Investor grievance redressal via SCORES requires authenticated entities to upload ATRs and resolve complaints within thirty days.
The Circular mandates centralized investor grievance redressal via the SCORES platform, requiring listed companies and SEBI registered intermediaries to obtain SCORES authentication, provide designated contact details, and upload Action Taken Reports (ATRs) and supporting documents electronically. Complaints remain pending until SEBI disposes them in SCORES; ATRs must be uploaded and proof of dispatch preserved. Failure to file ATRs within thirty days is treated as failure to furnish information to SEBI and deemed non redressal. Companies remain responsible where RTI/STA handle complaint processing on their behalf.

Deferment of export procedure for certified organic products suspends implementation pending further notification under foreign trade policy.
The Directorate, invoking powers under the Foreign Trade Policy, has amended prior public notices to defer the implementation of the procedure for export of certified organic products. The implementation of the notified procedure is suspended and will remain deferred until a subsequent notification or further orders are issued, effecting an administrative suspension of the earlier-notified export process.

Authentication of ARE-3 requires a dated superintendent signature and attested photocopy for self-bonded units.
Endorsements on supply invoices and ARE-3 for deemed export claims must bear the dated signature of the Superintendent of Central Excise; for units under the self-bonding/warehousing procedure the Superintendent must provide an attested true photocopy of the original ARE-3. A public notice to trade and Standing Order guidance to officers should be issued, and implementation difficulties reported to the Board.

Deemed export benefits: attested copies of ARE documents to be retained and provided for claims.
Superintendent in charge must make two legible photocopies of the original ARE bearing his counter signature, attest each as true copies with his dated signature, retain one copy in the Range office and hand the other to the unit against dated acknowledgement for use in applying for deemed export benefits; this amends the last sentence of paragraph 2(b) of Circular No.19/2007 Cus.

Bank guarantee exemption: full BG may be waived where the commissioner records absence of revenue risk.
A proviso is added to para 3.2 of Circular No. 58/2004-Customs permitting the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs, for reasons recorded on file, to decide that full bank guarantee is not justified where there is an absence of risk to revenue, thereby preventing automatic elevation to full BG following past penalization and enabling case-by-case retention of BG exemptions under Advance License and EPCG schemes.

CESTAT appeal forms amended: updated alpha-numeric commissionerate codes and expanded order-number fields effective 1 January 2015.
The amendment revises and issues consolidated alpha numeric codes for Commissionerates across Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax to reflect cadre restructuring and varied Commissionerate types; it advises issuing individual order numbers when a single adjudicatory order covers multiple matters, increases order number boxes from three to four, raises total alpha numeric boxes from 21 to 22 to accommodate larger numbers, and makes the revised series effective from the stated date, with the annexed list to be used for implementation.

Exemption of multilateral organisation deposits extended to member organisations and their affiliate bodies, easing account opening requirements.
The Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2000 have been amended to exempt deposits held with Authorised Dealer Category I banks by any multilateral organisation of which India is a member, and their subsidiary/affiliate bodies and officials in India, thereby aligning these organisations with the prior exemption afforded to the United Nations and its bodies; the amendment was notified via the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014 and communicated to AD Category I banks, subject to other statutory permissions.

FCRA registration deletions: associations removed from show-cause listings for failing to submit mandatory annual returns or due to cancellation.
Administrative deletions from the list attached to a Show Cause Notice under the FCRA are recorded where associations failed to furnish mandatory annual returns in the prescribed proforma, or where deletions arose from voluntary cancellation requests, allotment of new registration numbers after name-change approvals, or claims of non-receipt of registration documents. Each listed association is identified with its registration identifier and the factual basis for cancellation or deletion.

Rupee Drawing Arrangement: AD Category I banks must submit RDA correspondence and prescribed statements to RBI regional offices.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks must submit all Rupee Drawing Arrangement correspondence and prescribed statements to the Regional Office of the Reserve Bank's Foreign Exchange Department having jurisdiction over the bank's registered office; prior instructions on Vostro account maintenance remain unchanged and the directions are issued under Section 10(4) and Section 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Money Transfer Service Scheme: Indian agents must submit correspondence and statements to the designated regional office for processing.
All Authorised Persons who are Indian agents under the Money Transfer Service Scheme must direct correspondence and submit prescribed statements and returns to the Regional Office of the Reserve Bank's Foreign Exchange Department having jurisdiction over their registered office, to avoid delays from sending material to the Central Office; other procedural instructions under the Scheme remain unchanged and the directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Work allocation among CBDT leadership assigns investigative control to Member (Investigation) and zonal oversight to other Members.
Distribution of functional and territorial responsibilities among the Chairperson and Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes is prescribed. The Chairperson retains overall authority while Member (Investigation) supervises all DGsIT(Inv.), all CCsIT(Central Circle) and DGIT (I&CI). Other Members are allocated specific zonal and subject-matter charges covering policy, regions, legal coordination, appeals and administration, effective immediately and until further orders.

