Offer for Sale to employees: promoters may use stock exchange mechanism for employee share allocations under prescribed procedural safeguards.
Offer for Sale to employees may be conducted through the stock exchange mechanism as an additional option. Employee bids occur under a new "Employee" category on T+1 day alongside retail, with reserved shares disclosed in the OFS notice; bids are placed at the retail cut-off price subject to any discount, employees pay 100% upfront margin, bids are segregated and not displayed, allotment is based on PAN details supplied on T-1 day, and promoters must transfer total OFS shares including the employee portion to the designated clearing corporation on T-1 day.

Tax rate and compliance overhaul: Finance Act, 2023 revises slabs, exemptions, IFSC incentives and trust compliance rules.
Finance Act, 2023 enacts comprehensive amendments: it fixes income tax slabs, surcharge and cess rules; revises TDS/TCS and STT rates; expands deeming under section 9 to gifts to not ordinarily residents; grants and refines IFSC incentives (ODI distribution, aircraft leasing exemptions, tax holiday timing); excludes specified gold EGR conversions from "transfer" with cost/holding period continuity; tightens life insurance exemption limits; prevents double interest deduction and misuse of presumptive schemes; retools NBFC classification for deduction/timing rules; and reforms charity/trust registration, compliance, exit tax and appellate architecture (including Joint Commissioner (Appeals) and e appeals), with most changes effective from assessment years 2023 24 or 2024 25.

Export obligation monitoring: non fulfilment triggers duty recovery, bond encashment, SCNs, confiscation and penalties under customs law.
The Export Obligation Monitoring Cell (EOMC) will monitor fulfilment of export obligations under EPCG and Advance Authorisation, issue simple notices for proof of discharge or DGFT application, and, where proof is not furnished, recover unpaid duties with applicable interest by enforcing bonds/ bank guarantees under Section 143 or by detaining/selling goods under Section 142; non-fulfilment may also lead to SCNs, confiscation under section 111(o), and penalties under section 112(a).

Bonded air-cargo transshipment permission renews road movement under ECTS seal, subject to bond liability and compliance conditions.
Bonded-trucking permission is renewed for export and import air-cargo transshipment from the Air Cargo Complex, Kolkata to Customs-notified airports, Air Cargo Complexes, Container Freight Stations and Inland Container Depots. Cargo must move in closed-body trucks under ECTS seal. The permission operates for three years or until bond expiry, whichever is earlier. Bond amounts are debited on removal of cargo and credited upon delivery to destination Customs. The operator remains liable for cargo shortages or pilferage and must comply with applicable transit, transshipment, cargo-handling and foreign-trade requirements.

Cooling-off period reduction for insolvency and valuation exams shortens interval, allowing more frequent candidate attempts.
The cooling-off interval between consecutive attempts in the Limited Insolvency Examination and Valuation Examinations is reduced to twenty-one days from the earlier two months; this applies to examinations conducted or attempted after three months from the circular date, and is issued under the Board's regulatory powers over exam frequency, syllabus, format and qualifying criteria.

Delegation of powers under GST expands authorised officers for scrutiny, audit, and tax determination functions.
Further amendments were made to the delegation of powers under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 by revising the Commissioner's earlier order on authorised officers. The amended table expands or substitutes the officers empowered to conduct scrutiny of returns and to exercise audit-related authority, including Additional Commissioner, Senior Joint Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner. The delegation is also updated for the determination of tax not paid, short paid, erroneously refunded, or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised.

Bill-to-Ship transaction compliance: delivery address on tax and transport documents prevents vehicle detention in routine checks.
Enforcement by mobile squads must avoid harassment of genuine taxpayers. For Bill to Ship transactions, detention is not justified where the delivery address is recorded on tax invoices and e-way bills, even if the consignee's Additional Place of Business has not been declared. For ODC consignments, ODC status must be determined by dimensional standards in motor vehicle rules; detention solely because a vehicle covered more distance in less time than prescribed validity is improper unless there is evidence of misuse of extended validity for re-transportation.

Recovery of unpaid customs duty authorised by attachment, detention and sale of goods with remittance to customs account.
Notice directs recovery of unpaid customs duty and applicable interest from M/s Mili International pursuant to an Order in Original, authorising recovery from any monies payable to the company and, alternatively, by detaining and selling goods under customs or central GST control. Officers designated nationwide are requested to effect attachment, detention or sale, intimate recovery to the issuing authority, and remit proceeds by demand draft to the Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai.

Warehouse code declaration mandatory for into-bond bills; ICES enforces active-code checks and ACB manages suspensions.
Mandatory declaration of warehouse code is required for filing into-bond bill of entry; ICES has been updated to enforce declaration and to check at clearance that the warehouse code is active and valid. ACB role functions now include Suspend/Revoke warehouse and an Imports WH code entry option to enter, modify, view warehouse details and update expiry dates.

Voluntary freezing of trading accounts for suspected misuse to be standardised, with broker procedures and re enablement safeguards.
SEBI directs a standardized framework for voluntary freezing/blocking of online trading account access on clients' requests, to be drafted by the Brokers' Industry Standards Forum under stock exchanges. The framework must specify request modes, acknowledgement procedures, processing timeframes, Trading Member actions upon receipt, re-enablement processes, and client communications. Stock exchanges must ensure implementation, amend bye-laws and establish reporting requirements, and submit a compliance report to SEBI, imposing operational and compliance obligations to protect investor interests.

