Money Transfer Service Scheme: authorised Indian Agents must meet fund, due diligence, collateral, KYC/AML and reporting requirements.
The Master Direction prescribes the MTSS regulatory framework: only specified authorised entities meeting minimum Net Owned Funds and fitness criteria may be authorised by the Reserve Bank as Indian Agents for inward personal remittances; applications must include due diligence documents on Overseas Principals, audited financials and banker reports; Overseas Principals must meet net worth and AML requirements and remain responsible for agent activities; Sub Agents require specified due diligence and quarterly reporting; operational limits, KYC/AML/CFT controls, collateral requirements and renewal and inspection procedures are mandated.

Online verification of cash transactions classifies records as acceptable or non acceptable and quantifies undisclosed income electronically.
SOP requires Assessing Officers to perform fully electronic verification of demonetisation related cash transactions via the e filing and ITBA/AIMS platforms: taxpayers view records, submit online explanations and evidence, and AOs must mark each record as Acceptable or Non Acceptable, quantify undisclosed income for non acceptable records, request additional information through the portal, secure prescribed supervisory approvals online, and escalate unresolved or non compliant matters for further action including statutory measures.

Change of jurisdiction for IEC holders: new RA must amend IEC on documents and notify the original RA, enabling benefits
When an IEC holder seeks modification of Head Office or Registered Office address involving a jurisdictional RA shift, the request must be made to the new RA into whose jurisdiction the applicant is relocating. The new RA will examine submitted documents, amend the IEC as appropriate, allow the applicant to carry out necessary functions and apply for eligible benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy, and separately inform the RA that originally issued the IEC of the changes made.

Mutual fund derivatives participation: existing schemes may introduce derivatives without unit-holder consent; investors given exit window and disclosures.
Existing mutual fund schemes whose SIDs do not envisage derivatives may introduce derivatives without obtaining positive consent from a majority of unit holders, provided all investors are offered a no-exit-load exit option for a prescribed window, the extent and manner of participation and associated risks are disclosed with suitable numerical examples, and the scheme complies with applicable regulatory provisions prior to commencing derivatives exposure.

Foreign investment in stock exchanges permitted under automatic route, subject to securities regulations and SEBI/RBI guidelines.
Foreign investment in stock exchanges, derivative exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations is permitted up to forty-nine percent of equity under the automatic route. Such investment, including by FPIs, is subject to the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations, 2012, the SEBI (Depositories and Participants) Regulations, 1996, and other guidelines/regulations issued by the Central Government, SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India as amended. Undefined terms in these regulations shall have the meanings assigned in the Companies Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, the SEBI Act, the Depositories Act or the relevant SEBI regulations.

Classification of saree: further processing or multi fabric construction does not move it from specific textile headings to made up articles.
Sarees that undergo embroidery, lace stitching, tikki application or are stitched from two or more textile materials remain classifiable under the specific saree headings in Chapters 50, 52 or 54 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 rather than under the more general Chapter 63. Where multiple materials are present, Section XI Note 2(A) directs classification according to the textile material that predominates by weight, or, if none predominates, by the heading occurring last in numerical order among equally applicable headings. Further processing that does not create a new article with distinct name, character and use does not change this classification; individual cases must be decided on their facts.

Countervailing duty drawback: Brand Rate claims permitted where inputs subject to CVD are verified used in exports.
Countervailing duty is rebatable as Duty Drawback but, since CVD is excluded from All Industry Rates, drawback for CVD must be claimed via a Brand Rate application under the Drawback Rules; admissibility requires verification that inputs which bore CVD were actually used in the exported goods. If imported goods on which CVD was paid are exported as such, drawback will include the incidence of CVD as part of total duties paid, subject to other conditions.

GST Council approves amended minutes, compensation law details, and Model GST Law changes on tribunal, allocations, and definitions.
The Council adopted amended Minutes of its 9th meeting with textual corrections and revised taxpayer allocation rules: new registrants to be initially split one each between Centre and State, with year-end redistribution using a 90% State/10% Centre formula for turnover below Rs. 1.5 crore and 50:50 for turnover above; deletion of the clause permitting States to unilaterally consult the Centre to vary division; and refinement of cross-empowerment under IGST reserving place-of-supply adjudication to the Central authority while referring specified export/import issues to the Law Committee. The Council approved the drafted Compensation Law with defined Fund mechanics and approved multiple Model GST Law amendments including tribunal composition, penalty-waiver power, Schedule II/III/IV changes, dropping the CAG provision, and a focused definition of 'agriculturist'.

Empanelment suspension of a chartered engineer pending further notice; stakeholders advised to avoid inconvenience regarding valuation assignments.
The empanelment of Shri. Ajith P, listed in the earlier public notice for empanelled chartered engineers conducting examination and valuation of imported second hand machinery, is suspended until further notice, and stakeholders are advised to take note to avoid inconvenience.

