Master Circular consolidates SEBI custodial circulars, rescinds prior circulars with savings and requires continued compliance by custodians.
Master Circular consolidates SEBI circulars applicable to registered custodians, requires continued compliance with other SEBI market-intermediary requirements, rescinds prior circulars listed in Annexure A with savings for actions taken or pending under those circulars, and is issued under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act, taking effect on issuance and published on SEBI's website.

Electronic Test Memo submission mandatory for forwarding samples to revenue labs; paper memos accepted only with senior approval during outages.
Mandatory electronic submission of Test Memos via the CRCL Module in ICES is required for forwarding samples to CRCL and other revenue laboratories; laboratories will not accept paper Test Memos except where unforeseen system issues prevent use of the module and acceptance is authorised by the Additional/Joint Commissioner.

Exemption of mandatory Quality Control Orders: Mines included to enable imports of inputs for export manufacture.
The Ministry of Mines has been added to Appendix-2Y, the list of Departments whose mandatory Quality Control Orders are exempted by DGFT for goods imported as inputs to be utilised or consumed in manufacture of export products, ensuring that such QCO notifications do not bar import by Advance Authorisation holders, EOU and SEZ units for export production.

Customs broker licensing enhancements streamline licensing, offence processing, profile updates, digital document issuance, notifications and security.
CBLMS enhancements expand digital processing for Customs Brokers by introducing a two-part Continuation of License after Death of Proprietor workflow, a comprehensive Offence Module for managing offence reports, hearings, submissions and online penalty payments, and profile-modification applications to update CB/person details, addresses and employee/OPS data. The portal also adds My Profile access, NOC requests, an Issue Document feature for policy-uploaded notices, public broker search, QR code real-time status on licences and passes, in-portal notifications, account lock-out security, and Knowledge Centre user manuals.

Insolvency professionals must upload specified judicial orders to their IBBI assignment dashboard for stakeholder facilitation.
Insolvency professionals must upload specified judicial orders affecting their assignments to the IBBI website via the assignment portal's "Orders" section, after downloading identical PDFs from official judicial forum websites. Required categories include admission, approval of resolution plan, withdrawal/closure, stay, liquidation, dissolution, final orders on preferential/undervalued/fraudulent transactions and wrongful trading, and any order actionable for IBBI; HC and SC orders are to be uploaded where they correspond to these categories, involve IBBI/Ministry, or address vires or applicability of the Code. Uploads must follow the annexed step-by-step process and be verified before submission.

GST appellate review centralisation assigns review and legal cells distinct roles in scrutinising orders and preparing appeal proposals.
The Headquarters Review Cell examines original adjudication, first appellate, and revisional orders for legality or propriety and prepares specified proposals for Commissioner approval. The Additional Commissioner, TPS Headquarters, may direct subordinate officers to apply to the Appellate Authority or Appellate Tribunal for review of relevant orders. Where orders are issued by the Additional Commissioner (Appeals) or the Additional Commissioner, TPS Headquarters, Tribunal-appeal proposals require Commissioner approval. The Legal Cell examines Tribunal, High Court, and Supreme Court orders and prepares High Court and Supreme Court appeal proposals.

Margin requirements for derivative contracts permit cross-border posting and collection of eligible instruments under specified conditions.
Directions permit Authorised Dealers (AD Cat-I and AD Cat-III SPDs) to post and collect margin in India and abroad for permitted derivative contracts, receive and pay interest thereon, and for AD Cat-I banks to do so on behalf of customers. Eligible margin in India includes Indian currency, freely convertible foreign currency, Indian government debt, listed rupee bonds rated AAA, Certificates of Deposit, and A1-rated Commercial Paper; outside India, freely convertible foreign currency and foreign sovereign debt securities rated AA- or equivalent. ADs complying with foreign NCCD margin regimes may follow those jurisdictions' permitted forms and global arrangements. AD Cat-I banks must maintain separate accounts for non-resident cash margin.

Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents: consolidated SEBI rules on registration, investor servicing, QRTA resilience and reporting.
Master Circular consolidates SEBI's regulatory framework for Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents, prescribing online registration and change of control procedures, mandatory agreements with issuers, record keeping for eight years, Compliance Officer appointment, half yearly certified reporting, and PAN/KYC requirements. It standardizes investor service processes (demat/remat, duplicate certificates, transmission), mandates online portals with URNs, designates RTAs servicing over 2 crore folios as QRTAs subject to enhanced BCP/DR, cyber audits, governance and reporting, and sets detailed operational roles and timelines for public issues, UPI/ASBA reconciliation, and dispute resolution via SCORES and stock exchange arbitration.

Periodic reporting requirement for investment advisers mandates standardized half yearly submissions to IAASB with detailed Annexure disclosures.
SEBI mandates standardized half yearly periodic reporting by Investment Advisers to the IAASB using the prescribed Annexure I; IAASB to operationalize collection and issue a circular. Reports commence for the half year ending March 31, 2024 with initial submission within fifteen days of the IAASB circular and subsequent reports within seven working days after each period end. Annexure I requires detailed disclosures including firm identifiers, branch and bank details, personnel and NISM certification, shareholding, inspection findings, advertisements, complaints publication, client counts, fees by fee mode, AUA, and granular complaints statistics and ageing.

