Hospital approval enables employer-paid specified medical treatment expenses to be excluded from employee perquisites during the approved validity period.
Approval is granted to Raj Hospitals, Ranchi under the proviso to section 17(2) read with Rule 3A, so that sums paid by an employer for medical treatment at the approved hospital for diseases specified in Rule 3A(2) shall not be treated as a perquisite in the hands of the employee; the approval is time limited, non transferable, subject to inspection, requires notification if statutory conditions cease to be met, may be withdrawn for fraud or non compliance, and requires timely renewal applications.

Tax audit case disposal accelerated with directions to submit quality reports to assessing authorities without delay.
Expedite completion of pending tax audit cases selected for assessment year 2016-17 and ensure submission of quality audit reports within the prescribed time. The directive reiterates that the cases had already been distributed among tax audit officers for timely and quality disposal, but a substantial number of matters remained pending. Officers are instructed to accelerate audit work in the selected cases and forward quality reports to the assessing authorities without delay.

R-5A generation and timely disposal of assessment cases were mandated for pending 2015-16 matters before limitation.
Direction issued for expeditious disposal of assessment cases relating to assessment year 2015-16 under the Uttar Pradesh SGST framework. Cases had earlier been distributed among assessing authorities at the same location, and instructions were already in place to generate R-5A for cases where it had not been generated and to balance transfer of such cases among officers of the same rank at the local level. The headquarters-level transfer exercise for these cases was stated to be complete, and no further transfer from headquarters was to be made. Subordinate assessing authorities were instructed to ensure generation of R-5A in all pending 2015-16 cases, issuance of notices and other required steps, and disposal of all such matters before the limitation date of 31-03-2019.

EPCG Scheme import permission: Pre-fabricated PUF panels allowed for chilled storage of export fresh produce.
Amendment adds pre-fabricated Polyurethane Foam (PUF) panels/doors to Appendix 5F, permitting their import under the EPCG Scheme when used in chilled rooms or cold storages established by units for storage of fresh fruits and vegetables meant for export; effect: such imports are allowed under the scheme.

GST liability on business correspondent services: banking company treated as service provider and responsible for tax on customer fees.
Banking companies are the service providers where BF/BC act on their behalf and must pay GST on the entire value of service charges or fees charged to customers; BF/BC receive commission and cannot directly charge customers. Exemption for BF/BC services regarding accounts in a rural area branch applies only if the services fall under Heading 9971 and relate to a branch classified as rural per RBI guidelines, and the bank's classification should be accepted.

GST exemption for educational institution services: institutional self-supply of food and beverages is exempt, outsourced catering is taxable.
Supply of food and beverages by an educational institution to its students, faculty and staff is exempt from GST under the exemption notification where made by the institution itself; supplies of food and beverages by third parties to the institution under contract are taxable at the rate prescribed for such services. Amendments to the explanatory text and service heading were made to clarify this distinction.

GST declaration filing deadline extends for eligible registered persons affected by common portal technical difficulties.
The deadline for submitting FORM GST TRAN-1 is extended until 31 March 2019 for registered persons who could not file by the due date because of technical difficulties on the common portal and whose cases have been recommended by the Council. The extension supersedes the earlier arrangement while preserving actions taken or omitted before supersession.

Classification of printing of pictures as photographic processing services, resulting in application of the higher GST rate under relevant notification.
The service of printing of pictures is classified under 998386 Photographic and video-graphic processing services, since the explanatory notes include colour printing of images from film or digital media and related processing within 998386 while the notes for 998912 explicitly exclude such printing; the applicable GST rate follows from the classification under the revenue notification.

Immunity from taxation: services by ADB and IFC are exempt from GST under their constitutive Acts.
Immunity from taxation in the ADB Act and the IFC Act exempts ADB and IFC - including their assets, properties, income and operations - from taxation and from any obligation to collect, withhold or pay taxes, which precludes applying GST to services provided directly by ADB and IFC. The exemption is limited to services supplied by ADB and IFC themselves and does not extend to entities appointed by or working on their behalf.

GST exemption for educational services: long duration degree programmes at institutes of national importance qualify, short term executive courses do not.
IIMs are treated as educational institutions under the GST notifications by virtue of the IIM Act; services to students in long duration programmes (one year or more) that confer legally recognised qualifications and are awarded on the Board of Governors' recommendation are exempt from GST, while short duration executive programmes (less than one year) that issue participation certificates and do not confer such qualifications are not exempt.

Labelling operations in bonded warehouses permitted without prior permission, enabling statutory compliance for packaging and RSP.
Labelling, affixing retail sale price and related operations required to meet statutory compliance under legal metrology, FSSAI, DGFT and State Excise may be undertaken in any Customs bonded warehouse without requiring prior permission under the Customs Act; Circular 38/2018-Customs is modified to this extent and the Board may be approached for clarifications.

