Tax refunds under administrative directive must be issued promptly and progress reported to senior officials for compliance.
Authorities are directed to expedite issuance of pending tax refunds for the specified assessment year, ensure refunds are processed within the established set-off and refund framework, and require Assessing Officers to clear outstanding refunds without further delay. Senior officials must personally monitor progress and submit a report explaining any reasons for non-issuance as part of the central action plan to restore compliance and accountability.

Project export form submission dispensed to streamline compliance while preserving reporting to financing and insurance participants.
Submission of forms DPX-1, PEX-1, TCS-1 and DPX-3 to the Reserve Bank by the Approving Authority may be dispensed with, while submission to financing or insurance participants with participatory interests must continue; all other PEM instructions remain unchanged and the change does not affect approvals required under other laws.

Form ORA reporting: Authorized dealers no longer must forward regional submissions, must retain approval records locally.
Mandatory forwarding of Form ORA to regional offices is discontinued; Authorized Dealers must retain particulars of approvals for opening Trading Offices, Non Trading Offices, Branches or Representative Offices abroad at their end. The change is issued under FEMA and does not affect other approvals or statutory compliance required under other laws.

Special Currency Basket value revised under FEMA directives; authorised dealer banks must implement change and notify constituents.
The Reserve Bank of India notified a revised Rupee value for the Special Currency Basket to be used in transactions under the Deferred Payment Protocols between India and the erstwhile USSR, directed Authorised Dealer Category I banks to apply the revised value and to inform their constituents, and stated the directions are issued under FEMA and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency delisting renders the firm immediately ineligible to issue inspection certificates under trade policy.
Under authority of the Foreign Trade Policy, M/s. Geo Chem Far East Pte. Ltd. has been deleted from the roster of Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies and is immediately ineligible to issue Pre Shipment Inspection Certificates; the amendment updates the Appendix listing in the Handbook of Procedures and references prior public notices that had listed the agency.

Education services exemption covers auxiliary services to institutions, excluding outsourced transport, catering and related services from service tax.
Education services are exempt from service tax under the negative list and by notification: services provided to an educational institution in respect of education exempted from service tax are exempt when rendered as auxiliary educational services or renting of immovable property. "Auxiliary educational services" include imparting skill or knowledge, course content development, admission-related services, conduct of examinations, transportation of students/faculty/staff, government-sponsored mid-day meal catering, and other outsourced services ordinarily carried out by institutions; such outsourced services (e.g., transport, hostels, housekeeping, security, canteen) are therefore exempt.

Right to objection to penalty remains; objection authority may remit penalty and stay recovery pending final decision.
Deletion of the proviso to the penalty provision does not remove the right to object to a penalty assessment; the penalty liability and amount remain subject to objection. The objection procedure permits the objection authority to accept objections and to effect relief including remission of penalty. Further, where conditions for entertaining an objection are complied with, the remaining disputed balance shall not be recovered until the objection is finally disposed of, and any deposited amount must be refunded if the objection succeeds.

Import quota allocation for rough marble and travertine blocks set with conditional authorisations and mandatory monthly reporting.
Allocation of import quantities of rough marble and travertine blocks is announced with a detailed Annexure of 539 applicants; RAs may issue import authorisations within a limited window, subject to verification. Applicants who submit false or erroneous information will forfeit the allocation, be debarred from future allocations and face penal action. Licence holders must file monthly import returns by the 15th of the succeeding month. Firms marked deficient must cure deficiencies within one week to DGFT (Hqrs) before licences will be issued by RAs.

External Commercial Borrowings definition expanded to include broader infrastructure sub-sectors, enabling ECB access across specified sectors.
ECB policy expands the definition of infrastructure sector for ECB eligibility to include specified sub-sectors: Energy (electricity generation, transmission, distribution; oil/gas pipelines; oil/gas/LNG storage), Communication (mobile telephony, fixed network telecommunication, telecommunication towers), Transport (railways and supporting terminals, roads and bridges, ports, inland waterways, airports, urban public transport excluding rolling stock), Water and Sanitation (water supply pipelines, solid waste management, water treatment, sewage systems, irrigation, storm water drainage), Mining/Exploration/Refining, and Social and Commercial Infrastructure including hospitals, large hotels/convention centres, common industrial infrastructure, fertilizer investment, post-harvest storage and cold chain.

Commencement of Companies Act provisions displaces corresponding prior Act provisions upon their coming into force.
The commencement notification bringing specified provisions of the Companies Act into force displaces corresponding provisions of the earlier Act; the relevant corresponding provisions of the prior Act ceased to have effect from the date those provisions were brought into force.

Import controls on plastic waste require authorised types, document certification, lab testing and environmental clearances before clearance.
Policy restricts import of plastic waste/scrap to the capacity and specific types authorised in a unit's Letter of Approval, permitting only virgin/new fractions meeting a technical definition and PET bottle waste; each consignment must have a factory certificate and importer declaration, be sampled and laboratory-tested prior to clearance, and units must obtain pollution control consents and hazardous waste permissions as applicable.