Alternative Investment Funds must follow SEBI's consolidated master circular covering PPMs, reporting, leverage and governance.
SEBI's Master Circular for Alternative Investment Funds consolidates circulars up to March 31, 2024, supersedes the July 31, 2023 Master Circular and rescinds the circulars listed in Annexure 17 while preserving actions and applications under those circulars. It mandates online filing via the SEBI Intermediary Portal, standardized PPM templates with Merchant Banker due diligence and audit, annual Compliance Test Reports, custodial and dematerialisation requirements, reporting obligations, Category III leverage limits (max 2x NAV) and governance, valuation and accredited investor frameworks.

Duty drawback amendments clarify yarn unit as counts in New English and recalibrate rates and tariff items for exports.
Amendments revise the All Industry Rates of duty drawback by clarifying that counts for Chapter 52 yarn mean counts in New English (Ne), increasing AIRs and caps for specified product groups, rationalizing caps for certain golf gloves, creating new tariff items to distinguish export products (including breaded seafood and sports gloves), changing units for golf glove entries to piece, and adding tariff items to provide drawback benefits to specified defense-sector products.

Relaxation of additional fees for LLP beneficial ownership filings allows fee-free submission of LLP BEN-2 and Form 4D until extension.
Relaxation of additional fees permits LLPs to file E-form LLP BEN-2 and LLP Form No. 4D with the Registrar without payment of further additional fees until 01.07.2024, in light of the MCA 21 system transition and to promote compliance by reporting LLPs.

Aadhaar authentication permitted for a reporting entity to operate as sub KUA, subject to SEBI and UIDAI processes.
A specified reporting entity is permitted to use Aadhaar authentication services as a sub KUA for e KYC in the securities market, subject to privacy and security standards under the Aadhaar framework, compliance with SEBI's Master Circular on KYC (October 12, 2023), and any procedures prescribed by UIDAI; KUAs must facilitate the entity's on boarding as a sub KUA.

Centralized bank guarantee custody required to standardize processing, ensure auto renewal and restrict direct encashment.
A Centralized Bank Guarantee Cell is established under the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Bond) to receive and custody all customs-related BGs; accepting units must ensure an auto renewal clause and IEC code in BGs, enter BGs in the EDI system, hand them to the BG Cell with receipt numbers, and obtain BG returns only by written demand. The cell will not directly release or encash BGs, and units must inventory and forward existing BGs within thirty days and maintain records of receipt, dispatch and disposal.

IGST refund processing requires reconciliation of SB005 invoice mismatches via concordance table and officer verification.
IGST refund claims unprocessed due to the SB005 error (invoice mismatch) may be manually verified and sanctioned where GST invoice data in GSTR 1/Table 6A matches actual exports. Exporters must submit a concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices in Annexure A, provide GSTR 1/Table 6A evidence, pay the prescribed fee per shipping bill for correlation and verification, and certify filing and export of invoiced items to the Assistant Commissioner (IGST Refunds) for processing.

Exporter bank account validation failures prevent drawback disbursal; register/modify AD code bank accounts on ICEGATE and upload proof.
Drawback amounts for 369 shipping bills remain undisbursed because exporter bank account details tied to AD codes were not validated by PFMS; exporters must register/modify AD code bank accounts on ICEGATE and upload passbook or bank authorisation via e Sanchit so that, upon status showing Customs Approved, ICES will process those shipping bills for drawback disbursal.

Minimum value addition penalty applies only to advance authorizations issued after the transitional cut off; earlier AAs follow prior rules.
The deposit requirements in Paragraphs 4.49(a)(ii) and 4.49(b) of the Handbook of Procedures, 2023 - namely the deposit equivalent to 10% of CIF value and the 3% shortfall amount - apply only to Advance Authorizations issued on or after 01.04.2023; Advance Authorizations issued prior to that date continue to be governed by the provisions of the Handbook under which they were originally issued, and this clarification does not entitle applicants to refunds of fees already paid.

Compulsory scrutiny selection mandates prior administrative approval and transfer to Central Charges with NaFAC processing.
Guidelines set parameters for compulsory scrutiny for FY 2024-25 covering surveys under section 133A, search and seizure and requisition cases under sections 132/132A, non-response to notices under section 142(1), cases with notices under section 148, claims of exemption where registration/approval is absent or withdrawn, recurring additions on issues of law or fact, and returns flagged by law enforcement. Procedure mandates prior administrative approval by the relevant Pr.CIT/Pr.DIT/CIT/DIT, timely transfer to Central Charges u/s 127 where required, uploading of documents on ITBA, and NaFAC processing and service of notices for centralized/faceless cases.

Inclusion of Standalone Primary Dealers expands authorised dealer obligations and mandates trade repository reporting for OTC derivatives.
The Master Direction is amended to include Standalone Primary Dealers as Authorised Dealers under FEMA, extending definitional, operational and reporting obligations to them. Reporting processes are standardized through the Centralised Information Management System, timelines and formats for daily, weekly and quarterly submissions are revised, and new guidance covers SPDs' participation in exchange traded currency derivatives and overseas foreign currency borrowings with specified limits and reporting triggers. All Authorised Dealers must report OTC foreign exchange and foreign currency interest rate derivative contracts to the Trade Repository of CCIL under prescribed timelines, reconcile outstanding balances with the TR, and ensure reporting accuracy.

Suspension of SIONs: listed Standard Input Output Norms declared inoperative and suspended with immediate administrative effect.
Under powers conferred by the Foreign Trade Policy paragraphs 1.03 and 2.04, the Director General of Foreign Trade suspends the Standard Input-Output Norms listed at Annexure "A" with immediate effect on the ground that those SIONs have been inoperative over the last five years; the measure is an administrative suspension of the listed normative entries pending further action and includes a file reference and contact for correspondence.