Information sharing on defaulter members: automatic cross-exchange defaulter recognition and action against associated parties required.
When a member is declared a defaulter, the declaring Exchange/Clearing Corporation must immediately declare it a defaulter in all its segments and inform other Exchanges/Clearing Corporations of the member's identifying details; on receipt, those other Exchanges/Clearing Corporations must immediately declare the member a defaulter across their segments. Exchanges/Clearing Corporations must take appropriate action against associates of the defaulter, where associate covers control relationships, substantial shareholding, and overlapping directors or partners, with "control" as defined under takeover regulations.

Market disclosure obligations require exchanges to publish comprehensive member, client and contract trading data and disciplinary information online.
SEBI mandates that commodity derivative exchanges publish on their websites daily anonymous top-ten client positions, hedgers' delivery intent, pre-market disclosure of algorithmic trading share, ten-day post-settlement pay-in/pay-out for top clients, monthly member proprietary position percentages and margins, member data in a prescribed format, contract life-cycle trading metrics per Annexure-II, quarterly settlement fund breakdowns, lists of approved surrenders and detailed disclosures for suspended or expelled members; exchanges must amend rules, notify members and report implementation to SEBI.

Portfolio management services restriction continues: PMS remains prohibited in commodity derivatives pending regulatory review and dissemination.
Portfolio management services (PMS) remain prohibited in the commodity derivatives market pending SEBI review through the continuance of existing FMC directives; PMS is therefore not permissible. The circular takes effect from its stated date, supersedes earlier FMC directives on PMS, is issued under Section 11(1) of the SEBI Act for investor protection and market regulation, and requires commodity exchanges to notify members and publish the circular on their websites.

Income Declaration Scheme: filing hours extended - paper counters to remain open until the filing deadline for declarations.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes directed that declarations under the Income Declaration Scheme may be submitted online or in printed prescribed form until the close of the filing period, and instructed all Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax to ensure counters and local arrangements are available to receive paper declarations until that time.

Spread margin benefits: special margin shall not be levied on spread trades, with the exemption retained and continued by regulator.
The circular affirms that the erstwhile FMC circulars prescribing that special margin shall not be levied on spread trades shall continue in force beyond the transitional repeal period, and directs exchanges to notify members and disseminate the provision on their websites.

Fair market value rule: undisclosed income represented by assets measured by FMV on 01.06.2016, cash included.
Undisclosed income represented by investment in any asset shall be deemed to be the fair market value as on 01.06.2016 for the purposes of the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016; cash in hand is an asset. Treating original investment plus capital gains from a pre-01.06.2016 sale (with proceeds held in cash) as the amount to be declared is not in accordance with the Scheme and Board clarifications.

Enhanced supervision of stock brokers: exchanges must monitor client funds, enforce account nomenclature and trigger alerts for misuse.
Stock Exchanges and Depositories must enforce prescribed account nomenclature and prompt reporting by brokers, implement a weekly-data based monitoring mechanism calculating reconciliation metrics (G, H, I, J) to detect misuse of client funds, and act on alerts by seeking clarifications, conducting inspections and initiating remedial steps. Brokers must comply with internal audit rotation and reporting rules, submit standardized financial statements and indicators, upload monthly client-wise fund and securities balances to exchanges, follow rules on pledging client securities, and observe prescribed running account settlement and PAN disclosure requirements.

Re issuance of legacy FMC norms: exchanges must disclose terminal disablements, set delivery timelines and collect extreme loss margin.
SEBI re issues FMC norms requiring exchanges to disclose member terminal disablements quarterly, set and publish timelines for submission and modification of delivery intentions, and determine and disclose location premium/discount prior to contract launch. SEBI clarifies that extreme loss margin must be collected upfront alongside initial margin and that the specified penalty structure for short collection/non collection applies from T day to ELM as well as initial margin. Exchanges must notify members and publish these provisions on their websites.

Investor Protection Fund rules clarified: trust governance, funding sources, claim eligibility and disbursement procedures updated.
SEBI prescribes that the Investor Protection Fund be administered by a Trust with specified composition and SEBI approved trustee appointments; funds must be segregated, disclosed as related party transactions, and funded by specified portions of exchange penalties (excluding settlement penalties after administrative cost deduction) and a share of turnover fees. Exchanges must invite claimant filings for a minimum 90 day specified period by newspaper and website notice; only retail client claims are eligible, claims within three years after the period may be processed at the Trust's discretion, and eligibility, determination and disbursement procedures are governed by Trust decisions, arbitration mechanisms and prescribed compensation limits with SEBI review.

Rules of origin verification requires Certificates of Origin, custodian comparison of specimens, and Board referral for further checks.
Implementation of Rules of Origin mandates importers to claim preferential tariff and submit a Certificate of Origin, which may be verified for genuineness or accuracy including format, signatures/seals and origin criteria; specimen seals/signatures are circulated and an ICES repository is to be built. Each Custom House must designate a JC/ADC as custodian to verify specimens locally, otherwise refer to Director (ICD), CBEC. Other verification requests require Principal Commissioner/Commissioner approval and must be sent to the Board with legible COO, invoice and Bill of Lading plus Annex information; provisional release requires security under section 18.

