Social Stock Exchange framework requires NPOs and social enterprises to meet registration, disclosure, and audited impact-reporting standards.
The circular establishes a regulatory structure for a Social Stock Exchange requiring NPOs, Social Enterprises and Social Impact Funds to meet eligibility criteria (Indian registration, valid tax certificates, minimum three-year track record, and minimum fund flows) and to comply with standardized initial disclosures for fundraising and annual/quarterly reporting. Registered entities must publish audited financials, governance and operational disclosures, and SEs must file a duly audited Annual Impact Report detailing strategy, baseline, metrics, beneficiary validation, risks and mitigation; Social Auditors must audit AIRs.

Transitional credit filing: one-time portal filing or revision allowed, subject to verification and officer scrutiny.
Guidelines allow aggrieved registered persons to file or revise Form GST TRAN-1/TRAN-2 on the common portal during a limited one-time window; forms may be edited only before submitting, after which they freeze and must be filed with DSC or EVC. Applicants revising must download prior submissions, upload Annexure A declaration and TRANS 3 if applicable, and deliver a self certified copy with supporting records to the jurisdictional tax officer within seven days. Claims are subject to officer verification, adjudication on merits, and, if allowed, reflection in the electronic credit ledger.

Compounding of offences: discretionary settlement permitted subject to eligibility, payment of dues, and prescribed charges and procedures.
Revised administrative framework permits discretionary compounding of offences under the Income tax Act by designated senior authorities upon meeting prescribed eligibility conditions: filing a stamped affidavit application, prior payment of outstanding tax, interest and penalty related to the offence, undertaking to pay compounding charges and withdraw related appeals, subject to specified timelines, verification by the assessing functionary, prescribed compounding fees and ancillary prosecution and litigation costs, exclusions for certain offences, and procedural safeguards including reporting to courts and ITBA processing.

Transitional credit portal access extended - eligible taxpayers may file or revise TRAN 1/TRAN 2 with required declarations.
Transitional credit filing and revision are permitted through the GST common portal as a limited one time opportunity allowing aggrieved registered persons to file or revise Form GST TRAN 1 or TRAN 2, subject to electronic verification, required annexed declaration and TRANS 3 where applicable, pre submission editing that is final upon submission and filing with DSC/EVC, and post filing verification and adjudication by jurisdictional tax officers whose orders will determine credit reflected in the electronic credit ledger.

Transitional credit filing window reopened; taxpayers may file or revise TRAN-1/TRAN-2 with required declarations and documents.
A time-bound, one-time facility on the GST common portal permits aggrieved registered persons to file or revise FORM GST TRAN-1/TRAN-2, electronically sign/verify submissions, and upload a prescribed Annexure A declaration; TRAN-1 claims based on Credit Transfer Documents must include TRANS-3. Forms must be submitted with DSC or EVC after freezing via the portal; a self-certified copy plus Annexure A and TRANS-3 (if applicable) must be delivered to the jurisdictional tax officer within seven days. Jurisdictional officers will verify claims, afford hearings, pass orders on merits, and reflect allowed transitional credit in the Electronic Credit Ledger.

Agreement to tolerate or refrain from an act determines GST liability; mere penalties or compensatory payments are not taxable.
Taxability requires that payments be consideration for a supply by way of an agreement to do, refrain from, or tolerate an act; mere compensatory or punitive payments arising from breach, statutory cancellation, or penalties without an agreement to tolerate or refrain are not consideration and are not taxable, whereas payments that constitute consideration for ancillary facilitation services (such as cancellation fees or late payment acceptance) are taxable and assessed with the principal supply unless the principal supply is exempt.

