Upstreaming of clients' funds - late receipts frozen until next upstreaming window; FDRs limited and pre-terminable.
Clients' funds must be upstreamed to Clearing Corporations in cash, by lien on pre-terminable FDRs of tenor not exceeding one year and one day, or by pledge of mutual fund overnight scheme units. Late receipt of client funds is permitted provided those funds are frozen against debit until the next day's upstreaming window and exchanges ensure such balances remain minimal and legitimate. Existing longer-tenor FDRs created before the prior circular may be grandfathered until maturity, with renewals required to meet the revised FDR conditions.

Amnesty scheme extension: registration deadline moved to December and customs duty payment deadline moved to March.
Amendment requires any authorisation holder choosing the amnesty to complete registration as prescribed by the scheme by 31.12.2023 and to complete payment of customs duty plus interest with the jurisdictional customs authorities by 31.03.2024, with all other terms of the prior Public Notices remaining unchanged.

Mandatory additional qualifiers: implementation deadline extended to allow further testing and industry readiness measures stakeholders
The Board has extended the compliance deadline for mandatory additional qualifiers required in specified import and export declarations to permit further testing and stakeholder preparation, and it directs issuance of public notices and invites reports of implementation difficulties to the tariff unit for resolution.

Tax Collection at Source threshold restored for LRS; increased TCS rates deferred and credit card LRS inclusion postponed.
The circular restores the Rs 7 lakh per individual per financial year threshold for applicability of TCS on all LRS remittances across modes and purposes; increases in TCS rates effected by the Finance Act, 2023 are deferred to take effect from 1 October 2023, with earlier rates applying until 30 September 2023. Classification of international credit card transactions as LRS is postponed; international credit card expenditures abroad are not subject to TCS until further order. The threshold is aggregated at the remitter level (not per purpose or dealer), authorised dealers may rely on remitter undertakings for prior remittances, and LRS purpose codes determine concessional rates for education and medical remittances. The threshold for LRS and the separate threshold for overseas tour program package operate independently, and an overseas tour package requires at least two specified elements to qualify.

Faceless assessment compliance requires complete electronic documentation, accurate Bill of Entry linkage, and specific responses to assessment queries.
Faceless Assessment is to be expedited by uploading legible and properly linked supporting documents through e-Sanchit with the Bill of Entry. Importers and customs brokers should submit product, value, exemption, registration, licence, and compliance records applicable to the imported goods, use correct document codes, and answer queries specifically. Duty-exemption and preferential-duty claims require records demonstrating fulfilment of applicable conditions. The required documents vary by goods and assessment group, are non-exhaustive, and may be supplemented where necessary for assessment.

Extension of TDS/TCS filing deadlines: administrative relaxation permits later submission of first-quarter statements without immediate penalty.
The Board granted a temporal relaxation of statutory filing deadlines permitting the first-quarter TDS statements in Form No. 26Q and Form No. 27Q and the TCS statement in Form No. 27EQ to be furnished by the later date specified by the Board, thereby extending the operative compliance timetable for those specified forms.

Minimum public unitholding requirement must be achieved through prescribed methods under SEBI circular, with disclosure and exchange monitoring
InvITs having public unitholding below the required threshold must raise public unitholding to the mandated level within three years using prescribed methods such as fresh issuance, offer for sale (via offer document or secondary market), rights or bonus issues with related-party renunciation, institutional placement, capped ETF transfers, or open-market sales subject to volume and yearly limits. Sponsors and related parties must observe disclosure, timing, and non-purchase undertakings; the Investment Manager must announce details to exchanges and secure undertakings, while exchanges monitor methods and report non-compliance to SEBI.

Minimum public unitholding compliance for REITs via prescribed issuance, sale, transfer and disclosure mechanisms under securities rules.
Regulation 14(2A) mandates listed REITs to achieve a Minimum Public Unitholding within a specified period. The Manager may use prescribed mechanisms-issuance to public, offer for sale by Sponsors/Manager and related parties via offer document or secondary market, rights or bonus issues with forgoing of entitlements by Sponsors/Manager, institutional placement, conditional open market sales subject to volume and disclosure constraints, or transfers to an ETF-subject to advance announcement, undertakings, legal compliance, and stock exchange monitoring.

Disclosure of non-cooperative issuers requires CRAs to publish and daily-update two segregated public lists and report compliance.
CRAs must publish two separate public lists of non-cooperative issuers-(i) listed or proposed-to-be-listed securities and (ii) other ratings-showing issuer name, date of categorisation as non-cooperative, and a link to the issuer's press releases; these disclosures must be updated daily. The obligation is effective July 15, 2023, with CRAs required to report board-ratified compliance within one quarter and subject to half-yearly internal audit monitoring under the CRA Regulations.

Self Customs Pass for Importer/Exporter introduced allowing eligible parties to apply digitally for customs passes via CBLMS.
A new digital Self Customs Pass application feature in the CBLMS portal permits importers or exporters transacting on their own account and employees acting for a person or firm to apply for customs passes in line with regulation 3(b) of CBLR 2018; a detailed user manual is available under the CBLMS "Knowledge Centre" tab for procedural guidance.

