Extension of filing deadline for VAT quarterly returns; tax payments remain payable as required and digital filers exempted from hard copy.
Extension of the filing deadline for first quarter VAT returns in Forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48 is granted, with submission of required annexures and enclosures to the later prescribed date. The extension is limited to filing time; tax payment obligations remain governed by existing VAT provisions and must be paid in the usual manner. Dealers using digital signatures are exempted from submitting a hard copy of the return/Form DVAT-56, while other filing requirements continue to apply.

Registration category for jewellery manufacturers must be amended to enable ER-8 return filing under ACES.
Jewellery manufacturers must amend their business registration category to Jewellery-7113 in the ACES portal to enable filing of the modified ER-8 return; a ticker on ACES notifies assessees to submit the amendment.

Acceptance of cash over the counter: banks must accept declarants' tax deposits under the scheme while following KYC.
Banks must accept cash over the counter from any customer, irrespective of amount, for payment of tax dues under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, including deposits via challan ITNS-286, and must apply Know Your Customer procedures in accordance with the Master Direction on Know Your Customer, 2016; banks should issue immediate branch-level instructions to implement this requirement.

Handling of Cargo regulations require prompt evacuation of import containers and transparent service charges to cut dwell time.
Port Terminals, CFSs, Shipping Lines and Transporters are identified as Customs Cargo Service Providers required to comply with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, providing adequate infrastructure, equipment and manpower for all container and cargo handling activities and to abide by the Act. Operational directives require early evacuation of import containers from port premises, advance vessel/cargo intimation, reporting of non-compliance for regulatory action, publication of schedules of charges, GPS tracking of trailers, provision of transport capacity, and implementation of ICES terminal gating for efficient gate operations.

Simultaneous benefit choice: exporters may surrender either SHIS or zero duty EPCG, subject to refund, interest and conditions.
Notification allows exporters who were incorrectly granted simultaneous Status Holder Incentive Scheme (SHIS) and zero duty EPCG benefits to choose one scheme and surrender the other, prescribing that unutilized scrips may be surrendered, utilized or transferred amounts are treated as utilized for refund and interest purposes, refund of utilized amounts is to be paid in cash with interest under the Customs Act, EPCG may be converted to concessional-duty authorizations by payment of differential duties plus interest in lieu of surrender in certain cases, payment may be made by cash or debiting valid duty credit or original SHIS scrips for the refundable amount (interest to be paid in cash), and erroneous issuance will not attract penal action.

Replenishment of Gold granted as one time relief for exporters of gold jewellery to claim from nominated agencies, subject to conditions.
A one time exemption permits exporters of gems and jewellery manufactured from gold during the specified period to claim replenishment of gold from Nominated Agencies within 120 days of the Public Notice, despite earlier RBI circular omissions; eligibility covers exporters who exported via overseas exhibitions under paragraph 4A.18(a)(i) and those who booked gold with Nominated Agencies by depositing the prescribed earnest money, subject to realisation of export proceeds and compliance with all Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures conditions.

Cargo handling compliance mandates prompt removal of import containers and transparent charges to reduce clearance dwell time.
Port Terminals, CFSs, Shipping Lines and Transporters, as Customs Cargo Service Providers, must comply with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 by providing adequate infrastructure, manpower and facilities for container and cargo handling, removing imported containers from port premises within the prescribed timeframe, issuing advance intimation of vessel and cargo arrival, publishing schedules of charges, installing GPS on trailers, implementing ICES gate terminals and reporting deviations or Customs delays to designated officers for remedial action.

Restrictions on promoters' share transfers and directorships after compulsory delisting until exit offers are provided to public shareholders.
Where the fair value is positive, promoters' equity shares and corporate benefits shall be frozen and transfers (sale, pledge, etc.) blocked until promoters provide the exit option to public shareholders as certified by the recognised stock exchange; promoters and whole time directors are barred from serving as directors of any listed company until that exit option is effected, with exchanges and depositories coordinating compliance and SEBI empowered to take enforcement action for non compliance.

Margin collection compliance: penalties for members failing to collect client margins within prescribed timelines and reporting requirements.
Requires members to collect specified margins (including initial, ELM, mark to market, special/additional and delivery margins), with initial margins payable upfront and other margins collectible within T+2 working days; members must report short collection/non collection to the Exchange on T+5. A graduated per day penalty applies per client shortfall, higher rates for larger shortfalls, with penalties for initial margin shortfalls applying from T. Repeated defaults (three or more instances in a month) invoke a 5% shortfall penalty from the fourth instance. Exchanges collect penalties monthly, credit proceeds to the Investor Protection Fund, inspect compliance and may levy up to 100% penalty for incorrect reporting.

Due Date Rate fixation requires committee-led spot price polling, audio recording and Board approval with preservation and reporting obligations.
Regional Commodity Derivatives Exchanges must fix the Due Date Rate through a board-level DDR Committee (majority non-trading members) that establishes a 15-member Spot Price Polling Panel from upcountry entities. Spot prices are polled by telephone with speaker on, recorded and retained for six months; polling occurs once daily during peak hours and the average of the last three days' available spot prices (not earlier than seven days before due date) is used. The Committee recommends DDR to the Board, which must approve or record reasons for modification; DDR is announced and records sent to the regulator.

