Relaxation of additional fees: LLPs may file event-based e-forms due in late-February to May without penalty until June end.
Limited Liability Partnerships may file event-based e-forms due between 25 February 2022 and 31 May 2022 without payment of additional fees until 30 June 2022, as administrative relief in view of the MCA-21 transition; the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has directed implementation of this concession to promote compliance.

Export proceeds compliance: upload e BRCs for shipping bills with RoSCTL scrips to avoid repayment action.
Directive requiring upload of electronic Bank Realisation Certificates (e-BRCs) for shipping bills with RoSCTL scrips; rebate under RoSCTL is conditional on timely realisation of export proceeds and failure to upload e-BRCs will lead to recovery/repayment action under the FT(D&R) Act by jurisdictional Regional Authorities, with AD banks responsible for completing uploads.

Export prohibition on wheat triggers stricter RC issuance: mandatory LC verification and investigation of ante-dating, with enforcement referrals.
Prohibition on wheat exports requires RAs to physically verify all Letters of Credit, secure recipient-bank endorsement, and investigate instances where LC dates precede the prohibition but message exchanges post-date it for possible ante-dating. Ante-dated cases must prompt enforcement action and possible referral to investigative agencies; bank complicity will be addressed. RC applications that clear RA verification must obtain approval from a two-member Additional DGFTs committee at headquarters before RC issuance.

Stock exchange arbitration mechanism established SOP for disputes between listed companies/RTAs and shareholders, setting procedures, timelines and fee allocation.
The circular prescribes a Standard Operating Procedure for stock exchange arbitration of disputes between listed companies/RTAs and shareholders, making RTAs subject to arbitration, requiring listed companies to be joined where RTAs are involved, and directing arbitration only after exhaustion of complaint remedies including SCORES. It prescribes arbitrator composition, appointment timelines, hearing modalities, award and appellate timelines with limited extensions, fee and cost-allocation rules including refunds and subsidisation for small investor claims, record retention and public disclosure obligations, and enforcement/penalty frameworks for non-compliance.

Cybersecurity obligations for KYC Registration Agencies updated; enhanced VAPT and biannual cyber audit requirements imposed.
KRAs must identify, classify and board approve critical assets, maintain inventories of hardware, software and network resources, and subject new or critical systems to vulnerability scanning and penetration testing prior to commissioning. Periodic VAPT covering critical infrastructure must be conducted at least annually, by CERT In empaneled organisations, with final reports approved by the Technology Committee and submitted to the regulator. Vulnerabilities must be remediated immediately and closure certified within three months. KRAs must undertake comprehensive cyber audits twice per financial year and submit an MD/CEO compliance declaration with audit reports.

ASBA funds blocking ensures applications processed only after amounts are blocked, requiring intermediaries and exchanges to confirm.
The circular mandates that ASBA applications in public issues be processed only after application monies are blocked in the investor's bank account, requiring mandatory confirmation of blocked funds for acceptance on stock exchanges' electronic book-building platforms. All intermediaries, market infrastructure institutions, SCSBs and registrars must implement necessary systemic and procedural arrangements within the prescribed implementation period, with merchant bankers coordinating stakeholders. The requirement applies to all investor categories and modes of processing and is effective for public issues opening on or after the stated effective date.

Sabka Vishwas Scheme co-noticee declarations can be manually processed for issuance of Form SVLDRS-4 when main noticee dues are paid.
Where co-noticee declarations remain pending at Form SVLDRS-2 because system functionality to proceed to Form SVLDRS-4 is lacking, designated committees may issue the Form SVLDRS-4 (Discharge Certificate) manually for ARNs that fulfil all statutory eligibility conditions, provided the main noticee has paid dues; such manually processed cases must be reported to the Office of the Principal DG (Systems).

Microfinance objects restriction: include microcredit in company objects only if RBI net owned fund and related requirements are satisfied.
ROCs are directed not to permit incorporation of Section 8 companies with microfinance objects or subsequent alteration of main objects to include microfinance unless the company complies with the Net Owned Fund and other requirements laid down in the RBI Directions for NBFC MFIs; ROCs must examine incorporation and change of object filings to prevent circumvention.

Cyber security obligations require registrars to classify critical systems, conduct VAPT and biannual cyber audits, and report compliance.
QRTAs must identify and classify critical assets-including systems with sensitive or PII data-and maintain an approved inventory; conduct VAPT (covering servers, networking and security devices) at least annually (or biannually for designated protected systems) using CERT In empaneled organisations; submit Technology Committee approved VAPT reports to SEBI within one month; remediate vulnerabilities immediately and report closure within three months; perform pre commissioning testing of critical systems; carry out biannual cyber audits and furnish an MD/CEO compliance declaration with audit reports; implement measures and report status to SEBI within ten days, effective immediately.

Equitable distribution of client funds: priority full payment to smaller balances, remaining credits paid pro rata under supervised settlement.
The SOP amendment requires supervised settlement of client credit balances by using available member funds and market infrastructure unencumbered deposits, after dues and buffer maintenance. Payments begin with the smallest balances: amounts below a specified threshold paid in full where funds permit, amounts above that threshold paid pro rata from remaining funds. Market infrastructures may invoke bank guarantees, encash FDRs, net client balances across exchanges and settle in tranches. Members must provide proof of payment, exclude related parties by undertaking, indemnify market infrastructures against shortfalls, and allow client withdrawals by unconditional letter; implementation is required within a set timeline.