Investor Service Centres to ensure accessible complaint lodging, facilitation of arbitration and investor guidance across exchanges.
Investor Service Centres shall be maintained or expanded by stock exchanges, singly or jointly, to provide minimum facilities enabling investor information access, complaint lodging and dispute resolution. Facilities required include regional newspapers, internet-enabled computers, physical and electronic complaint receipt with a dedicated staff member, facilitation desks for grievance and arbitration applications, video-enabled arbitration access, meeting space, office infrastructure, a legal and educational library, and visitor records. Complaint status must be maintained electronically.

Annual secretarial compliance report requirement: REIT managers must appoint a practicing company secretary and file the specified report within the prescribed period.
SEBI requires the Manager of a REIT to appoint a practicing company secretary to examine compliance with applicable SEBI regulations and to produce an annual secretarial compliance report in the prescribed Annex A format. The Manager must file the report with stock exchanges within sixty days of the financial year end, annex it to the REIT's annual report, provide access to required documents and records for examination, and monitor corrective actions; stock exchanges will monitor compliance. The requirement is effective from the financial year 2023 24.

Annual secretarial compliance report requirement for InvITs mandates practitioner certification and filing with stock exchanges promptly.
The investment manager must appoint a practicing company secretary to examine compliance with applicable SEBI statutes, regulations, circulars and guidelines and prepare an annual secretarial compliance report in the prescribed format. The report must be filed with stock exchanges and annexed to the InvIT's annual report within sixty days of year end, disclose deviations, records maintained, any regulatory actions, and prior observations with actions taken, while stock exchanges will monitor compliance.

REITs must file quarterly and annual governance compliance reports in prescribed Annex formats within specified timelines.
Managers of REITs must submit a Compliance Report on Governance in prescribed Annex formats: Annex I quarterly within twenty-one days of each quarter end, Annex II annually within twenty-one days of the financial year end, and Annex III within three months of the financial year end; reports must be signed by the compliance officer or CEO and are to be filed with stock exchanges and included in the REIT's annual report.

Governance compliance reporting mandatory under SEBI requires quarterly filings in prescribed formats signed by the compliance officer or CEO.
Regulation 26K mandates the investment manager of an InvIT to submit a quarterly compliance report on governance to recognised stock exchanges within twenty-one days of quarter-end, signed by the compliance officer or CEO. SEBI prescribes three formats-Annex I (quarterly), Annex II (annual website and regulatory disclosures), and Annex III (annual affirmations)-detailing board and committee composition, meeting records, affirmations on compliance with InvIT Regulations, website disclosures, and annual attestations. Reports must be filed on time, included in the InvIT's annual report, and will be monitored by stock exchanges; effective from financial year 2023-24.

Compensation cess based on Retail Sale Price per unit; system mandates self declaration and provisional assessment procedures.
Levy of compensation cess is based on Retail Sale Price per unit; provisional assessment is allowed pending the GST Council. Where RSP is not legally required on packaging, RSP for provisional assessment shall be importer self declared, taking account of prices of identical or similar imported goods sold in India. The system requires Single Window declarations (GST, CCESS, RSP, Retail Sale Price, number of units) and will calculate cess as rate x RSP x units. Bills of entry under this notification will be assessed as provisional and a PD bond is required.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority designates DGGI Adjudication officer to adjudicate specified show cause notices against company units.
In exercise of powers under rule 3(1) Central Excise Rules, 2017 read with clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 CGST Act, 2017, the CBIC appoints the Pr. Additional Director General/Additional Director General (Adjudication), DGGI, New Delhi as the Central Excise officer to adjudicate the show cause notices listed in the Table relating to Units 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of M/s Vishnu Pouch Packaging Pvt. Ltd., each SCN being answerable to the Commissioner (CGST & CX), Ahmedabad North.

Auditor reporting obligations for fraud require prompt escalation to corporate governance and prescribed filing with the Central Government.
Statutory auditors must report fraud or suspected fraud discovered during an audit by promptly notifying the Board or Audit Committee and, where required, filing the prescribed statement with the Central Government in the specified form if follow-up responses are not received. Auditors must maintain professional scepticism, not be influenced by company legal opinions, and report even when not the first to identify the issue. Resignation does not absolve the duty to report nor prevent regulatory consequences for participation in fraudulent conduct.

SEZ approvals and extensions implemented with conditional terms, tax assessment rights and further due diligence required for some proposals.
The Board acted on SEZ governance matters including extensions of formal and in principle approvals and LoAs, approvals and deferrals of co developer status and area additions, cancellations of co developer status, setting up of new SEZs, renewals and monitoring directives, and conditional grant of an Industrial Licence under the IDR Act. Approvals were made subject to standard SEZ Act and Rules conditions, co developer agreements, DoC instructions on lease periods, area restrictions under SEZ Rules, and the Assessing Officer's right to examine taxability; several proposals were deferred for further due diligence or remanded for hearings.

Advance Authorisation closure procedures allow physical redemption submissions and online EODC status updates; EOP extensions processed physically.
Authorisation holders must submit physical files for redemption and EOP extension to the concerned DGFT Regional Authority, which will examine and process EOP extension applications manually; upon RA approval, holders may submit online Closure/EODC Status Update requests via DGFT website Services Advance Authorisation Annual Advance Authorisation Closure/EODC Status update, and the RA must record any physical correspondence in the portal's correspondence section.