SEZ work allocation centralises jurisdiction and designates officers for nodal coordination, adjudication, refunds, appeals and bonded warehouses.
Allocation of responsibility for SEZ related matters assigns a nodal Assistant Commissioner in the SEZ Cell for SEZ work including correspondences, demands/SCNs, adjudication, review and appeal work, refunds, audit and coordination with Specified Officers and SEZ units; separate Assistant Commissioners handle Review (review and appeal), Refunds (SEZ), Legal (appeals to higher courts) and Bonds (public and private bonded warehouses attached to MEPZ-SEZ at Chennai Airport). Adjudication will be exercised by officers as per powers under Section 122 of the Customs Act, 1962 and Customs Circular 24/2011.

GST migration delays and a proposed locking mechanism for GSTR-1/GSTR-2A require technical escalation and policy review.
Delay in GST migration was raised where submitted portal data remained "Submitted and pending for verification" beyond normal processing; the Chair asked affected taxpayers to provide migration token numbers and requested trade members to e-mail migration difficulties so the Commissionerate could escalate technical cases. A representation sought a procedural facility to permit "locking" of GSTR-1 data based on recipient-validated Form GSTR-2A entries; the Chair observed this required a policy change and advised taking the matter to higher authorities with formal written representations for recommendation.

Electronic Delivery Order System promotes faster cargo clearance by permitting inspection without manual delivery orders, release still requires DO.
Inspection of imported goods may be carried out by Customs officers without insisting on a physical Delivery Order, though cargo will only be released upon production of the Delivery Order. Stakeholders are requested to adopt the electronic Delivery Order System, enabling electronic generation, receipt, invoicing, and payment of delivery-order charges; this does not change existing Customs procedures or custodians' verification and out-of-charge requirements.

CAS-4 certificate deadlines require issuance by December 31 following the financial year to enable provisional assessment.
Assessees must issue CAS-4 certificates for the financial year ending 31 March by 31 December of the following financial year to enable calculation of cost of production for captively consumed goods; assessing officers must then finalize provisional assessments expeditiously and jurisdictional commissioners shall provide trade facilitation, with implementation difficulties to be reported to the Board.

Round-the-clock customs clearance extended to all bills of entry and MOT charges exempt at attached CFSs.
Round the clock customs clearance is extended to all bills of entry at designated 24x7 ports and air cargo complexes and MOT is exempted for services rendered by customs officers at those locations. CFSs attached exclusively to 24x7 sea ports are treated as an extension of the port, and no MOT shall be collected for customs services performed within such CFSs, including for factory stuffed containers and exports under free shipping bills or where benefits are claimed.

Rupee denominated bond investor eligibility expanded to include multilateral and regional financial institutions, effective immediately.
Permit Multilateral and Regional Financial Institutions where India is a member to invest in Rupee denominated bonds issued overseas, expanding the recognised investor class under prior circulars; all other provisions of A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.60 (April 13, 2016), Master Direction No.5 (January 1, 2016) and A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.29 (September 29, 2015) remain unchanged. The change is effective from the date of this circular, relevant Master Direction paragraphs will be updated, and the directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(2) of FEMA, 1999.

Place of provision of sea transportation: services to an Indian customs station for confirmed transshipment abroad are not taxable in India.
Where goods landed at an Indian customs station are declared in the import manifest or import report for transhipment to a country outside India and are transshipped under the Customs Act and rules, the place of provision of transportation by sea is the foreign destination; consequently, transportation services from outside India to that customs station are not taxable in India.

First time importer document verification: assessment proceeds but Out of Charge withheld until Group NOC confirms document acceptance.
Group Assessing Officers will raise queries for prescribed documents from first time importers; they will assess bills of entry without awaiting those documents but must instruct the Import Shed Officer to withhold grant of Out of Charge until a Group NOC confirming acceptance of the prescribed documents is produced. First time importers may alternatively obtain pre-filing scrutiny from the Assessment Group; if proof of payment is unavailable pre-filing, remaining documents may be scrutinized and the missing proof treated under the post-filing procedure. RMS-facilitated entries require submission of documents to the Shed Officer.

Direct Port Delivery facility for Authorised Economic Operators enables expedited release of import and export containers pending port verification.
AEO certificate holders may apply to the Principal Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad for Direct Port Delivery/Direct Port Entry; permission is to be granted within seven working days, subject to verification of import/export container volumes by the relevant port, with 100% EOUs to follow the prior Public Notice procedure.

Submission deadlines for custodians: monthly reports now due by the later of the third working day or the fifth of the succeeding month.
Custodians must submit monthly securities reports by the later of the end of the third working day of the succeeding month or the fifth of the succeeding month, replacing the prior seventh day deadline; the change is effective immediately and issued under the regulator's statutory authority.

Custodianship of the Perishable Cargo Terminal extended, subject to statutory conditions and bank guarantee validity.
Extension of custodianship of the Perishable Cargo Terminal at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar, Andheri, Mumbai is granted to M/s Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. under Section 45(2) of the Customs Act until the validity of the bank guarantee. The custodian has executed a bond and furnished a bank guarantee as security for safe custody of perishable export cargo. Operations will be governed by Chapter VIII of the Customs Act, the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, prior notification terms, and other applicable rules, and the Commissioner may terminate the appointment after assigning reasons and hearing the custodian.