GST rate clarifications: exemptions and correct tax characterisation provided for multiple services including educational fees and vehicle rentals.
Clarifies GST treatment and rates for varied services: ice cream parlours are standard taxable supplies with input tax credit (past lower rate payments treated as fully paid); educational institution fees for entrance, eligibility and migration certificates are exempt; storage/warehousing of ginned or baled cotton was covered as raw vegetable fibre prior to withdrawal; transit cargo services to and from Nepal and Bhutan-including returning empty containers-are exempt subject to customs/transhipment and track and trace verification; vehicle rentals with driver are rental services (heading 9966) and not exempt goods transport; location charges paid upfront with long term lease are part of the exempt upfront amount; ART/IVF services qualify as health care services and are exempt.

Tax administration access expanded through scheduled taxpayer interactions with senior tax officials during designated weekly timeslots.
Senior tax officials from the Directorate will hold in person interactions with registered taxable persons and stakeholders in their jurisdictions during specified weekly designated timeslots; the circular lists responsible units, the senior officers for each office, and provides office addresses, while names, phone numbers and e mail addresses of designated officials are published on the Directorate website under the Ease of Doing Business tab.

Anonymised escalation mechanism enables grievance monitoring for delayed Bill of Entry assessment while preserving assessing officer and location anonymity.
Faceless Assessment introduces an Anonymised Escalation Mechanism on ICEGATE for importers and Customs Brokers to register grievances concerning delayed assessment of Bills of Entry. Tickets are routed in ICES to VDN officers where assessment is pending at a Faceless Assessment Group port and to ADN officers where it is pending at the port of import. The ticket follows the Bill of Entry upon transfer between these locations. Following assessment completion, ICES closes the ticket and reflects its closed status on the ICEGATE grievance dashboard.

Transitional credit filing window enables one-time portal filing or revision of TRAN-1/TRAN-2 with prescribed documentary and verification steps.
A one-time portal facility permits eligible registered persons to file or revise Forms GST TRAN-1/TRAN-2 for claiming transitional credit, requiring upload of the prescribed Annexure A declaration and TRANS-3 where applicable; editing is allowed only before portal "submit", after which the form freezes and must be filed with DSC/EVC. Applicants must submit a self-certified copy to the jurisdictional tax officer within seven days and retain supporting records. Tax officers will verify claims, grant hearing, pass orders on merits and, if allowed, reflect transitional credit in the electronic credit ledger.

Refund scrutiny under UPGST requires mandatory module entry and prioritised review of high-value sanctioned refund orders.
Refund orders passed under Section 54 of the UPGST Act involving sanctioned amounts exceeding Rs. 2 crore are to be scrutinised by the concerned Additional Commissioner Grade-1 and Additional Commissioner Grade-2 (Vigilance/Enforcement) on their logins, with the scrutiny result mandatorily entered in the relevant module. The instruction prioritises completion of pending scrutiny cases, including the highest-value matters in Gautam Buddha Nagar Zone, and requires officers in other zones to complete scrutiny of all available cases and make the requisite module entries.

Line of credit support enables financing of Uzbekistan social infrastructure, subject to export eligibility and supply content rules.
A Government of India supported Line of Credit through Exim Bank finances Uzbekistan social infrastructure projects; exports must meet Foreign Trade Policy eligibility, be declared in Export Declaration Form/Shipping Bill per RBI instructions, and observe a minimum 75% India supply content (up to 25% external procurement). The LoC became effective September 12, 2022, with a terminal utilization period of 60 months from scheduled project completion. No agency commission is payable under the LoC, though exporters may use personal or EEFC funds for commissions subject to AD Category I bank approval after realization and applicable rules. AD banks must notify exporters and refer them to Exim Bank for details. Directions are issued under FEMA without prejudice to other statutory approvals.

Rupee Drawing Arrangement now permits use of BBPS for inbound bill payments to biller bank accounts, subject to KYC.
The circular authorises modification of the Rupee Drawing Arrangement to permit foreign inward remittances received under that arrangement to be credited to the bank account of the biller through the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), subject to the procedural conditions and KYC requirements applicable to RDA transfers through other electronic modes, and directs Category I Authorised Dealer banks to notify constituents.

