Master Circular for Depositories consolidates SEBI rules on KYC, demat account processes, DP duties and cybersecurity safeguards.
SEBI's Master Circular for Depositories consolidates depository-related circulars up to August 31, 2023, rescinds listed prior circulars while preserving prior actions' legal effects, and organizes obligations across Beneficial Owner Accounts, Depository Participants, Issuer related and Depositories related domains. Key operative provisions include uniform KYC requirements (PAN as sole identifier and authorised Aadhaar e-KYC), simplified account opening and online closure procedures, BSDA eligibility and charges, safeguards for DIS and transmission, DP supervision and outsourcing principles, cybersecurity and IT governance, CAS generation, and coordination mechanisms for deactivation/reactivation of accounts for inadequate KYC.

Relaxation of physical dispatch requirement under SEBI Listing Regulations extends relief for listed non-convertible securities issuers.
Regulatory relaxation is granted for the requirement to dispatch hard copies of statements containing salient features of documents to holders of non-convertible securities who have not registered for electronic delivery, by relaxing Regulation 58(1)(b) of the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements up to September 30, 2024. The circular takes immediate effect and directs recognised stock exchanges to notify issuers with listed non-convertible securities and publish the circular on their websites, issued under the powers of Section 11(1) read with Regulation 101.

Additional Liquid Cargo Jetty at Jawaharlal Nehru Port notified as authorised place for unloading liquid cargo; commencement certificate required.
Notification designates the Additional Liquid Cargo Jetty at Jawaharlal Nehru Port as a place for unloading liquid cargo (108m x 50m platform, four mooring dolphins, pump house 49m x 20m) subject to the Customs Act, related rules and CBIC/Commissioner directions; Schedule I specifies the Boarding Station and the Customs Area limits with precise coordinates and operations are conditional on a Commencement Certificate.

Restriction on export of specified goods requires export under LUT; IGST-paid shipping bills with restricted items will be blocked.
Restriction under Section 16(4) of the IGST Act prohibits export of the goods listed in Notification No. 01/2023 on payment of IGST; such goods must be exported under LUT. Automated system controls at the shipping-bill level block filing or amendment and prevent IGST-refund claims where any invoice in a shipping bill includes a notified restricted item, including exports by post or courier.

Centralized investor death reporting enables KRAs to validate deaths and block account debits pending transmission procedures.
Intermediaries receiving intimation of an investor's death must obtain and verify the death certificate (online or OSV), record notifier identity, and submit a same-day KYC modification request to the KRA with supporting documents; they must block all debit transactions in the deceased's accounts while preserving allowed surviving joint-account operations. KRAs must independently validate requests, update KYC to "Blocked Permanently" or "On Hold" as appropriate, notify linked intermediaries, and coordinate resolution or rejection. Intermediaries must notify notifiers/nominees about transmission procedures and perform additional due diligence before allowing transactions on "On Hold" accounts.

Bill verification requires online GST return matching and enforcement action on detected mismatches.
Mobile Squad units must collect and upload bills/tax invoices found during vehicle inspections to the departmental Bill Module within 48 hours and forward them to the Sector Office within one week; the Sector Officer shall match uploaded bills with registered taxpayers' GST returns and mark each stored bill from 01.04.2023 as Verify or Not Verify on the MS/SIB module, and where Not Verify/mismatch occurs issue notices under the SGST Act read with CGST/IGST provisions and take enforcement action to prevent revenue loss.

Verification of market rumours requirement extended for top listed entities, deferring implementation to later specified dates.
The circular extends the effective dates of the proviso to Regulation 30(11) of the LODR Regulations, delaying mandatory verification of market rumours to February 1, 2024 for the top 100 listed entities by market capitalization and to August 1, 2024 for the top 250 listed entities, and notifies that the circular is issued under the regulator's legal powers and is available on its website.

Restriction on export of specified goods requires export under LUT and blocks IGST refund at the shipping bill level.
CBIC has implemented backend functionality to block the IGST refund route at shipping bill level for goods excluded by Notification No. 01/2023, such that goods listed (notably specified tobacco products, pan masala and certain essential oils) may be exported only under a Letter of Undertaking and any shipping bill containing an invoice with a restricted item will not be permitted for filing for IGST refund.

Mandatory additional qualifiers require CAS and IUPAC details or a supplier-confidentiality declaration for chemical shipment declarations.
Import declarations for specified chemical chapters must state the Chemical Category and provide constituent identifiers: Bulk and Basic Chemicals require CAS number and IUPAC name; Formulations and Mixtures and Proprietary/R&D/Others require at least one Main/Active ingredient's CAS number and IUPAC name (or either identifier where allowed). If supplier confidentiality prevents provision of CAS/IUPAC details, the importer must submit a self-undertaking in the bill of entry. Declared constituents will be printed as masked fields and these qualifiers supplement existing declaration requirements.

Ex-bond Shipping Bill in ICES 1.5 links warehouse BE details to ledger and permits single-warehouse warehoused exports.
ICES 1.5 adds an ex-bond Shipping Bill to permit export of warehoused goods by linking the Shipping Bill to the original warehousing Bill of Entry; filing requires warehouse code and BE particulars, the system debits exported quantities from the imported ledger and re-credits on cancellation or purging, and only one warehouse may be cited per Shipping Bill.