Daily Price Limits for commodity derivatives use staged relaxations and VWAP-derived first-day base pricing.
Daily Price Limits for non-agricultural commodity derivatives are set in tiered slabs with category-specific initial and enhanced slabs; steel has a two-slab structure with a cooling-off-triggered enhancement, while gold and other non-agricultural commodities use a three-slab mechanism with an immediate first enhancement and a cooling-off-triggered second enhancement. Exchanges may relax limits further if international reference markets move beyond the aggregate DPL but must notify surveillance with justification. For a contract's first trading day the base price for DPL is derived from VWAP of opening trades and governs the day's limits; exchanges may prescribe narrower limits and must update rules, disseminate changes, and report implementation to the regulator.

Transaction charges regulation caps differential and mandates post-facto, incremental slab charging to ensure fair, non-discriminatory markets.
Exchanges may levy varying transaction charges across commodities and contracts provided the highest-to-lowest charge within any turnover slab does not exceed 1.5:1; concessional slab rates apply only to incremental turnover and charges must be levied on a post-facto basis. Revisions must preserve system capacity and risk management, avoid selective treatment, artificial demand or market irregularities, and be applied uniformly, fairly and transparently. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, notify members, disseminate on websites and report implementation to the regulator.

Sub Manifest Transshipment Permit issuance: require SMTPs for rail bound ICD cargo without waiting for full vessel discharge to avoid delays.
Directs Customs to issue Sub Manifest Transshipment Permit (SMTP) for cargo destined to Inland Container Depots by rail without waiting for full vessel discharge, implementing an inter ministerial recommendation accepted by the Board, and requires field formations to take immediate steps to ensure there is no delay in granting SMTPs.

Direct port entry for factory stuffed export containers enabled, allowing manufacturing units DPE subject to terminal processing facilities.
Customs Houses are advised to permit direct port entry of factory stuffed (including self-sealed) export containers of all manufacturing entities prior to grant of Let Export Order, subject to port terminals providing requisite facilities to process export documentation and handling increased container inflow; Customs should issue trade notices after consulting port authorities, building on existing direct-entry categories and prior AEO facilitation.

Standing Counsels engagement revised: new eligibility, panel sizing, duties, performance review and fee schedule effective 07.09.2016.
Guidelines revise empanelment, eligibility, allocation, duties, performance review and payment for Standing Counsels representing the Income tax Department. Reappointment must begin six months before expiry, panels include a 25% non paid buffer, and selection follows advertised calls, Screening Committee evaluation using prescribed pro formas and minimum benchmarks. Senior and Junior eligibility requires advocacy enrolment and specified direct tax experience or prior departmental/tribunal service subject to disciplinary clearance. CCIT manages allocation (approx. 450-500 appeals per Senior), quarterly and annual performance reporting is mandated, duties and private practice restrictions are set, and Annexure II prescribes a fee/retainer schedule effective 07.09.2016 with billing, deduction and dispute resolution procedures.

Special Public Prosecutor engagement: standardized eligibility, selection, duties and a revised fee and payment regime for tax prosecutions.
Instruction prescribes engagement, qualifications, selection, term, renewal and duties of Special Public Prosecutors for representing the Income Tax Department in criminal trials, with applications in Proforma P1, evaluation by a five member Screening Committee, initial 18 month engagement renewable after annual performance appraisal (Proforma P2) and normally thereafter for three years (Proforma P3). It mandates CCIT administration of case allocation and centralized records, duties including trial representation, drafting, witness assistance and prompt certified copy procurement, termination and handover procedures, and a revised fee, allowance and payment regime with billing in Proforma P4 and specified rules for connected cases, out of pocket expenses and travel.

Relaxation of additional fees permits late filing of Form IEPF 1 without surcharge if filed within the extended deadline.
Companies unable to file the earlier Form I INV during MCA21 deployment may instead submit the new Form IEPF I, which replaces Form I INV under the IEPF (AATR) Rules, 2016. As a one time measure, companies whose filing due dates fell within the portal unavailability period may file Form IEPF I without additional fees provided they file by the prescribed extended deadline.

Export transhipment module in ICES enables container movement to gateway ports with ETP permits and TP bond requirements.
The ICES Export Transhipment Module requires Transhippers to register a continuous TP Bond (with BG), file an ETP Application at the Service Centre after Stuffing Report, verify a generated checklist, and obtain preventive officer approval. A printed ETP Permit must accompany containers moving to the Gateway Port; bond/BG may be debited upon approval. Gateway Port preventive checks precede an Allowed for Shipment entry in ICES, after which the steamer agent files the EGM and Shipping Bills route to Drawback processing.

Provisional assessment: importer must execute bond and provide bank guarantee or cash deposit; 20% deposit dispensed.
Section 18 provisional assessment requires the importer to execute a prescribed bond to undertake payment of any deficiency between provisional and final duty and to furnish security as the proper officer deems fit; the Board dispensed with the 20% deposit rule and limited acceptable security to a bank guarantee or cash deposit (no sureties). The Board rescinded the 2011 Regulations and issued a uniform schedule setting security levels by importer class and nature of import, computed on duty differential, with Commissioner discretion to reduce security where justified.

Delegation of food safety enforcement to customs officers requires regionally organised one-day training and coordination.
FSSAI delegated functions of an Authorised Officer to Customs officers and CBEC instructed Commissioners to coordinate with regional FSSAI offices to organise regionally delivered one day training. The programme instructs on SWIFT and risk management for import clearance, sampling and laboratory testing procedures, and labelling and packaging requirements, lists faculty allocations for Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, identifies nodal FSSAI contacts, and annexes Customs locations mapped to nearest regional offices to facilitate training logistics.