GST applicability on penal charges clarified: penal charges by regulated entities are not subject to GST; related exemptions regularised.
Penal charges imposed by regulated entities in compliance with RBI directions are not subject to GST. RBI regulated Payment Aggregators performing settlement and handling funds fall within the acquiring bank exemption for covered card settlements; payment gateways that do not handle funds are excluded. Exemptions and GST liabilities for R&D services against grants, skilling services by NSDC approved training partners, reverse charge renting to composition taxpayers, electricity transmission/distribution ancillary services, and certain institute services have been prospectively adjusted and historic periods regularized on an "as is where is" basis. MCD facility management services are taxable; DDA is not a local authority under GST law.

GST regularisation for co insurance apportionment and reinsurance commissions permits retrospective 'as is where is' compliance.
Apportionment of co insurance premium by the lead insurer and insurer services to a reinsurer involving ceding/reinsurance commission are treated as neither supply under Schedule III provided the lead insurer pays tax on the full premium from the insured and the reinsurer pays tax on the gross reinsurance premium inclusive of commission; these rules were enacted in the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 and have been regularized retrospectively on an "as is where is" basis.

Input tax credit time-limit relief enables reconsideration and rectification of pending delayed-credit demands, while limiting refunds of prior payments.
Retrospective input tax credit time-limit relief requires pending investigations, adjudication, appeals and revision proceedings to consider credit now made eligible. Orders confirming demand for delayed credit may be rectified through a special electronic procedure where no further appeal has been filed, supported by prescribed demand details. The issuing officer decides the request, considers other denial grounds, follows natural justice where rectification is adverse, and uploads the rectified order electronically. The special route is limited to retrospectively eligible delayed credit; unrelated matters require general rectification. Tax paid or credit reversed is not refundable, except eligible appellate pre-deposits.

GST treatment of co insurance premium apportionment and reinsurance commission regularised, subject to tax payment condition by lead insurer/reinsurer.
Apportionment of co insurance premium by the lead insurer and insurer services to reinsurer (where ceding/reinsurance commission is deducted) are treated as non supplies under Schedule III, conditional on the lead insurer or the reinsurer paying GST on the full premium/gross reinsurance premium inclusive of commission. These rules were enacted by the Uttar Pradesh GST Amendment (No. 2) Act, 2024 and GST payment on such transactions is regularized retrospectively on an "as is where is" basis for the specified earlier period.

Interest and penalty waiver under GST requires full tax payment, prescribed applications, and withdrawal of pending challenges.
Section 128A of the TNGST Act permits waiver of interest, penalty, or both on qualifying section 73 demands for the financial years 2017-18 to 2019-20, subject to full payment of tax and compliance with Rule 164. Taxpayers must file SPL-01 or SPL-02 within the applicable period, withdraw pending challenges, and use prescribed payment and adjustment procedures. Full tax payment includes tax on erroneous refund and non-covered periods within the same demand, although waiver is restricted to eligible periods and non-erroneous-refund demands. Failure to pay residual or subsequently determined amounts within three months voids the waiver.

GST applicability on penal charges and limited exemption for payment aggregator settlement functions clarified, with specified regularisations of past periods.
The Circular clarifies that penal charges levied by Regulated Entities under RBI directions are charges for breach of loan terms and not subject to GST; RBI regulated Payment Aggregators qualify as an acquiring bank for the limited exempt settlement function for single card transactions up to two thousand, excluding Payment Gateway services; exemptions for R&D services against grants and for NSDC approved Training Partners were addressed and certain past periods of GST liability for various supplies were regularized on an "as is where is" basis.

GST regularization on co-insurance premium apportionment and ceding reinsurance commission clarified and backdated for compliance.
Regularization addresses GST on apportionment of co-insurance premium by a lead insurer and on ceding/reinsurance commission deducted from reinsurance premium, with Schedule III treating these transactions as neither supply of goods nor services only if the lead insurer remits tax on the entire premium and the reinsurer remits tax on the gross reinsurance premium inclusive of commission; the state enacted and notified these provisions and the GST Council recommended retrospective regularization on an as-is-where-is basis.

GST audit selection under the West Bengal regime identifies registered persons for records audit for the specified tax period.
Selection of registered persons for audit of records under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the period commencing on or after 1 April 2022 and ending on or before 31 March 2023, or part thereof, in exercise of powers under section 65 read with rule 101. A total of 910 registered persons, as specified in the annexed list, were selected for audit. The order takes effect immediately.

GST audit selection under the West Bengal GST framework covers registered persons for the specified return period.
Selection of registered persons for audit of records under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is made for the period commencing on or after 1 April 2021 and ending on or before 31 March 2022, or part thereof. A total of 801 registered persons, as specified in the annexed list, are selected for audit under section 65 read with rule 101, and the order takes immediate effect.

Audit de-selection of registered persons follows revised criteria, non-existence findings, and insignificant turnover under state GST administration.
Registered persons selected for audit under section 65 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, or part thereof, were de-selected by a subsequent order. The order notes that one taxpayer had been counted twice, some persons had already been de-selected earlier, and 109 taxpayers met the revised selection criteria. The remaining 634 registered persons named in the annexed list were de-selected from audit with immediate effect, on grounds including non-existence, low or insignificant turnover, late filing, cancellation, CIRP, suspension, and non-fulfilment of the new selection criteria.