Interest payment directive: timely disbursement to Special Deposit Scheme account holders by electronic transfer or account-payee cheque.
Directs prompt payment of interest to holders under the Special Deposit Scheme 1975 for calendar year 2014 at the rate of 8.7% per annum, payable on 1 January 2015. Payments are to be effected by electronic channels (ECS/NECS/NEFT/RTGS) or account-payee cheque, subject to the procedural instructions set out in the December 30, 2003 circular. Banks must issue instructions to Deposit Offices and acknowledge receipt.

Audit commissionerate structuring: amend commodity-wise trade notice to follow Board guidelines and prevent duplicate audits.
Request to amend the Trade Notice for the Audit Commissionerate in Zone I Mumbai to align with the Board's Circular of 22.09.2014 so circles are formed from divisions or entire executive commissionerates and audit groups allocated by unit size. The Trade Notice's commodity-wise division risks multiple audits of the same multi-product unit for the same period, duplication of assessee profiles and paperwork, trade inconvenience, and impractical travel and workload for small audit teams across a broad jurisdiction; amendment is sought to prevent these operational difficulties.

Adjudication authority expanded: specified DRI and DGCEI officers may now adjudicate show cause notices under section 28.
Specified officers of DRI and DGCEI are authorised to adjudicate cases where show cause notices for short levy or non levy of customs duty have been issued, modifying the earlier Board Circular that had precluded DRI/DGCEI officers from exercising adjudicatory authority despite being designated as proper officers; the change follows creation of Commissioner level posts for adjudication and administrative issues may be reported to the Board.

Bonded trucking permission granted for air import cargo transshipment under conditions including bond, insurance and reporting requirements.
Permission is granted to M/s Shreeji Transport Service Pvt. Ltd. to operate bonded trucking for air import transshipment cargo from the Delhi International Airport transshipment warehouse to Customs notified Air Cargo Complexes within India by road and the company is appointed as custodian for such transshipment under bond. The permission is for three years and is subject to compliance with Section 45 read with Chapter VIII of the Customs Act, the Goods Imported (Conditions of Transshipment) Regulations, CBEC circulars, execution of a running bond, insurance for full value and duties, sealing of trucks in presence of Customs officers, accountability for shortages, and maintenance of current bond and insurance documentation.

Verification of records: statutory amendment authorises departmental audits to scrutinise service tax compliance and records.
An amendment to the rule-making power under section 94 authorises imposition of duties to furnish information, maintain records and prescribe their verification; invoking that power, the Government inserted rule 5A(2) to permit scrutiny of assessee records by an audit party deputed by the Commissioner. The circular treats statutory "verification" as encompassing departmental audit to verify self-assessed service tax liabilities, distinguishes an earlier judicial invalidation by reference to the new statutory backing, and directs officers to carry out audits per departmental instructions.

Income tax deduction from salaries: employers must deduct TDS at prescribed rates, comply with PAN, forms and timelines.
Employers must deduct income tax from salaries for FY 2014 15 under Section 192 using the prescribed age based slab rates, including surcharge and education cesses, by estimating total salary (including taxable perquisites), allowing permitted deductions (including Chapter VI A), and deducting tax monthly; deductors must obtain PAN/TAN, deposit TDS by prescribed dates, file electronic quarterly statements (Form 24Q) and, for government book entries, Form 24G, issue Form 16, observe perquisite valuation rules, and face interest, penalties and prosecution for non compliance.

Import policy abeyance for maize maintained pending judicial review, preserving the pre-notification import status until further court direction.
Effect of the notification revising the import policy for Maize (Corn) under EXIM Code 1005 - removing it from the State Trading Enterprises list and classifying it as free - is kept in abeyance in compliance with interim judicial orders maintaining the pre-notification status quo until the expiration of the court-ordered interim period.

Diplomatic privilege governs export exemptions: accredited diplomats' household goods allowed exemption, stuffing at residences prohibited.
The standing direction requires cessation of the practice of permitting empty containers to be taken to diplomats' residences for stuffing. Exemption from examination on export will be extended only to accredited diplomats upon a request from the diplomatic mission expressly stating that the individual enjoys the Convention privilege. Goods of other mission staff are to be examined and cleared under normal customs procedures.

Mutual fund transactions via stock exchange infrastructure now permit non demat processing while retaining direct pay in/pay out safeguards.
Permits mutual fund transactions through recognised stock exchange infrastructure to include non demat transactions while preserving the prohibition on distributors handling pay in and payout of funds and units. Exchanges and clearing corporations must ensure funds pay in are received directly by the recognised clearing corporation and payouts are made directly to investor accounts; under the demat model, units are credited and debited from investors' demat accounts. Other provisions of the prior circular remain unchanged.