Online GST appeals against Mobile Squad orders must now be filed and admitted through the appeal module only.
Online appeals against orders of Mobile Squad and Vigilance/Enforcement units are to be handled through the GST appeal module after jurisdictional linking on the GSTN system. Form GST APL-01 filed against orders under section 129 or section 130, including TEMP I.D. orders, will appear on the login of the concerned appellate authority. The earlier manual appeal arrangement stands superseded, and only online appeals are to be admitted. Appellate authorities must also upload Form GST APL-04 for earlier disposed appeals in the BO system.

Relaxation of additional-fee requirement lets LLPs file Form 11 without extra fees until the extended deadline for compliance.
LLPs may submit e-Form 11 (Annual Return) for the financial year 2021-2022 without payment of additional fees up to 30th June, 2022, as a compliance facilitation measure owing to the transition to MCA-21 version 3, per Ministry of Corporate Affairs approval.

Faceless assessment requires complete, legible and linked Bill of Entry documentation to reduce queries and accelerate import clearance.
Faceless assessment of Bills of Entry requires complete initial disclosure of commodity description, brand, model and assessment-relevant specifications. Supporting technical literature, mandatory documents and certificates should be uploaded at the first instance. e-Sanchit uploads must be legible and linked to the relevant Bill of Entry, enabling assessing officers to examine the material and reducing avoidable queries and delays in assessment and clearance.

SEZ approvals: conditional extensions, co developer authorisations and area changes emphasising land contiguity and compliance.
The Board of Approval addressed ratification of prior minutes, monitored pending proceedings against a director linked to a developer, and processed requests under the SEZ Rules for extensions of LoAs, co developer approvals, setting up and expansion of SEZs, area additions, cancellations and sector reclassification. Extensions and area increases were conditioned on land contiguity and compliance; co developer approvals required execution of agreements and adherence to SEZ Act and Rules and tax/customs observations. A tobacco manufacturing industrial licence within an SEZ was authorised subject to technology, pollution, indigenous input and export only conditions.

IT tool based revenue monitoring requires mandatory entry of every action taken case in the departmental module.
Departmental officers were directed to use BIFA and Red Flag inputs for further scrutiny and action, and to ensure that every case involving action taken on such inputs, together with the amount deposited from 01-04-2022 onwards, is mandatorily entered in the Entry Module. Each zone's target for additional revenue collection through IT-based action is to be monitored only on the basis of MIS data, since discrepancies had been noticed between deposit details and the BO system MIS for Form DRC-03 payments.

Issuance of duplicate securities certificates: procedures simplified, documentation standardised, and dematerialisation made mandatory within 120 days.
Simplified, standardized procedure requires claimants to submit FIR/evidence and Board-prescribed Affidavit and Indemnity (no surety); exemptions apply where value Rs.5 Lakhs using prior-day closing price. Overseas holders may provide notarised/apostilled self-declaration with passport and address proof. RTAs/issuers must use prescribed forms, issue a Letter of Confirmation within 30 days, retain and deface physical certificates, and the claimant must dematerialise within 120 days or securities move to Suspense Escrow Demat Account. Duplicate securities must be issued only in dematerialized mode.

Voluntary tax deposit: Taxpayers may submit GST liability via DRC-03 during investigation; officers must inform them.
Voluntary payment of GST during search, inspection or investigation is permissible via DRC-03 initiated by the taxpayer on the GST portal; officers must inform taxpayers of this mechanism. Recovery of unpaid or short paid tax can only occur after statutory notice and confirmation of demand by an adjudication order, so coercive recovery during ongoing proceedings is not authorised, and complaints of force should be promptly investigated with disciplinary action where appropriate.

GST audit role allocation on BOWEB portal requires immediate revocation of unauthorized roles and prompt audit initiation
Role allocation for GST audit on the BOWEB portal was directed through the Sub-State Admin according to officer level: Senior Audit Officer at L-2, Audit Officer at L-3, and Junior Audit Officer at L-4. Any role assigned outside the prescribed table had to be revoked immediately, and the existing allocation arrangement would continue until changed. L-2 officers were also instructed to assign Team Head and Team Member roles to L-3 and L-4 officers for Category-A traders and initiate tax audit proceedings immediately.

Enforcement Officer role allocation enables issuance of FORM GST INS-01 for block-office and inter-zone investigators.
Sub-state administrators must assign the Enforcement Officer role to block-office officers to enable issuance of FORM GST INS-01. For cases requiring simultaneous multi-zone examination, subordinate officers will transfer the case ID on the Enforcement Module to the Zonal Additional Commissioner (Grade-1) login so that the Zonal Additional Commissioner can issue FORM GST INS-01 for officers of other zones; thereafter the Zonal Additional Commissioner will transfer the case ID to the relevant subordinate enforcement unit. If the Zonal Additional Commissioner also holds Additional Commissioner Grade-2 (V.E.) charge, the Joint Commissioner (V.E.) at headquarters may issue FORM GST INS-01 for other-zone officers.

Verification of contractor turnover required to reconcile PWD payments and TDS with GSTR-3B and report discrepancies monthly.
Verify that payments and TDS recorded on the Public Works Department's Chanakya Software correspond to equivalent supply turnover shown in GSTR-3B; collect corroborative information from the Executive Engineer of each PWD division, identify and quantify differences between PWD payments and contractor-declared supplies, treat variances as suspected tax for recovery, and submit a consolidated zone-wise monthly statement to the V.E. Section, headquarters.