Research analyst compliance: new certification, deposit, disclosure, segregation and audit obligations require phased implementation and client protections.
SEBI's guidelines require research analysts and entities to obtain prescribed NISM certifications, maintain specified bank deposits with lien to RAASB tied to client counts, segregate research and distribution activities at client level, disclose terms and AI usage, furnish model portfolio disclosures, comply with KYC and five year record retention, conduct annual compliance audits reporting adverse findings and publish audit status on websites, and observe specified phased timelines for bringing existing and new RAs into compliance.

Investment adviser compliance: new SEBI rules tighten deposits, fees, AI disclosures, audit and recordkeeping obligations.
SEBI's circular implements amendments to the Investment Advisers Regulations, 2013 by prescribing tiered deposit requirements tied to client counts with lien to IAASB, conditions for dual registration of research analysts as investment advisers with arms length segregation, criteria and disclaimers for part time IAs, principal officer and entity form transition deadlines for partnership firms, appointment and certification requirements for independent compliance officers, mandatory disclosures and client undertakings for advice on non SEBI products and AI usage, revised fee modes and ceilings with flexibility to change modes, client level segregation rules, standardised MITC in agreements, timestamped call recording retention for execution consents, enhanced annual compliance audit and publication obligations, and website reporting requirements, with specified phased compliance dates.

Revision of timelines to working days for credit rating processes streamlines rating reviews and press-release obligations.
CRAs must treat specified procedural periods in the Master Circular as working days, immediately converting press-release publication, rating-review dissemination after issuer statements, INC migration after NDS non-submission, and follow-up/press-release triggers for missing debenture trustee confirmations into working-day timelines, to ensure uniformity in handling rating actions and disclosures.

GST treatment of vouchers excludes voucher transactions and unredeemed breakage, while taxing agency commissions and separate support services.
Transactions in vouchers are neither supplies of goods nor services where the voucher qualifies as money or as a non-specified actionable claim; GST may nevertheless apply to the underlying goods or services obtained on redemption. Principal-to-principal voucher trading, involving autonomous ownership and resale, is not taxable. Commission or fees received by agents for distribution and related obligations are taxable as services, as are separately supplied promotional, technology, customisation or support services. Breakage on unredeemed vouchers is not taxable where no underlying supply occurs and no agreement makes non-redemption a taxable act or forbearance.

Place of supply for online services must follow the unregistered recipient's State recorded on the tax invoice.
For online money gaming, OIDAR services and all online supplies of services to unregistered recipients, suppliers must record the recipient's State name on the tax invoice irrespective of supply value. That State name is deemed to be the recipient's address on record, making the recipient's location the place of supply. The place of supply must be declared accordingly in outward-supply details. Suppliers must obtain the recipient's State details before supply, and omission of mandatory invoice particulars may attract penal action.

Input tax credit on Ex-Works supplies may arise upon handover to the recipient's transporter when title passes at supplier premises.
Under an Ex-Works contract, a registered person is regarded as having received goods when the supplier hands them to a transporter at the supplier's business premises for onward transmission on the recipient's behalf, where property in the goods passes at that time. Physical arrival at the recipient's premises is not required for input tax credit under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 16. Credit remains subject to other conditions, including business use, and is unavailable for non-business diversion, loss, theft, destruction, write-off, gifts, or free samples.

Input tax credit for electronic commerce operators need not be reversed, but specified-service tax must be paid in cash.
Electronic commerce operators paying tax on specified services supplied through their platforms need not reverse input tax credit proportionately for those supplies. The full tax liability under the special tax-payment mechanism must be paid through the electronic cash ledger, and input tax credit cannot be used for that liability. Such credit may, however, be used to discharge tax on the operator's own platform-related services, including services supplied for platform fees or commissions.

Settlement of inactive client funds shifted to monthly running account settlement cycle; trading before that restores client settlement preference.
For clients with a credit balance who have not traded in the thirty calendar days since their last transaction and whose funds remain with the Trading Member beyond that period, the entire credit balance shall be returned to the client on the upcoming settlement date of the monthly running account settlement cycle as notified by exchanges, irrespective of the settlement cycle preferred by the client; if the client trades after thirty calendar days but before that upcoming monthly settlement date, settlement will follow the client's indicated quarterly or monthly preference.

Place of supply rules for online services require recording recipient's State on invoice to determine supply location.
Suppliers of online services to unregistered recipients must mandatorily record the recipient's State on the tax invoice, which will be deemed the address on record for determining the place of supply; such requirement applies to online money gaming, OIDAR and all digital/online services supplied directly or through an electronic commerce operator, and the place of supply must be declared as the recipient's location in FORM GSTR-1/1A.

Input tax credit reversal clarified: ecommerce operators paying tax for specified supplies cannot use ITC to discharge that tax liability.
Electronic commerce operators liable to pay tax as if they were the supplier for notified services are not required to reverse proportionate Input Tax Credit for those notified supplies. The full tax on such supplies must be paid only through the electronic cash ledger, and ITC availed on inputs and input services used to facilitate those notified supplies cannot be used to discharge that operator-pay tax liability, though such credit may be used for the ECO's own supply-related tax liabilities.