Transitional credit form filing is governed by adopted central guidelines to ensure uniform implementation under Tripura GST.
Filing or revision of TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 transitional credit forms is governed by guidelines issued to provide a uniform mechanism for taxpayers. State Tax officers are directed to follow the central GST guidelines circulated on 9 September 2022 for field-level administration of such filing or revision. The direction, issued to secure uniform implementation of the Tripura State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, adopts the central instructions concerning transitional credit forms.

Transitional credit filing: one-time portal window permits filing or revision of TRAN-1/TRAN-2, subject to verification.
A one-time portal window permits aggrieved registered taxpayers to file or revise Forms GST TRAN-1 and TRAN-2, with electronic submission frozen upon clicking submit and final filing requiring DSC or EVC. Filers must upload the prescribed annexure declaration and TRANS-3 where applicable, submit a self-certified copy to the jurisdictional tax officer within seven days, and retain supporting records. TRAN-2 claims must be consolidated; certain form-based claims issued after the original TRAN-1 deadline are disallowed. Officers will verify claims, allow hearings, and reflect allowed transitional credit in the electronic credit ledger.

Brick kiln registration and pollution control coordination are mandatory before consent is issued for non-compliant units.
Brick kilns in Uttar Pradesh that do not conform to the prevailing guidelines are to be regulated through coordinated camps with the Pollution Control Board. The concerned regional officers must coordinate the camp dates and venues, ensure participation of the jurisdictional State Tax officer, and facilitate registration of the brick kilns. Registration with the State Tax Department is a mandatory pre-condition before consent or approval is issued by the Pollution Control Board.

GST classification clarified: electrically operated vehicles, treated sewage water and pulse by products attract specified GST rates.
Electrically operated vehicles are classifiable under HSN 8703 and attract five per cent. GST even if batteries are not fitted at supply; Napa and similarly minor polished stones ready for use qualify under Sl. No. 123 for concessional rate; mango forms under heading 0804 are separately classified (fresh exempt, sliced and dried concessional, other dried/pulp higher rate); treated sewage water under heading 2201 is exempt; nicotine polacrilex gum falls under tariff item 2404 91 00 at 18 per cent; fly ash content condition applies only to aggregate; pulse milling by products under heading 2302 attract five per cent.

GST on contractual consideration: only payments that remunerate an agreed toleration, forbearance or ancillary facility are taxable.
GST on payments arising from breach or penalty depends on whether the payment is consideration for a supply involving agreement to refrain, tolerate, or do an act; mere compensatory or punitive flows (liquidated damages, statutory penalties, cheque dishonour fines, forfeitures) are not consideration absent an independent contractual promise, whereas commercially agreed ancillary charges (cancellation fees, late payment acceptance, early termination or prepayment facilities) are consideration for supply and taxable if the principal supply is taxable.

GST rate clarifications on services and exemptions confirm applicable tax treatment and eligibility across multiple service categories.
Clarifications address GST rates and exemptions across specified services: ice cream parlours' past concessional payments are regularised and standard rate with ITC applies prospectively; educational institution charges for entrance, eligibility and migration certificates are exempt; storage/warehousing of ginned or baled cotton was covered by the raw vegetable fibre exemption prior to withdrawal; transit cargo services to and from Nepal and Bhutan including empty container movements are exempt subject to customs/transhipment regulations and track and trace verification; renting of transport vehicles with operator for mineral transport is taxable as rental services and not exempt road transport.

Omission of Rule 95A leads to withdrawal of circular, annulling prior refund guidance for airport retail supplies.
Following the retrospective omission of Rule 95A from the Bihar GST Rules, 2017, which had addressed refunds for taxes on inward supplies by airport retail outlets to outgoing international tourists, the Commissioner withdraws Circular No. Bikri-kar/Vividh-28/2018-2352 ab-initio, thereby nullifying the earlier clarifications issued under that circular.