Export transhipment requires a registered TP Bond, ETP permit approval, bond debit/recredit, and Allowed for Shipment entry.
The Export Transhipment Module (ETP) in ICES requires Transhippers to register a continuous Transhipment (TP) Bond and BG, file an ETP Application at the port Service Centre after stuffing, obtain Preventive Superintendent approval which issues an ETP Permit permitting gate exit, and causes the bond/BG to be debited. On arrival at the Gateway Port, preventive checks enable an Allowed for Shipment entry; filing the EGM for loaded Shipping Bills re-credits the bond. ETP approval serves as EGM for export benefits and moves the Shipping Bill to Drawback processing.

Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme awareness: append an informational flyer to Commissioner (Appeals) hearing notices to appellants.
Administrative instruction implementing the Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016: Principal Chief Commissioners are to direct Commissioner (Appeals) to append an unsigned informational Flyer to hearing notices sent to appellants whose cases are before Commissioner (Appeals) to improve awareness among taxpayers likely to use the Scheme; the communication is issued with administrative approval.

Regulatory harmonization for commodity brokers aligns commodity market broker rules with securities norms and mandates exchange compliance.
The circular harmonises commodity derivatives broker regulation by classifying legacy FMC instruments into three parts-those repealed and replaced by applicable securities regulator circulars, those retained as commodity specific norms, and those repealed-covering client funds segregation, running account settlement, KYC/account opening, client communications, contract notes, audit and inspections, outsourcing and complaint redressal. Exchanges must amend bye laws, monitor compliance via half yearly audits and inspections, continue existing penalties subject to consultative revision, and report implementation to the regulator; the circular is issued under the regulator's powers to protect investors and regulate markets.

Hazardous cargo separation: explosives require greater isolation and storage must follow IMDG and specific safety rules.
Guidelines require hazardous goods to be stored in isolated approved premises with specified construction standards; explosives are treated separately with substantially greater separation from administrative buildings, other hazardous cargo separation from administrative buildings follows a uniform distance, and separation between hazardous and general cargo in port areas follows the IMDG Code. Land-based storage in customs notified areas must follow applicable specific rules for particular hazardous materials, and specific rules override port rules in case of conflict.

Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) opt in requires scheme code selection on shipping bills to claim export rebates.
The ROSL scheme is a voluntary exporter opt in mechanism to rebate specified State levies on textile garments by selecting prescribed scheme codes in the shipping bill; correct selection on EDI shipping bills is the exclusive claim method. Rebate is calculated on FOB value per notified rates and caps and shown in shipping bill checklists and ICEGATE. Exporters must declare they will not claim the same State levies under other mechanisms. Disbursal is made in parallel with drawback to the exporter's registered drawback account; procedural and interface changes took effect 20 September 2016.

Rebate of State Levies choice required: exporters must select ROSL scheme code on the shipping bill to claim subsidy.
Implementation of the Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) permits exporters of textile garments to obtain refunds of specified State levies by electing the scheme through designated shipping bill scheme codes; no separate application is required. The rebate is computed on FOB value per notified rates and caps and is credited to the exporter's drawback disbursal account. For EDI shipping bills the scheme-code selection is the sole claim mechanism, shipping bill interfaces will display ROSL amounts and the required eligibility declaration, and disbursal will be made in parallel with drawback per Board Circular procedures.

Tax Evasion Petition management through centralized ITBA registration and categorization enabling targeted investigation and AO action.
The SOP requires centralized registration of all Tax Evasion Petitions at the jurisdictional Central Registry Unit, scanning and upload to ITBA to generate a Unique Identification Number, categorization into four categories (A-D) for determination of investigative responsibility, masking complainant identity on request, and retention of hard copy records in CRU custody while selected materials and inventories are uploaded to ITBA.

Simultaneous benefit of EPCG and SHIS: exporters may choose one scheme and regularise the other under prescribed repayment rules.
DGFT permits exporters who were incorrectly issued both SHIS and Zero Duty EPCG under FTP 2009-14 to choose one scheme and regularise the other: return of SHIS requires surrender of original scrips and cash refund with interest for utilised amounts; return or conversion of Zero Duty EPCG requires surrender or payment of differential duties plus interest, with utilised or transferred scrips treated as utilised for refund and interest purposes. Payment mechanics allow principal debiting to valid duty credit or SHIS scrips but require interest in cash; a limited timeframe to exercise the option is provided and no penal action will be taken for erroneous issuance.

Common Service Provider designation requires specified documentary proof for EPCG applications under amended ANF 5A immediately.
Amendment adds designation/certification guidelines for Common Service Providers to ANF 5A for EPCG applications, requiring submission of IEC, RCMC, description of services, a minimum six user list with names and IECs, the Terminal/Export Excellence location, product category to be serviced, and prior registration with relevant indirect tax authorities.

GST Council meeting sets implementation date, thresholds, compensation base year, and cross-empowerment principles for tax administration.
The Council approved Rules of Procedure with amendments on nomenclature, representation under President's Rule, agenda circulation timelines, substitute attendance (speaking but non-voting) and Chairperson discretion; fixed 1 April 2017 as the GST implementation date with staged IT, legislative and training milestones; set exemption threshold at Rs. 20 lakhs (Rs. 10 lakhs for Special Category States) and composition threshold at Rs. 50 lakhs (excluding manufacturers and service providers); decided 2015-16 as the compensation base year with compensable revenue to include all subsumed taxes and quarterly tentative payments subject to final audit; and advanced but did not finalise a cross-empowerment protocol for joint Union-State administration of scrutiny and audit, with alternatives including a Rs. 1.5 crore turnover division.