Client collateral monitoring: reporting streamlined, certain broker reports discontinued while G Principle retained and exchanges must implement.
SEBI discontinues certain broker reporting requirements and deletes Clause 15.5.2 and Tables 5-7 of the master circular, while modifying Clause 15.5.3 to reiterate the G Principle: available funds with the broker and clearing entities must always be equal to or greater than clients' ledger funds. Exchanges must implement the circular immediately, notify brokers, publish the changes, jointly issue operational guidelines and an SOP within 15 days, amend relevant bye laws and report implementation status to SEBI monthly.

Dematerialisation requirement: AIF investments must be held in dematerialised form and custodians appointed, with reporting obligations.
AIFs must hold any investment made on or after October 1, 2024 in dematerialised form; pre-existing investments are exempt except where the investee is legally mandated to dematerialise or the AIF (alone or with certain intermediaries) exercises control, in which case those investments must be dematerialised by January 31, 2025. Custodians registered with SEBI must be appointed before a scheme's first investment; specified existing Category I and II schemes must appoint custodians by January 31, 2025. The SFA, with SEBI, will set reporting standards for managers and custodians, which must be adopted and reflected in quarterly reporting and Compliance Test Reports.

Valuation of bunker supplies: provisional assessments must use transaction value or valuation rules; HPCL price as fallback.
Conversion of vessels between foreign-run and coastal-run requires Customs duty assessment on ship stores consumed; provisional assessment should use transaction value where bunker receipts exist, otherwise apply Customs Valuation Rules sequentially from Rules 4 to 9 with HPCL export sale price used only as a last resort; disputes invoke principles of natural justice. Quantification follows Board Circular No. 58/1997 and finalisation of Bills of Entry must occur promptly after receipt of reversion documents.

Direct Port Delivery allowed for FCL imports fully facilitated by RMS, subject to advance filing, duty prepayment and terminal registration.
Direct Port Delivery (DPD) is authorized for FCL import consignments whose Bills of Entry are fully facilitated by RMS-meaning no RMS-ordered assessment/examination, no PGA sample-draw, no NCTC alerts and no investigative holds. Advance Bills of Entry, prepayment of customs duties and advance intimation to port terminals and shipping lines are required. Applicants must apply to DC(DPD) with prescribed documents; approved applicants will be registered by terminals and assigned DPD codes. Terminals and importers must submit monthly reports; steamer agents must not levy extra charges. Effective 15.01.2024.

Import restriction for specified IT hardware applies only to laptops, tablets, all in one PCs, ultra small form factor computers and servers.
Import of specified IT hardware is restricted only for laptops, tablets, all in one personal computers, ultra small form factor computers and servers, and such imports are allowed only against a valid import authorisation; the restriction does not apply to other goods under the same tariff grouping such as desktop computers.

Extension of PSIA recognition validity under Foreign Trade Policy extends tenure to 31 March 2024.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, invoking powers under the Foreign Trade Policy and relaxing a Handbook of Procedures provision, extends the recognition validity of Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies listed in the A & ANF appendix whose original three year tenure completed on 27.12.2023, by extending their validity period to 31.03.2024 as an administrative measure.

Foreign investment in AIFs: AML and beneficial owner residency rules require suspension of further capital drawdowns when conditions fail.
The investor, or its beneficial owner as determined under the amended Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, must not be on the United Nations Security Council Sanctions List and must not be resident in jurisdictions identified by the Financial Action Task Force as having strategic AML/CFT deficiencies or insufficient progress addressing those deficiencies; if an already on boarded investor fails this condition, the AIF manager must not draw down further capital from that investor until the condition is met.

X-MAS online portal enables uploading licences, installation certificates, first-block export obligation proofs and EODC documents with OTP verification.
X-MAS at JNCH enables authorised holders or their customs brokers to register licences, upload licence copies, and submit Installation Certificates, First Block Export Obligation proof and EODC documents online; submissions require verified company email and mobile OTP verification, upload of prescribed pdfs ( 5MB), and electronic acknowledgement, while physical verification of Bond/BG remains necessary because the system is not integrated with ICEGATE.

Appellate time limit paused until Appellate Tribunal President assumes office, permitting declarations to defer recovery and preserve appeals.
Clarification states that where the Appellate Tribunal is not yet constituted, the statutory three month appeal period runs from the later of communication of the order or the date the Appellate Tribunal President enters office. Appellate Authorities should note this in orders and dispose pending appeals. For recovery after an adverse appellate order, taxpayers may submit a prescribed declaration to the arrear recovery wing indicating intention to file an appeal, thereby informing recovery authorities pending Tribunal constitution.

Milk and milk products must undergo quality control or inspection prior to export; customs verify EIC approval or inspection certificate.
Milk and milk products for export must undergo quality control or inspection or both before export; a health certificate is required only if the importing country specifically mandates it. Exporters may either obtain establishment approval under the prescribed Food Safety Management System and use the resultant export certificate, or opt for consignment-wise inspection by the Export Inspection Agency. Customs shall verify EIC approval and the establishment's export certificate or the Certificate of Inspection certifying export worthiness before allowing export. Standards are applied in a hierarchical order and each consignment must be accompanied by an export-worthiness certificate.