Physical export obligation compliance required for used clothing recycling units in SEZs, with graduated export and reporting controls.
Policy requires used clothing recycling units in SEZs to obtain exporter/agency certificates of disinfection and fumigation for each consignment, comply with NFE and export obligation criteria without broad-banding, meet graduated physical export obligations culminating in full export of turnover, limit DTA sales of un-mutilated clothing to a capped portion of export turnover, submit consignments to 100% unit-premises scrutiny by SEZ authorities, and observe environmental and statutory standards; LoA validity and enforcement, including penalties under foreign trade law, are governed by this policy.

Service tax exemption for hotel and restaurant services in disaster-affected area provides relief for hospitality sector during relief period.
The Central Government, under sub-section (2) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994, exempts from the whole of service tax leviable under section 66B services consisting of renting of rooms in hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial lodging places, and services relating to serving food or beverages by restaurants, eating joints or messes when provided to any person in the State of Uttarakhand; the exemption is limited to the ad-hoc relief period specified in the order.

Buy Back disclosure requirements: standardized filing formats set for companies and merchant bankers, affecting daily and post offer reports.
SEBI issues standardized formats to implement disclosure obligations under the Buy Back Regulations: Annexure 1 prescribes a daily report under regulation 15(i) capturing amount earmarked, cumulative amount utilised, statutory maximum shares, previous and current period buyback quantities and cumulative totals; Annexure 2 prescribes a post offer report under regulation 20(j) requiring company/manager details, pre/post capital, offer dates, escrow composition, amount utilised, escrow forfeiture and deposit in the Investor Protection and Education Fund, advertisement and extinguishment status, and compliance with buyback and takeover threshold obligations.

Non-bailable offences: substantial duty involvement in excise triggers cognizable non-bailable treatment and strict arrest safeguards.
Offences of duty evasion and wrongful utilisation of duty credit are cognizable and non-bailable where duty on excisable goods exceeds fifty lakh rupees; all other section 9 offences are non-cognizable and bailable. Arrest may be made only after determining the correct clause of section 9(1) and duty quantum, with arrested persons informed of grounds and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. Arrest decisions require careful assessment of mens rea, evidence, risk of tampering, and may require Commissioner or Chief Commissioner approval as specified.

Special Currency Basket value revised, affecting settlement under Deferred Payment Protocols and advising AD Category I banks to adjust operations.
The circular notifies Authorised Dealer Category I banks of a revision in the Rupee value used to value the Special Currency Basket under the Deferred Payment Protocols and directs banks to note and implement the revised valuation for settlements governed by those Protocols, issued under FEMA without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Overseas forex trading restrictions: unauthorized remittances via online portals trigger FEMA breaches and banks must block accounts.
Residents remitting funds from India to overseas electronic/internet trading portals for forex trading, including via credit cards or other electronic channels, may contravene the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and KYC/AML norms. AD Category I banks must warn customers, close cards/accounts on detecting prohibited transactions and report such defaults to the Reserve Bank of India in the prescribed format; failure to implement these measures may attract action under section 11(3) of FEMA, 1999.

Non-bailable offences under Customs Act limit arrests to specified categories and require cautious, recorded exercise of arrest powers.
Offences under the Customs Act, 1962 are classified into non-bailable offences (specified categories under section 135) and bailable offences. Arrest under section 104 should be exercised sparingly and only where necessary to ensure investigation, prevent absconding, disrupt organised smuggling, or target key operators; value based exceptional arrest thresholds apply but do not constrain cases involving specified contraband. Arrests must follow D.K. Basu safeguards, include detailed arrest memos, appropriate medical examination, immediate intimation to senior authorities, and distinct procedures for bail and production before a Magistrate; reporting and monthly returns are mandated.

Arrest powers for service tax evasion: conditions, procedural safeguards and bail processes when evasion exceeds prescribed threshold.
The Finance Act amendments classify certain service tax offences as cognizable and others as non cognizable and bailable, and permit arrest where offences under section 89(1)(i) or (ii) involve evasion exceeding the statutory threshold. Arrests require authorization by the Commissioner based on credible material, observance of CrPC procedures, preparation of a D.K. Basu compliant arrest memo, gender sensitive and medical safeguards, and distinct bail and production rules depending on the clause under which the offence falls.

Refund claims for dealers: automatic ECS refunds up to Rs 1 lakh per period, with 10% selected later for audit.
The circular provides for central ECS disbursement of VAT refunds up to Rs. 1 lakh per tax period for claims through 31 March 2013 based on dealer online self declaration; 10% of such cases will be audited later. The system will deduct pending dues before refund. Dealers must file an online declaration between 25.09.2013 and 10.10.2013, submit acknowledgement to the zonal office, may reconcile demands online, provide bank details, and may surrender amounts against pending central forms for refund purposes without forfeiting appellate rights.