ANF-2D mandatory justification: applicants must state the relaxation sought and cite the relevant FTP provision or face rejection.
Applicants seeking relaxation under the FTP/HBP must complete column 15 of ANF 2D online, clearly stating the specific relaxation sought and citing the relevant FTP/HBP paragraph; applications submitted without this information will be treated as incomplete and rejected to ensure timely placement before the Policy Relaxation Committee and to avoid delays in processing.

Export transhipment module enables movement of export containers from Kolkata to gateway ports under bond and ETP permit.
An Export Transhipment (ETP) Module in ICES permits movement of export containers from Kolkata Port/CFS to Gateway Ports after filing an ETP application post-stuffing or LEO. The carrier/custodian must register a continuous TP Bond and BG; upon ETP approval by the original appraiser a printed ETP permit allows gate exit, debits the bond, and places the Shipping Bill into Drawback processing. At Gateway Port officers verify seals and particulars, enter Allowed for Shipment, and after EGM filing the debited bond is re-credited.

EGM data integration: correct local and gateway EGM mismatches and stuffing reports to enable automated IGST export refunds.
IGST refund processing is impeded by non filing, late filing and mismatches between local and gateway EGMs and by lack of stuffing reports; custodians, shipping lines, agents, Preventive officers and customs officers at ICDs/CFSs and gateway ports must file local EGMs online, maintain tally sheets linking previous and new containers for LCL consolidation, enter stuffing reports for all shipping bills, and use ICES amendment options to correct container details so EGMs integrate and automated IGST refund sanctioning can proceed.

Suspension of Bill of Entry filing for budget system updates; shipping bills continue and traders must verify duty liability.
ICES directories will be updated for budget changes, requiring a temporary suspension of filing Bills of Entry and Section 48 approvals from the stated cut-off time while other ICES functions remain available. Shipping Bills processing will continue. Sites will monitor SBS entries made during the update and collect revised export duty/cess manually if budget changes are announced. Processing of Bills filed before the cut-off will continue; traders should verify prior Bills for changed duty liability before seeking out-of-charge. Service Center digitalisation work will pause at the cut-off and resume after system updation; printing is unaffected.

Manual appeal filing procedure requires Form APL-01 with provisional and final acknowledgements for appeals filed manually.
Appeals must be filed manually in Form APL-01, attested and signed by the appellant, with the reader to the Appellate Authority entering each APL-01 in a register, assigning a specific number and issuing a provisional acknowledgement that cites that number. Within seven days the reader shall issue a final acknowledgment in Form APL-02 recording the appeal number, the provisional acknowledgement number and prescribed particulars. The reader must maintain a register of appeals, and all procedures under Section 107 and Rules 108, 109 and 109A must be complied with. The manual procedure is effective from 01.01.2019.

GST refund disbursement: Treasury urged to expedite sanctioned refunds; Finance Department confirms payments on green channel.
Claims for SGST refunds faced reported abnormal delays at the Treasury in disbursing statutorily sanctioned amounts, prompting a request for instructions to expedite payments. The Finance Department replied that there are no current issues in claiming GST refunds and that payments are placed under a green channel to ensure prompt disbursement.

Clubbing of authorisations: amended rules limit eligible authorisations and set temporal, input and regularisation conditions for consolidation.
Amendments to Para 4.38 define the facility of clubbing of Authorisations: requests in ANF 4C to issuing RA; no clubbing for certain earlier or tainted Authorisations or where EODC/redemption or adjudication is complete; clubbing limited to redemption/regularisation of Advance Authorisations with no further imports/exports; allowed across financial years and EO periods subject to SION/ad hoc norms and minimum value addition; only Authorisations issued within an eighteen month window from the earliest Authorisation may be clubbed and only imports within thirty months of the earliest Authorisation are considered, with excess regularised under Para 4.49; clubbed Authorisations are treated as one for CIF/FOB and value addition calculations.

GST liability on banking services via business facilitators: banks are the service provider and must account for GST accordingly.
Under RBI guidelines banks engage BFs/BCs but remain responsible for customer-facing services; consequently, the banking company is the service provider and must pay GST on the entire service charge or fee charged to customers. Exemption under Heading 9971 for services relating to accounts in a rural branch requires that BF/BC services be in the individual capacity, fall under Heading 9971, and relate to a branch classified as rural per RBI guidelines, with the bank's classification accepted for exemption purposes.

Educational institution exemption clarified: institutional supply of food and beverages is exempt, third party catering is taxable.
Supply of food and beverages by an educational institution to its students, faculty and staff is exempt from GST under Notification No. 12/2017-(Rate), Sl. No. 66, when provided by the institution itself; similar supplies made by a third party under contract are taxable under Notification No. 11/2017-(Rate), Sl. No. 7(i). The notifications are to be read together, exemption entries prevailing where the description clearly covers the supply. Amendments were made to remove references that caused doubt and heading 9963 was added to Sl. No. 66.