Acceptance of Electronic Certificate of Origin under India Korea CEPA permitted when issued in prescribed e CoO format with e Sanchit upload.
Electronic Certificates of Origin issued by Korea are acceptable under India Korea CEPA if issued in the prescribed e CoO format with required particulars including a QR code and compliance with notification No. 187/2009 Customs (N.T.) and amendments; they carry the same legitimacy as manual originals. Importers must upload the e CoO to e Sanchit and enter e CoO particulars in the bill of entry. ICES will verify e CoO data against exporting country Customs, prevent multiple use, and auto debit certificate quantities, removing the need for physical defacement.

Dedicated fund manager optional for commodity and overseas mutual fund schemes, subject to expertise and board oversight.
Appointment of a dedicated fund manager for commodity-based mutual funds and for schemes making specified overseas investments is optional; appointed fund managers must have adequate expertise and experience to manage commodities or overseas securities respectively, and the AMC Board is responsible for ensuring compliance and periodic reporting to trustees.

Nomination requirement for jointly held mutual fund folios made optional under the revised compliance framework.
The nomination requirement for mutual fund unit holders is made optional for jointly held mutual fund folios. The circular departs from the earlier requirement that existing individual unit holders, whether holding units solely or jointly, had to either submit nomination details or opt out of nomination by the prescribed deadline, failing which the folios could be frozen for debits. All other nomination-related requirements remain unchanged.

Air-cargo transshipment permission renews carrier responsibility for cargo shortages, bonded movement, customs compliance and delivery at notified domestic airports.
Import and export air-cargo transshipment permission is renewed for SpiceJet Limited to carry cargo handled by AAICLAS from the Air Cargo Complex, Kolkata, to other customs-notified Indian airports on its domestic flights. The carrier must maintain transshipment bonds and bank guarantees, remains liable for cargo shortages or pilferage, and must meet the resulting duty, levy, value, interest, penalty and cess obligations as applicable. The permission is subject to the customs transit framework, cargo-handling regulations, relevant circulars, local procedures and the Foreign Trade Policy, and may be renewed or withdrawn based on compliance.

Relaxation in intimation requirement allows direct filing of specified PPM changes with SEBI and exempts LVFs with CEO undertaking.
SEBI permits specified changes to AIF Private Placement Memoranda to be filed directly with SEBI rather than through a merchant banker, enumerating eligible PPM sections and routine updates in Annexure A. Large Value Funds for Accredited Investors are exempted from the merchant banker requirement but must file changes with a CEO and Compliance Officer undertaking in the Annexure B format, confirming due diligence, regulatory compliance, and adequacy of disclosures.

Import quantity correction: Filter Aid entry in SION E-124 amended, updating the previously stated import quantity for the export item.
Corrigendum corrects the import quantity for Filter Aid at S. No. 6 linked to SION E-124 (Refined Sunflower Oil, Edible Grade) in Public Notice No.01/2024 dated 9 April 2024, invoking powers under Paragraph 1.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, and replacing the previously published import quantity with the corrected figure.

Encumbrance on equity enabling investee debt: allows certain AIFs to encumber equity to facilitate infrastructure project borrowing.
Category I and Category II AIFs may encumber equity holdings in investee companies only to facilitate borrowing by those investee companies for development, operation or management of infrastructure projects listed in the Harmonised Master List. Permission is conditional on explicit PPM disclosure for new schemes, continuity rules tied to prior disclosure and investor consent, restrictions that borrowings be used solely for the stated infrastructure purposes, encumbrance duration not exceeding scheme residual tenure, prohibition on encumbering foreign investees, exclusion of guarantees, compliance with foreign investment norms where applicable, and adherence to implementation and compliance reporting standards.

Dissolution period flexibility for alternative investment funds allows in specie distribution or extended liquidation subject to investor consent.
AIFs may enter a defined dissolution period or distribute unliquidated investments in specie subject to at least seventy five percent investor consent by value and specified procedures. Before consent, the manager must arrange bids aggregating at least twenty five percent of the consolidated value of unliquidated investments and disclose tenure, investment details and indicative bid ranges with valuations by two independent valuers. If the minimum bid threshold is met, dissenting investors may exit from the bid; if not met the AIF may still seek 75% investor consent to enter dissolution. Valuation for benchmarking is the bid value if the threshold is met or one rupee if not, manager performance is reported separately, and remaining unsold assets are mandatorily distributed in specie at dissolution end.

Bill of Entry amendment procedure: online filing with e Sanchit evidence; approvals may be automated or officer based.
Amendments to Bills of Entry must be filed online via the Common Portal or Service Centre with supporting documents uploaded in e Sanchit. Amendments are either auto approved-limited to additions like Bill of Lading details processed automatically under Section 149-or require officer approval for deletions, modifications, or other changes; processing routes depend on whether the amendment is before assessment, after assessment but before Out of Charge, or after Out of Charge, and whether the amendment affects assessment.

FPI debt investment limits maintained, sub-category allocations fixed and CDS sales capped relative to corporate bond stock.
FPI holdings in debt for 2024-25 retain ceilings of 6% for government securities, 2% for state government securities and 15% for corporate bonds, with investments in specified securities reckoned under the Fully Accessible Route. G sec incremental allocations remain 50:50 between General and Long term; SGS increases are added to the General sub category. Revised absolute ceilings are set for the two half year periods of 2024-25. The aggregate notional amount of Credit Default Swaps sold by FPIs is capped at 5% of outstanding corporate bond stock, with an additional notional limit specified for 2024-25.