Biometric Aadhaar authentication for GST registration requires applicants to attend designated centres for identity and original-document verification.
GST registration applicants within notified jurisdictional circles must attend designated Facilitation Centres for biometric-based Aadhaar authentication, photographing of the applicant, and verification of original documents uploaded with the registration application. The notified centres serve applicants in the specified circles across Himachal Pradesh under rule 8(4A) of the Himachal Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017. The notification operationalises in-person identity authentication and original-document verification from 28 January 2025.

GST treatment of vouchers distinguishes non-taxable voucher transfers from taxable agency, support services, and underlying supplies on redemption.
Vouchers that qualify as RBI-recognised prepaid instruments used to settle obligations are money and are neither goods nor services. Other vouchers are actionable claims, and, being outside specified actionable claims, their transfer is also neither a supply of goods nor services. Pure principal-to-principal trading of owned vouchers is not subject to GST, while commission or fee earned by agents for distribution and related support is taxable as a service. GST applies to separately supplied promotional, support or customisation services. Unredeemed voucher breakage is not taxable absent an underlying supply or an agreement charging for non-redemption.

Place of supply for online services follows the unregistered recipient's recorded State, requiring mandatory invoice disclosure before supply.
For online services supplied to unregistered recipients, the recipient's State name recorded on the tax invoice is deemed to be the address on record, making the recipient's location the place of supply. Registered suppliers must record that State name irrespective of supply value for online money gaming, OIDAR services, and all taxable services supplied over a digital or electronic network, whether directly or through an electronic commerce operator. The recipient's State must be declared in outward-supply details, and suppliers must collect this information before supply. Omission of mandatory invoice particulars may attract penal action.

Input tax credit on ex-works supplies is available when goods are handed to the transporter at the supplier's premises.
Input tax credit under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 16 is not limited to physical receipt at the recipient's business premises. In an Ex-Works contract, where goods are handed over by the supplier to the transporter at the supplier's place of business and property passes at that stage, the recipient is treated as having "received" the goods then, for purposes of ITC, subject to the other conditions of sections 16 and 17 and the requirement that the goods be used or intended for use in business.

Input tax credit for electronic commerce operators need not be reversed, but tax on specified platform supplies requires cash payment.
Electronic commerce operators liable to pay GST on specified services supplied through their platforms under section 9(5) are not required to proportionately reverse input tax credit under sections 17(1) or 17(2). Tax on section 9(5) supplies must be paid entirely through the electronic cash ledger, and input tax credit cannot be used for that liability. The credit remains available for payment of tax on the operator's own supplies of platform services, including services for which platform fees or commissions are charged.

Voucher GST treatment: transactions are not supplies, agency commissions and related support services remain taxable, while breakage is not.
Clarifies that voucher transactions are neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services, whether the voucher is treated as RBI-recognized money or as an actionable claim. Pure trading of vouchers on a principal-to-principal basis is not liable to GST, while commission-based agency distribution and separate support or promotional services supplied to the voucher issuer are taxable. Amounts attributable to unredeemed vouchers or breakage are not taxable because non-redemption does not involve any underlying supply or consideration.

Place of supply for online services to unregistered recipients hinges on the recipient's State name on the tax invoice.
Clarification on the place of supply and invoicing requirements for online services supplied to unregistered recipients under the GST framework. The supplier must record the recipient's State name on the tax invoice in cases involving online money gaming, supplies made by or through an electronic commerce operator, and online information and database access or retrieval services, irrespective of value. The recorded State name is deemed to be the address on record of the recipient, so the place of supply is treated as the recipient's location under section 12(2)(b)(i) of the IGST Act rather than the supplier's location.

Input tax credit in Ex-Works contracts is available when goods are handed over at the supplier's premises on the recipient's direction.
Availability of input tax credit under section 16(2)(b) in an Ex-Works contract is not confined to physical receipt at the recipient's business premises. Where the supplier hands over goods to a transporter or other person on the recipient's direction at the supplier's place of business, and property in the goods passes at that stage, the recipient is deemed to have received the goods for ITC purposes. The clarification remains subject to the business-use requirement and the restrictions under section 17.

Input tax credit for electronic commerce operators supplying notified services may not need proportionate reversal under the Assam GST framework.
Input tax credit availed by an electronic commerce operator for supplies covered by section 9(5) of the Assam GST Act is not required to be reversed proportionately under section 17(1) or section 17(2) merely because such notified services are supplied through the platform. The operator may retain and use the credit for its own supply of platform facilitation services, but the tax liability on section 9(5) supplies must be paid only through the electronic cash ledger and not by utilising that credit.

Waiver of interest or penalty under section 128A clarified for GST demands, payment conditions, forms, and appeal procedure.
Clarification is issued on the waiver of interest or penalty or both under section 128A of the Assam GST Act, 2017, for section 73 demands relating to FY 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. The circular explains the filing of waiver applications, withdrawal of pending appeals or writ petitions, modes and timing of tax payment, adjustment of amounts already paid through FORM GST DRC-03, and the effect of retrospective section 16 relief on the amount payable. It also clarifies processing, forms, deemed approval, appeal consequences, and the scope of coverage for IGST, compensation cess, transitional credit, and excluded items such as late fee and redemption fine.