Anti-dumping duty exemption for titanium dioxide imports when declared for specified excluded end uses at clearance.
Imposition of Anti-Dumping Duty on Titanium Dioxide from China PR is limited to specified end uses and excludes use in food, pharma, skin-care, textile, fibre, and Nano/ultra-fine TiO2. The customs system is enabled to avoid ADD collection for excluded uses where the importer files declaration STMT_CODE CUA01 in the Bill of Entry (for tariff headings including 28230010, 32061110 and 32061190), undertaking to pay ADD with interest if goods are supplied for non-excluded uses; officers will receive system messages during assessment.

SEZ approvals and area conversions reshape multiple development projects, with extensions, co-developer changes, denotifications and a new SEZ cleared.
Extension of validity of Letters of Approval for SEZ developers and units was considered in multiple cases, including approvals for a further year and one regularised extension after the non-extension gap. The Board also approved co-developer status, expansion of built-up area, additional land inclusion and surrender of land, subject to SEZ Act and Rules compliance, related co-development agreements, and taxability scrutiny by the Assessing Officer. Requests for conversion of processing area into non-processing area, partial de-notification, and new SEZ approval were also acted upon, while some appeals were deferred or remanded for reconsideration.

Reporting requirement for partly paid units: transitional window for prior issuances and ongoing thirty day filing obligation.
Issuance of partly paid units to persons resident outside India must be reported in Form InVI on the FIRMS portal within 30 days; prior issuances may be reported within 180 days from the circular date without late fees, and issuances on or after the circular date remain subject to the 30 day reporting timeline.

Container scanning status verification enables stakeholders to check selection, scanning and examination status online after manifest finalisation.
Container scanning status verification is available through the Customs Scanning Division, Chennai online portal. Users may check whether a container has been selected for scanning, scanned, examined, and whether examined images have been uploaded. Verification requires the container number, Import General Manifest number and Import General Manifest date. Status is available only after the Import General Manifest is finalised by the Container Scanning Module of the National Customs Targeting Centre.

Post-export conversion: electronic amendment framework limits sensitive shipping bill changes to senior customs approval.
The regulations create an electronic post-export amendment mechanism for shipping bills as an Export Entry, permitting conversion into instrument-based schemes and drawback modes subject to fulfilment of all scheme conditions, reversal of inadmissible benefits, absence of contraventions, and compliance with presentation requirements. Sensitive fields-including ports, destination country, invoice AD code and value, HS code, description, and quantity-may be amended only with Additional or Joint Commissioner approval. A uniform one-year conversion time-limit applies with transitional computation rules, and applicants must submit a declaration and evidence; single deficiency memos will be issued after preliminary scrutiny.

Return to Sender procedures: cancellation of customs duty and inspection steps for returning undelivered postal parcels.
Procedure requires the Foreign Post Office to submit a monthly list of RTS/undelivered parcels in Annexure-A format for verification and cancellation of customs duty under the Universal Postal Convention. Customs inspectors must inspect received parcels under Section 17(2) of the Customs Act within one day to confirm intactness and absence of tampering, submit inspection reports to the Superintendent/Appraiser, who may perform a random check before forwarding recommendations to the Principal Commissioner to enable return to origin.

Red Sanders seized by DRI and Customs must be disposed by jurisdictional Customs under CITES-compliant export quota procedures.
Disposal of seized Red Sanders must be undertaken by Disposal units of jurisdictional Customs formations, including DRI seizures, following prescribed procedures: engage designated public trading agencies, undertake grading and tendering, obtain DRI authorisation for DRI-origin lots, secure Certificate of Origin, DGFT export license and MoEFCC/CITES NoC per SOP, maintain registers and reconcile stocks with MoEFCC/CITES MA, and ensure domestic disposals proceed via State Forest Departments through auction/sealed tender with proceeds handled as directed.

Transfer of taxpayer jurisdiction to Large Taxpayer Unit centralises GST and coal cess compliance under state statutes.
Jurisdiction of specified registered taxpayers under the WBGST Act is transferred from various existing charges to the Large Taxpayer Unit; the annexure lists taxpayers and present and new jurisdictions. The transfers apply to all GST matters and to compliances relating to the coal cess under the applicable West Bengal statutes. Difficulties in implementation are to be reported to the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes.

Internal audit standards require independent auditors to report to the audit committee, strengthening MII governance and oversight.
Internal audit standards require MIIs to conduct an annual, institution wide internal audit across critical operations, regulatory/compliance/risk functions and other activities by independent audit firm(s); the internal auditor shall report exclusively to the Audit Committee, follow time bound procedures for obtaining HoD comments and include dropped observations with justifications, and appraise the Audit Committee at least semi annually in the absence of management.

Port restriction on imports from Bangladesh: specified goods confined to designated seaports and certain land crossings prohibited.
A new Para 19 to ITC (HS), 2022 Schedule 1 imposes immediate port-specific restrictions on imports from Bangladesh: ready-made garments only via Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports (no land ports); fruit/flavoured and carbonated drinks prohibited through specified LCSs/ICPs in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal; processed food, cotton waste, plastic/PVC finished goods (excluding certain inputs), and wooden furniture similarly regulated. Exceptions exclude fish, LPG, edible oil and crushed stone, and do not apply to Bangladesh exports transiting to Nepal or Bhutan. Customs authorities are to implement and report difficulties.