Drawback non-applicability for EOU/SEZ sourced goods requires exporters' self-declaration uploaded on e Sanchit to avoid queries.
Notification states that drawback rates do not apply to exports manufactured or exported by hundred per cent Export Oriented Units or by units in Free Trade Zones, Export Processing Zones, or Special Economic Zones, and instructs exporters to upload a signed self-declaration (Self-Declaration on Customs Cases, Code 022CO1) on e-Sanchit with shipping bills certifying non-manufacture/non-export by such excluded units to reduce queries and physical visits.

Extension of filing deadline for registration forms safeguards electronic submissions and validates pending nonprofit applications.
The Board, under section 119, extends the due date for filing Form No. 10A and Form No. 10AB electronically to 30.06.2024. Pending applications in Form No. 10AB filed before this Circular where no order has been passed may be treated as valid. Applicants whose Form No. 10AB was rejected solely for late filing or wrong section code may file a fresh application within the extended period. Trusts that received provisional Form No. 10AC after failing to file Form No. 10A may surrender that provisional registration and apply as existing trusts in Form No. 10A within the extended time.

Fit and Proper disclosures on contract notes shifted to regulatory reference URLs, enabling streamlined compliance and bylaw amendments.
SEBI removes the requirement to publish the full text of Regulation 19 on contract notes; in post listing cases, contract notes may instead include a reference to the applicable fit and proper provisions by providing a URL/weblink to Regulation 19 and 20. Stock exchanges must amend bye laws, notify members, disseminate the change on their websites, and report implementation in their Monthly Development Report.

Treatment of statutory dues under insolvency: reduced GST liabilities must be intimated and recovery limited to the adjusted amount.
Where insolvency adjudications reduce statutory government dues, those dues are treated as operational debt and the reduction qualifies as "other proceedings" under section 84 of the TNGST Act; the Commissioner must intimate the reduction to the taxable person and the authority handling recovery and may continue recovery only for the reduced amount, issuing the intimation in FORM GST DRC-25 when a confirmed demand and summary exist.

Unauthorised forex trading: banks must vigilantly report facilitating accounts and direct customers to authorised channels.
AD Cat I banks must exercise heightened vigilance to prevent misuse of banking channels for unauthorised forex trading, report accounts facilitating such trading to the Directorate of Enforcement, and publicise that residents should transact only with Authorised Persons and on authorised ETPs, while referring customers to the RBI's authorised lists and Alert List.

Cross margin extension allows offsetting positions with different expiries under revised spread margins and exchange monitoring.
Extension of cross margin to offsetting derivative positions with differing expiry dates modifies spread margin rates for correlated index-index and index-constituent positions; higher spread margins apply when expiries differ while existing lower margins remain for same-expiry positions. Qualification for index-constituent cross margin requires that all constituent futures share a common expiry. The reduced spread margin is revoked at the start of the earlier-expiring leg when expiries differ. Exchanges and Clearing Corporations must monitor cross margin activity and all other cross margin requirements continue to apply.

PAN inoperative consequences: linking Aadhaar within prescribed window removes higher-rate TDS/TCS liability for prior transactions.
The Board clarifies that where a PAN becomes operative following Aadhaar linkage within the prescribed remedial interval for transactions entered into up to the cutoff, deductors and collectors are not liable to apply higher withholding or collection rates; normal deduction and collection provisions of Chapter XVII-B and Chapter XVII-BB shall apply, thereby addressing demands raised for short-deduction or short-collection in such cases.

Exemption from BIS standard for Ortho phosphoric Acid temporarily permits its use as fertilizer raw material without BIS compliance.
The Ortho Phosphoric Acid Order requires conformity to the relevant Indian Standard and BIS licensing with the Bureau as certifying and enforcement authority and penalties for contravention. An amendment inserted a proviso exempting Ortho Phosphoric Acid when used as raw material in fertilizer production from the BIS standard for a temporary period from publication of that notification, and customs authorities have been instructed to sensitize officers and monitor compliance.

Jurisdictional allocation of large registered traders standardized; corporate circle assignments and amendment timing mandated for uniform compliance.
Zonal Additional Commissioners must identify the one hundred largest registered traders by taxable turnover and tax payable after the financial year end, and forward a considered proposal assigning sixty such traders to the zone's Joint Commissioner (Corporate Circle) within fifteen days of the final GSTR-3B filing deadline; late proposals will not be accepted. The selection must include manufacturers, traders, exporters, sensitive goods dealers and tax-significant service providers, and service-supplier representation must meet prescribed allocation standards. Amendment proposals are to be submitted only at the start of the next financial year; mid-year changes will not be entertained.

Safeguard measures discontinued on Isopropyl alcohol imports; IPA now free under import policy without quantitative restrictions.
Country wise safeguard Quantitative Restrictions on imports of Isopropyl Alcohol instituted by Notification No. 64/2015-20 (effective 01.04.2023-31.03.2024) have been discontinued with effect from 01.04.2024, and imports of Isopropyl Alcohol are now Free and not subject to any policy condition.