Ex-bond shipping bill: ICES links exports to into-bond warehousing, mandates item-wise BE linkage, updates warehouse ledger.
A new ex-bond shipping bill format in ICES 1.5 links the shipping bill to into-bond warehousing BE details via a required warehouse code and mandates item-wise entry of originating into-bond BE (site, number, date, invoice serial and item number). One warehouse code per shipping bill is permitted; identical goods warehoused under multiple into-bond BEs must be declared as separate line items. Upon verification the system debits exported quantities from the warehouse ledger and re-credits on cancellation or purging; amendments update the ledger. The format applies only to export of warehoused goods exported as such and excludes goods from section 65 operations; export incentives are not available.

Ex-bond shipping bill format in ICES enables export processing of warehoused goods but excludes incentive benefits.
ICES now provides an ex-bond shipping bill format linked to the original into-bond warehousing entry to process export clearance of goods stored in bonded warehouses, completing the warehousing ledger by recording removals for export. The ex-bond shipping bill is confined to direct export of imported warehoused goods, excluding exports of goods manufactured under section 65 (unless exported as imported), and is not eligible for export incentives, being processed as a free shipping bill; details and filing workflow are available in the referenced CBIC circular and advisory.

Liquidator fee calculation clarified; IPs must compute fees net of liquidation and CIRP costs and report adjustments.
Clarification defines Amount realised as proceeds from sale of non-liquid assets, excludes cash and readily liquid securities from realisation; specifies "other liquidation cost" as all priority liquidation costs under section 53(1)(a) except the liquidator's fee; defines "Amount distributed to stakeholders" as distributions net of CIRP and liquidation costs; requires cumulative realisations/distributions to be apportioned across prescribed slabs and then by time periods to apply slab-specific percentage rates; permits exclusion of periods for fee calculation only when expressly ordered by a court; mandates IPs to rectify, report, and return any excess fee.

Nomination compliance for mutual fund unit holders gets extended, with folio freezing timeline and reminder communications retained.
The compliance timeline for existing individual mutual fund unit holders to either provide a nomination or opt out of nomination has been extended for the purpose of freezing folios for debit transactions. Asset Management Companies and Registrar and Transfer Agents must continue sending fortnightly email and SMS communications to non-compliant unit holders, with guidance on how to complete nomination or opt out, while all other earlier provisions remain unchanged.

Nomination compliance deadlines extended as trading account nomination becomes voluntary and demat and physical holder timelines are pushed back.
Submission of choice of nomination for trading accounts has been made voluntary, while the deadline for nomination in eligible demat accounts and for submission of PAN, nomination, contact details, bank account details and specimen signature by physical security holders has been extended to December 31, 2023. Intermediaries and listed entities must implement the circular, update relevant operational frameworks where necessary, disseminate it, report implementation status and monitor compliance.

IECs with rejected PFMS accounts must re-submit details via ICEGATE and contact EDI/PFMS to enable export incentive payment.
PFMS account rejections for about 20,000 IECs are delaying disbursal of export incentives. Annexure A lists PFMS error codes with rectification steps (e.g. resubmit account details, correct IFSC/account/mobile/location codes, or escalate system issues). Annexure B lists affected IECs with error codes and RJCT status. IEC holders must re submit account details via ICEGATE, verify PFMS acceptance through ICEGATE, and coordinate with JNCH EDI Section ([email protected]) and PFMS Helpdesk ([email protected]) to enable incentive payments.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers solicits applications for valuation of second hand machinery at Customs Ahmedabad; selection includes performance reviews.
Calls for applications for empanelment of Chartered Engineers to appraise and value second-hand, old and used machinery and other machinery items imported at the Ahmedabad Customs Commissionerate pursuant to CBIC Circular No.07/2020-Customs. The panel is valid for one year and may be reviewed; preference is given to applicants with specialization and experience. Existing empaneled Chartered Engineers need not reapply. Selected engineers must submit half-yearly self-appraisal performance reports to determine continuation on the panel.

Pre-import condition under Advance Authorisation Scheme clarified: post-change imports are not treated as violations in specified scenarios.
The Notice clarifies that the pre-import condition will not be treated as violated where exports under an Advance Authorisation occurred in the specified earlier period but imports occurred thereafter; authorisations issued on or before the cut off with imports after the cut off are not subject to the pre import requirement; partial imports straddling the cut off are treated so that post cut off imports are not subject to the pre import condition; and imports made on payment of IGST and Compensation Cess are not subject to the pre import condition irrespective of import date.

Designation of Linear Alkyl Benzene as identified goods requires kilogram coding, specified documents and quality control verification.
Designation of Linear Alkyl Benzene under Rule 5 requires use of the Unique Quantity Code Kilogram in the bill of entry and submission of a Test Certificate, Manufacturer's Invoice, Purchase Order or Contract, and manufacturing process documentation; proper officers must also verify compliance with the Linear Alkyl Benzene (Quality Control) Order, 2022.

Custodianship change: successor terminal custodian remains liable for prior legal, statutory and tax obligations.
The custodianship of the coal stock yard at Kamarajar Port is transferred from M/s Chettinad International Coal Terminal Private Limited to M/s Ennore Coal Terminal Private Limited following ownership transfer; the terminal will be referred to by the new name in all Customs records. The successor custodian retains responsibility for any pre existing litigation, statutory obligations, tax disputes, show cause notices and arrears, and the change is effective immediately under CBEC guidance.