Institutional placement pricing now based on two-week average closing prices, with limited discount subject to unitholder approval.
The circular requires institutional placement pricing to be at least the average of the weekly high and low of closing prices of the same class of units during the two weeks preceding the relevant date, allows a limited discount subject to unitholder approval through the prescribed resolution, and defines the relevant date as the date of the board meeting when the board decides to open the issue; the amendment is effective immediately under the regulator's statutory and REIT regulatory powers.

Institutional placement pricing set at recent average closing prices, allowing a limited discount with unitholder approval.
Institutional placement price shall be the average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the same class of units on the stock exchange during the two weeks preceding the relevant date; the InvIT may offer a limited discount on that price subject to unitholder approval. "Relevant date" for institutional placement is the date of the meeting when the manager's board decides to open the issue.

Import policy change for cigarette lighters: prohibition with limited free imports where CIF value meets a specified threshold.
Import policy for pocket lighters (gas fuelled, refillable and non refillable) under Chapter 96 is revised from "Free" to Prohibited, subject to a conditional allowance where the CIF valuation meets a specified per unit threshold; Customs officers are directed to implement the change and issue notices or standing orders accordingly.

Authorised officers designation under FSS Act and Import Regulation updates PoE assignments; customs instructed to sensitize officers.
Notification updates designation of Authorised Officers under Section 25 read with Section 47(5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Regulation 13(1) of the FSS (Import) Regulation, 2017 for import control of food at Points of Entry, identifying 161 PoEs and specifying which are to be manned by Customs officers as authorised officers and which by FSSAI officials, with an annexed list and direction to sensitize officers and modify the earlier instruction accordingly.

Nominee director appointment: issuers must designate a non executive or independent director as trustee nominee when nomination events occur.
SEBI mandates that issuers unable to amend their principal charter to appoint trustee-nominated directors must give an undertaking to debenture trustees that, if events under Regulation 15(1)(e) arise, a non-executive or independent director or member of the governing body will be designated as the nominee director in consultation with the debenture trustee(s). Debenture trustees must ensure and monitor compliance; the circular is effective immediately and will be incorporated into relevant operational circulars.

HS code correlation required: align Certificate of Origin tariff with Bill of Entry tariff to secure CEPA customs preference.
For Customs clearance under India Japan CEPA, the HS code shown in the Certificate of Origin (HS 2007) must be correlated with the HS code recorded in the Bill of Entry (HS 2022) at the time of clearance; Customs formations and National Assessment Centres are to implement this procedure to enable application of the CEPA tariff preference.

Export quota allocation for broken rice extended application period; mis declaration or non export risks blacklisting and FT(D&R) Act action.
Procedure for allocation of export quotas of broken rice on humanitarian and food security grounds is amended to extend the licence application deadline for certain recipient countries; mis declaration or failure to export allotted quota within the specified time will lead to blacklisting for two financial years and action under the FT (D&R) Act.

Credit rating agency regulation: comprehensive operational, disclosure and governance requirements to standardize ratings and ensure transparency.
The Master Circular consolidates procedural and operational requirements for CRAs including online registration, prior approval for change in control, transfer and surrender mechanics, and obligations during suspension or cancellation. It standardizes rating scales (including an EL scale), mandates detailed operations manuals, rating criteria, committee governance, and recordkeeping. Surveillance obligations include monthly No Default Statements and event based reviews; standardized press releases must disclose analytical approach, liquidity and rating sensitivities. Enhanced transparency requires PD benchmarks, periodic default and transition disclosures, machine readable reporting, half yearly internal audits with specified scope, and rules on conflict management, outsourcing and firewalls.

Mandatory qualifiers in import/export declarations deadline extended after industry and department requests; testing revealed data mismatches.
The Commissionerate extends the compliance timeline for the mandatory declaration of additional qualifiers in import and export declarations, deferring the previously prescribed effective date in view of trade representations, a departmental request for delay, and testing-detected mismatches in qualifier information for export products; stakeholders are directed to report implementation difficulties to the Additional Commissioner (Technical) via email.

Self Customs Pass for Importer/Exporter enables electronic application for customs passes under CBLMS, with user guidance online.
Launch of a Self Customs Pass for Importer/Exporter functionality in the CBLMS portal permits electronic application for customs passes where the importer/exporter transacts on their own account or an employee transacts generally on behalf of a person or firm, in conformity with regulation 3(b) of CBLR 2018; a user manual explaining the process flow will be made available under the CBLMS "Knowledge Centre" tab.

Quota allocation for broken rice: sea shipment minimum reduced, application window extended; importer details optional, landing certificate timeline clarified.
Allocation procedure for export of broken rice on humanitarian and food security grounds is amended: minimum sea shipment allocation threshold reduced from 8000 MT to 2000 MT; online applications up to 03/07/2023 will be considered; Landing Certificate must be submitted within 90 days of completion of export of allocated quota; importer details in the online licence application are now optional.

