RTI administration designates a Central Public Information Officer for the Rummaging and Intelligence Wing with immediate effect.
RTI administration for the Rummaging & Intelligence Wing of the Office of the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Mumbai, is modified by designating Shri D. R. Pardeshi, Assistant Commissioner, as the Central Public Information Officer under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The designation takes immediate effect and continues until further orders, replacing the earlier arrangement.

T+2 trading of bonus shares enabled, allowing market trading two working days after the record date under SEBI procedure.
Enables T+2 trading for equity bonus shares by requiring issuers to obtain in principle approval within five working days of board approval, deem allotment on T+1, and for exchanges to notify acceptance and the deemed allotment date. Depositories must receive documents for credit by 12:00 PM on T+1 and issuers must upload distinctive number ranges; shares will be tradable on T+2. Direct credit into permanent ISINs is permitted for bonus issues. The procedure applies to bonus issues announced on or after October 1, 2024, and non compliance attracts penalties under existing SEBI guidance.

Continuity bond requirement enables duty-free temporary import and monitored re-export of durable containers with timelines and reporting.
Container Agents must execute a Continuity Bond (covering only the duty element) filed with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner, Transhipment Section, ACC Bengaluru. The Section maintains a manual Bond Register to record arrivals, debit/credit movements and to permit intra-airport and exporter movements. Landing certificates must be filed within ten working days and exporter-returned containers within seven working days. Re-export must occur within six months; extensions up to three months (Deputy/Assistant Commissioner) or further periods (Principal Commissioner) may be granted for recorded reasons. Monthly re-export statements are required; defaults invite Customs Act action.

Centralized fee collection mechanism for registered investment advisers and research analysts enables transparent client payments through an ASB portal.
Optional Centralized Fee Collection Mechanism (CeFCoM) allows clients to pay fees to registered Investment Advisers and Research Analysts through a designated platform administered by a recognized Administration and Supervisory Body (ASB), creating a closed, transparent payment ecosystem; ASB and registrants are to encourage use and the implementing market infrastructure entity will specify the operational framework and rollout.

Reporting obligations for FVCIs: revised quarterly format, mandatory submissions and custodian responsibility enforced.
Foreign Venture Capital Investors must submit quarterly reports in a revised format for all quarters, including when no investments occur. Initial reports are to be emailed in the revised excel format and thereafter filed on the intermediary portal within the prescribed post quarter period. The template requires detailed general information about the FVCI, custody and banking details, investible funds and cumulative and quarterwise investment breakdowns by instrument, scheme and industry, and disclosure of regulatory status and any non adherence to securities laws.

IGST refund regularization allowed where IGST and cess are later paid with interest and the Bill of Entry reassessed.
Where inputs were initially imported under customs exemption without payment of IGST and compensation cess but the importer subsequently pays IGST and compensation cess with interest and secures reassessment of the Bill of Entry by jurisdictional customs authorities, the IGST refunded on exports will not be regarded as contravening the refund bar; the Explanation clarifies that benefit of the exemption is not deemed availed if IGST and cess are paid and only basic customs duty exemption remains.

Place of supply determined by recipient location: data hosting to overseas cloud providers treated as export of services.
Place of supply for data hosting services by Indian providers to overseas cloud computing providers is the recipient's location under the default IGST rule; such suppliers are not intermediaries, their services are not in relation to goods made available by the recipient, nor directly in relation to immovable property, and therefore the supply can qualify as an export of services subject to other export conditions.

Input tax credit on demo vehicles permitted when used to promote further supply, with limits for agent arrangements and depreciation.
Demo vehicles used by authorised dealers to provide trial runs and demonstrate features promote sales and therefore qualify as being used for making further supply of such motor vehicles; accordingly, input tax credit on such demo vehicles is not blocked. Where demo vehicles are used for other purposes or where the dealer only provides marketing/agent services and does not make the supply on its own account, ITC is not available. If demo vehicles are capitalized they are treated as capital goods and ITC is permitted subject to the statutory depreciation limitation on the tax component and to adjustment on subsequent sale.

Place of supply of advertising services: principal-to-principal supplies to foreign clients qualify as exports, agent services treated differently.
Where an Indian advertising company contracts and pays media owners in its own name, supplies a comprehensive advertising service to a foreign client and invoices the foreign client in foreign exchange, the agency acts on its own account (not as an intermediary) and the place of supply is the location of the recipient (the foreign client) outside India, making the service export of services subject to export conditions. Conversely, where the agency merely facilitates a direct contract between foreign client and media owner, it is an intermediary and the place of supply of its facilitation services is the supplier's location in India.

GST rate clarification: specified goods classification and past period regularisation enable defined tax treatment and compliance conditions.
Solar cookers using solar and grid electricity are classifiable under heading 8516 and attract 12% GST. All types of sprinklers, including fire water sprinklers, attract 12% GST, and issues for past periods are regularized on an as is where is basis. Parts of poultry keeping machinery are classifiable under tariff item 84369100 and attract 12% GST, with the rate schedule amended to expressly include such parts and past doubts regularized on an as is where is basis. The definition of pre packaged and labelled excludes agricultural produce in packages over 25 kg or 25 l, excluding them from the 5% levy.

GST exemptions and regularisation clarified for railway services, RERA collections, digital incentives, reinsurance, retrocession, and accommodation services.
Clarifications were issued on the GST treatment of specified services, including exemptions, regularisation of past periods on an 'as is where is' basis, and the scope of existing exemption entries for railways, real estate regulation, digital payment incentives, insurance reinsurance, retrocession, and accommodation services. GST exemption was clarified for certain services provided by Ministry of Railways to the general public and for inter-zonal services within Indian Railways, and related past periods were regularized. The circular also clarifies that statutory collections made by RERA are exempt, that further sharing of the notified digital payment incentive is a non-taxable subsidy, and that reinsurance includes retrocession services.

