designated points of entry listed by FSSAI. CBIC has modified its prior instruction to align with this port-specific import regime, directing customs formations to notify trade, sensitize officers, make advance arrangements for implementation, and report any difficulties to the Board. The designated port list is dynamic and will be updated periodically.

Extension of time for OBPP registration allows additional filing period for stock broker applications after MCA e filing upgrade.
SEBI permits OBPPs to submit applications for stock broker registration under the SEBI (Stock Brokers) Regulations, 1992, acknowledging Regulation 51A and the requirement that OBPPs be Indian incorporated companies; an additional three week filing period from February 09, 2023 (until March 01, 2023) is granted due to MCA e filing portal upgrade-related filing difficulties, issued under SEBI's powers in Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act and Regulation 55(1) of the Issue and Listing Regulations.

Transhipment permission expanded to include road movement to Delhi Air Cargo, allowing Bangladesh export cargo transit to third countries.
Insertion of Para 3A in Circular No. 29/2020-Customs authorises transhipment of Bangladesh export cargo by road from LCS Petrapole to the Air Cargo Complex, Delhi for onward shipment to third countries, subject to the procedure prescribed in the original Circular, effective from 15.02.2023 and until further direction from the Board.

Extension of time for MCA filing without additional fee permits delayed e-form and PAS-03 submission after system transition.
Extension of time permits filing of specified company e forms in MCA21 Version 3.0 without additional fees for an additional 15 day period to accommodate the system transition and revised user registration process. Form PAS 03, closed in the prior system and relaunched in the upgraded system, may also be filed within that 15 day window without payment of extra fees when due dates fell in the transition period.