Upstreaming of clients' funds - late receipts frozen until next upstreaming window; FDRs limited and pre-terminable.
Clients' funds must be upstreamed to Clearing Corporations in cash, by lien on pre-terminable FDRs of tenor not exceeding one year and one day, or by pledge of mutual fund overnight scheme units. Late receipt of client funds is permitted provided those funds are frozen against debit until the next day's upstreaming window and exchanges ensure such balances remain minimal and legitimate. Existing longer-tenor FDRs created before the prior circular may be grandfathered until maturity, with renewals required to meet the revised FDR conditions.

Amnesty scheme extension: registration deadline moved to December and customs duty payment deadline moved to March.
Amendment requires any authorisation holder choosing the amnesty to complete registration as prescribed by the scheme by 31.12.2023 and to complete payment of customs duty plus interest with the jurisdictional customs authorities by 31.03.2024, with all other terms of the prior Public Notices remaining unchanged.

Mandatory additional qualifiers: implementation deadline extended to allow further testing and industry readiness measures stakeholders
The Board has extended the compliance deadline for mandatory additional qualifiers required in specified import and export declarations to permit further testing and stakeholder preparation, and it directs issuance of public notices and invites reports of implementation difficulties to the tariff unit for resolution.

Tax Collection at Source threshold restored for LRS; increased TCS rates deferred and credit card LRS inclusion postponed.
The circular restores the Rs 7 lakh per individual per financial year threshold for applicability of TCS on all LRS remittances across modes and purposes; increases in TCS rates effected by the Finance Act, 2023 are deferred to take effect from 1 October 2023, with earlier rates applying until 30 September 2023. Classification of international credit card transactions as LRS is postponed; international credit card expenditures abroad are not subject to TCS until further order. The threshold is aggregated at the remitter level (not per purpose or dealer), authorised dealers may rely on remitter undertakings for prior remittances, and LRS purpose codes determine concessional rates for education and medical remittances. The threshold for LRS and the separate threshold for overseas tour program package operate independently, and an overseas tour package requires at least two specified elements to qualify.

Faceless assessment compliance requires complete electronic documentation, accurate Bill of Entry linkage, and specific responses to assessment queries.
Faceless Assessment is to be expedited by uploading legible and properly linked supporting documents through e-Sanchit with the Bill of Entry. Importers and customs brokers should submit product, value, exemption, registration, licence, and compliance records applicable to the imported goods, use correct document codes, and answer queries specifically. Duty-exemption and preferential-duty claims require records demonstrating fulfilment of applicable conditions. The required documents vary by goods and assessment group, are non-exhaustive, and may be supplemented where necessary for assessment.

Extension of TDS/TCS filing deadlines: administrative relaxation permits later submission of first-quarter statements without immediate penalty.
The Board granted a temporal relaxation of statutory filing deadlines permitting the first-quarter TDS statements in Form No. 26Q and Form No. 27Q and the TCS statement in Form No. 27EQ to be furnished by the later date specified by the Board, thereby extending the operative compliance timetable for those specified forms.

Minimum public unitholding requirement must be achieved through prescribed methods under SEBI circular, with disclosure and exchange monitoring
InvITs having public unitholding below the required threshold must raise public unitholding to the mandated level within three years using prescribed methods such as fresh issuance, offer for sale (via offer document or secondary market), rights or bonus issues with related-party renunciation, institutional placement, capped ETF transfers, or open-market sales subject to volume and yearly limits. Sponsors and related parties must observe disclosure, timing, and non-purchase undertakings; the Investment Manager must announce details to exchanges and secure undertakings, while exchanges monitor methods and report non-compliance to SEBI.

Minimum public unitholding compliance for REITs via prescribed issuance, sale, transfer and disclosure mechanisms under securities rules.
Regulation 14(2A) mandates listed REITs to achieve a Minimum Public Unitholding within a specified period. The Manager may use prescribed mechanisms-issuance to public, offer for sale by Sponsors/Manager and related parties via offer document or secondary market, rights or bonus issues with forgoing of entitlements by Sponsors/Manager, institutional placement, conditional open market sales subject to volume and disclosure constraints, or transfers to an ETF-subject to advance announcement, undertakings, legal compliance, and stock exchange monitoring.

Disclosure of non-cooperative issuers requires CRAs to publish and daily-update two segregated public lists and report compliance.
CRAs must publish two separate public lists of non-cooperative issuers-(i) listed or proposed-to-be-listed securities and (ii) other ratings-showing issuer name, date of categorisation as non-cooperative, and a link to the issuer's press releases; these disclosures must be updated daily. The obligation is effective July 15, 2023, with CRAs required to report board-ratified compliance within one quarter and subject to half-yearly internal audit monitoring under the CRA Regulations.