Near zero data loss requirement strengthens business continuity plans, mandating near site replication and DRS staffing parity.
MIIs must implement Near Site (NS) capability alongside Disaster Recovery Site (DRS): stock exchanges must achieve near zero data loss at NS, clearing corporations and depositories must achieve zero data loss. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) must be near zero, with documented data reconciliation for resumption from DRS/NS. DRS must be staffed with personnel having equivalent expertise to Primary Data Centre (PDC) and capable of independently running live operations. Solution architectures must ensure high availability, fault tolerance, no single point of failure, data and transaction integrity; synchronous replication between PDC and NS is required.

IGCR automation: EOUs must obtain IIN and register IGCR bonds on ICEGATE to access concessional import benefits.
EOUs and SEZ units must transition import clearances to the IGCRS framework, obtain an IGCR Identification Number (IIN) on ICEGATE, and register an IGCR bond to claim concessional imports under Notification No. 52/2003. Prior intimation via the IGCR module generates the IIN; bonds already submitted in the year may be registered as IGCR bonds. Bills of Entry must declare the IIN and specified bond details; the system will automatically debit the IGCR bond and any bank guarantee upon BoE submission. Implementation was extended to 17.09.2024 to facilitate compliance.

Brand Rate Drawback claims: streamlined filing, timelines, extensions, bond requirements and documentation procedures for exporters.
Applications for fixation of Brand Rate Drawback under Section 75 read with Rule 6 and Rule 7 must be filed within three months from the relevant date, accompanied by specified DBK statements, declarations, manufacturing descriptions, attestations and working sheets. Incomplete filings will be returned with a Deficiency Memo and deemed not filed if deficiencies are not cured within 30 days; extensions (three months by Assistant/Deputy Commissioner and further six months by Principal/Commissioner) are available on application with prescribed fees and may involve inquiry. Bond requirements differ for provisional drawback under Rule 6 and Rule 7.

Goods Registration process readiness: timely LIGM filing and custodian filing at ICEGATE to enable GR and resolve acknowledgment errors.
The notice requires timely filing of the Local Import General Manifest (LIGM) by freight forwarders or consolidators via EDI before cargo arrival at the CFS to enable GR initiation; authorises CFS custodians/CCSPs to file Import Arrival Messages at ICEGATE on importers' behalf upon receipt of requisite documents; mandates custodian mechanisms for ICEGATE acknowledgment verification and correction of clerical or SMTP errors; and prescribes a custodian endorsed manual GR request process and escalation of unresolved system errors to DG Systems.

Abeyance of Public Notice restores prior wastage norms and SIONs, suspending recent modifications pending further notice.
The notice places in abeyance the modifications to permissible wastage and Standard Input Output Norms for precious metal content in export items and extends that abeyance until 31st October 2024. During this interim period, wastage norms under the Handbook of Procedures and SIONs M1-M7 as they existed prior to the earlier Public Notice are restored and remain operative.

Export benefits via courier mode now processed on ICES to enable Duty Drawback, RoDTEP and RoSCTL claims.
Duty Drawback, RoDTEP and RoSCTL claims for courier exports will be processed on ICES; authorised couriers must file Shipping Bills on ICEGATE under existing courier registrations, custodians at ICTs must register on ICEGATE to manage export goods registration and messaging, goods will be examined at ICTs while customs clearance is performed on ICES, and a DG Systems Advisory will further elaborate the modality.

Appellate authority appointment for Temp ID appeal cases and enforcement-generated demands under the goods and services tax framework.
Appointment of an appellate authority is partially modified so that Sri Pradipta Kumar Gangopadhyay, Additional Commissioner of Revenue, shall hear appeals in specified Temp ID and enforcement-generated demand cases under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The order applies immediately, while matters with three prior adjournments or matters already finally heard under earlier authorization are to be disposed of in the same capacity.

GST classification clarifications: specified goods and supplies regularized with certification and input tax credit conditions.
Solar cookers operating on dual energy are classifiable under heading 8516 and attract the 12% GST rate. All sprinklers, including fire water sprinklers, attract 12% GST, and past doubts are regularized on an as is where is basis. Parts of poultry-keeping machinery are classifiable under tariff item 84369100 and attract 12% GST; the schedule entry was amended to include parts and past issues are regularized. Pre-packaged agricultural produce in packages over 25 kilogram or 25 litre is excluded from the expression pre-packaged and labelled, so it will not attract the 5% levy. Supplies of pulses and cereals to or by government-engaged agencies for approved schemes from 01.07.2017 to 17.07.2022 are regularized subject to a Deputy Secretary certificate and reversal of Input Tax Credit if availed.

GST exemptions and regularisation clarified for rail services, SPV infrastructure use, RERA fees, digital payment incentives, reinsurance and accommodation.
Clarifies GST Council recommendations: Ministry of Railways public services and inter zonal supplies exempted and past liability regularized on an 'as is where is' basis; SPV supplies permitting use of infrastructure exempted and past transactions regularized; RERA statutory collections covered by governmental authority exemption; acquiring bank incentive sharing, where distributed as decided by the payment operator in consultation with participating banks, treated as a subsidy and not taxable; reinsurance (including retrocession) and certain accommodation supplies are exempt or regularized for specified past periods.