Voucher classification as non-supply: transactions in vouchers are not supplies, underlying supplies remain taxable and agents taxed on commission
Where a voucher qualifies as an RBI recognised pre paid instrument and is used to settle an obligation it is treated as money and not as a supply; where it does not qualify as such it constitutes an actionable claim excluded from supply under Schedule III. Trading of vouchers by principals is not a supply, whereas agents earning commission render a taxable service. Ancillary services to the voucher issuer are taxable, and amounts attributable to unredeemed vouchers (breakage) do not constitute consideration for a supply and are not taxable.

Input tax credit entitlement affirmed where Ex Works goods handed to transporter permit claim upon deemed receipt.
ITC is permissible when goods under an Ex Works contract are handed over to a transporter at the supplier's premises because the recipient is deemed to have received the goods under the Explanation to clause (b) of sub section (2) of section 16, allowing the recipient to claim credit upon such handing over, subject to other eligibility conditions including use in the course or furtherance of business and disallowance where goods are diverted for non business purposes or lost/destroyed/gifted thereafter.

Certified organic export: only NPOP compliant production and an accredited Transaction Certificate permit export.
Exports may be designated as Organic Products only where production, processing, packing and labelling conform to the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) and the export is accompanied by a Transaction Certificate issued by a Certification Body accredited by the National Accreditation Body under the NPOP; a new edition of the NPOP will come into force after a transitional period and this procedure supersedes earlier public notices on organic export.

Automated Out of Charge for eligible AEO clients enables risk-based customs clearance, subject to verification conditions and intelligence-based holds.
Automated Out of Charge is available on a risk basis for eligible Bills of Entry filed by AEO Tier 2 and Tier 3 clients through web-based goods registration. Eligibility requires completion of assessment and OTP-based Bill of Entry authentication for duty deferment, with no selection for examination, scanning or a participating government agency no-objection certificate. Customs officers may override the automated process by placing a hold where intelligence warrants intervention.

GST treatment of vouchers: vouchers are not supplies; agent commissions and ancillary service fees are taxable.
Vouchers that qualify as RBI recognised pre paid instruments are treated as money and not as goods or services; vouchers that do not qualify function as actionable claims and likewise are neither supply of goods nor supply of services. Under a principal to principal trading model, trading margins on vouchers are not subject to GST, whereas commissions or fees paid to agents/distributors for distribution services constitute taxable supplies of services. Ancillary service fees are taxable, and amounts attributable to unredeemed vouchers (breakage) are not taxable absent an agreement treating non redemption as consideration.

Place of supply rules: online service suppliers must record recipient State on invoices and report recipient location.
Suppliers of online/digital services, including OIDAR services and supplies through electronic commerce operators or online money gaming, must record the State of unregistered recipients on the tax invoice irrespective of value; that recorded State shall be deemed the address on record and the place of supply shall be the recipient's location under section 12(2)(b)(i) of the IGST Act. Suppliers must collect these details beforehand, declare recipient location in FORM GSTR 1/1A, and comply to avoid penalties under the KGST Act.

Deemed receipt of goods: input tax credit may arise when supplier hands goods to transporter at supplier's premises.
Clarifies that for purposes of input tax credit under clause (b) of sub section (2) of section 16, goods delivered by a supplier to a transporter at the supplier's premises on the direction of the recipient are deemed to have been "received" by the recipient. In EXW contracts where property passes at the supplier's gate and transport or insurance is arranged on behalf of the recipient, the recipient may claim input tax credit at the time of such handing over, subject to other statutory conditions and business use requirements; diversion or subsequent loss or disposal disqualifies credit.

Input tax credit rule: ECOs cannot use ITC to discharge tax on specified platform services; must pay from cash ledger.
Electronic commerce operators liable to pay tax as deemed suppliers for services specified under the Act are not required to reverse input tax credit on inputs and input services proportionately for those specified supplies, but they cannot use such credit to discharge the tax liability on those specified supplies; that tax must be paid in full through the electronic cash ledger, while the credit may be used to discharge tax on the ECO's own supplies (platform fees/commissions).

'C' form issuance for specified non-GST goods requires verification, central approval, annual assessment, and completion of prior-year assessment.
'C' forms for Natural Gas, Motor Spirit, Diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel require an application to the Special Commissioner with invoice, goods-movement and other required records. Jurisdictional Joint Commissioners must verify reporting of purchases and sales, tax payment and recommend issuance. Following approval, the CCW generates the form, distributes copies, uploads data on TINXSYS, and maintains issue and assessment records. Recipient dealers must undergo annual assessment, and forms for subsequent years are conditional upon completion of the previous year's assessment.

Automated Out of Charge enables risk-based customs clearance for eligible AEO Tier 2 and Tier 3 Bills of Entry.
Automated Out of Charge is available for eligible Bills of Entry filed by Authorized Economic Operator Tier 2 and Tier 3 clients through web-based goods registration. Eligibility requires completion of assessment and OTP-based authentication for duty deferment, and the Bill of Entry must not be selected for examination, scanning, or a partner government agency-related no-objection certificate. The facility operates on a risk basis, subject to a Customs system HOLD override where intelligence is available.