Electronic Book Provider platform: mandatory for specified private placements with enhanced disclosure, allocation and anchor investor rules.
Revisions require specified private placements of debt, NCRPS and municipal debt to be conducted through the EBP platform while allowing elective EBP use for securitised instruments, money-market instruments and REIT/InvIT units; smaller issues may opt in. Issuers must provide the Placement Memorandum and term sheet to the EBP within prescribed lead times, disclose issue size and green shoe portion (green shoe capped at five times base size) and anchor investor details; anchor allocations are capped by credit-rating bands and must be electronically confirmed by T 1 day. Allotment at cut-off uses pro-rata rules; EBPs must publish detailed issuance data by defined timelines. Certain clauses have staggered effective dates.

Extension of implementation timeline for ODI and segregated portfolio disclosure requirements delays compliance obligation and systems readiness.
SEBI has extended the deferred implementation date for paragraphs 2.2 to 2.7 of its December 17, 2024 circular-covering additional disclosure obligations for ODI subscribers and FPIs with segregated portfolios-to November 17, 2025; all other provisions of that circular remain unchanged and depositories must complete necessary systems and procedures to ensure compliance by the revised date.

Input tax credit restrictions: ecommerce operators cannot use ITC to discharge platform service tax liability; must pay from cash ledger.
The Board clarifies that an electronic commerce operator liable to pay tax in respect of specified services notified as taxable on the operator is not required to reverse input tax credit on inputs and input services proportionately; nevertheless, the full tax liability on those specified services must be discharged only through the electronic cash ledger and ITC cannot be utilized to pay that liability, though such ITC may be used to discharge tax on supplies made by the operator on its own account.

As is where is basis in GST regularisation treats lower-rate payments as full discharge and prohibits refunds to higher payers.
Where genuine doubt arises from competing tariff entries or divergent interpretations, past returns and payments made by taxpayers at a lower competing rate (including nil rate under an exemption entry) will be accepted as full discharge of tax liability for the period regularized on an "as is / as is, where is" basis; taxpayers who paid a higher rate are not entitled to refunds, and regularisation does not protect cases where no tax was paid, in which event the appropriate tax will be recovered.

Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms: revised import quantity for 2 Ethylhexanol and updated export description, effective immediately.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade amends Standard Input Output Norms (SION) A 1303 by revising the export product description and modifying import input quantities: Phthalic Anhydride remains at 0.400 kg, 2 Ethylhexanol (Octanol) is reduced from 0.700 kg to 0.680 kg, and Di Octyl Phthalate (DOP) is indicated as the PVC plasticizer. The amendment takes immediate effect under the Foreign Trade Policy-2023.

Government-supported Line of Credit enables export financing for refinery construction, subject to Foreign Trade Policy and FEMA compliance.
Government-supported Line of Credit permits financing of imports for refinery construction from India subject to export eligibility under the Foreign Trade Policy; the LoC is effective from the agreement date with final disbursement due 48 months after scheduled contract completion. Shipments must be declared in the Export Declaration Form/Shipping Bill per Reserve Bank instructions. No agency commission is payable under the LoC, but exporters may use own funds or Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency Account balances for commission after realization, subject to remittance rules; AD Category-I banks must notify exporters and direct them to Exim Bank for details.

Expected Loss based Rating Scale permitted for municipal bonds financing infrastructure to be used alongside standard rating scales.
SEBI permits Credit Rating Agencies to use an Expected Loss (EL) based Rating Scale, in addition to standardized rating scales and Probability of Default ratings, for rating Municipal Bonds issued to finance infrastructure assets; this directive is effective immediately and issued under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act read with Regulation 20 of the CRA Regulations.

Investor charter obligations require RTAs to publish the charter, disclose monthly complaint data, and adopt SCORES and ODR.
RTAs must publish and display the updated Investor Charter, disseminate it to shareholders, and disclose monthly complaint data and resolution metrics on their websites in the prescribed Annexure B format by the specified monthly deadline. The Charter prescribes service timelines for investor requests, obliges transparent grievance redressal via SCORES 2.0 and SMARTODR ODR (including escalation and arbitration stages), requires protection of investor confidentiality, and takes immediate effect while rescinding the earlier circular and amending the Master Circular.

Internal audit composition for CRAs expanded to include Cost Accountants and DISSA-qualified auditors, effective immediately.
The audit team for registered credit rating agencies must be composed of at least a Chartered Accountant or a Cost Accountant and an information-systems auditor holding CISA, DISA, or DISSA; the amendment expands eligible qualifications and is effective immediately under statutory regulatory powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market.

FCRA account payments allowed for compounding and fees via SBI Branch Payment; other withdrawals remain prohibited.
Payment of compounding penalties and statutory fees for associations with expired FCRA registration is permitted to be made from the association's FCRA bank account at State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch through the FCRA online portal by using the introduced SBI Branch Payment mechanism; any other receipt or utilisation from the FCRA bank account during the expired validity period remains prohibited and attracts penal consequences.