Assignment of Show Cause Notices: SCNs issued by DRI reassigned to Commissioner of Customs Mangalore for adjudication.
The Board, under Notification No.15/2002 Customs issued under subsection (1) of section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, assigns the Show Cause Notices DRI/MRU/INVN/GSEC/48/2011 Kwr, Kand, and Mund dated 31.01.2013, issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Bangalore Zonal Unit in respect of GSEC Limited and others, to the Commissioner of Customs, Mangalore for adjudication, with copies directed to specified customs formations and the issuing office.

Assignment of show cause notices directs adjudication by Commissioner under a statutory notification under the Customs Act.
The Board assigns specific show cause notices to the Commissioner of Customs (Mulund CFS and General), New Custom House, Mumbai, for adjudication pursuant to the statutory notification under the Customs Act, directing that the Commissioner undertake adjudication of the listed matters and that copies of the assignment be provided to the relevant intelligence units and customs offices.

Investigation division allocation centralises policy, operations and enforcement functions across specialised branches to combat tax evasion.
Revised allocation reorganises the Investigation Division into specialised branches assigning policy, operational and coordination functions: Investigation-I handles overall policy, surveys, foreign asset cases, inter-agency and intra-CBDT coordination, section 269SS matters and orders under section 119; Investigation-II manages search and seizure operations, MIS, administrative matters and IT/cyber-forensic systems; Investigation-III oversees rewards, settlements and monitoring of senior investigative directives; Investigation-IV manages information exchange, AML/CFT, PEP/HNI monitoring and data management; Investigation-V handles election coordination, penalties, prosecution, security and special operational units.

All-in-cost ceiling for External Commercial Borrowings extended until end of September, remaining subject to review and compliance.
The all-in-cost ceiling for External Commercial Borrowings is extended as the operative cap through September 30, 2013, subject to review; all other ECB policy provisions remain unchanged and Authorized Dealer Category-I banks are to inform constituents. The directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and do not affect permissions required under other laws.

External Commercial Borrowings policy continues; refinancing and rescheduling instructions remain operative and must be conveyed to authorised dealer banks.
External Commercial Borrowings refinancing and rescheduling instructions continue to apply pending review; all other ECB policy aspects remain unchanged. Authorised dealer banks must notify constituents and customers of the continued applicability. Directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

All-in-cost ceiling for trade credits remains in force and financing periods must align with the operating cycle.
The existing all-in-cost ceiling for trade credits for imports will continue to apply until review; Category-I authorised dealer banks must ensure trade credit periods are linked to the operating cycle and the trade transaction, maintain strict compliance, and note that all other aspects of trade credit policy remain unchanged, with directions issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

General permission for overseas acquisition of SWIFT shares by Indian banks upon SWIFT User's Group membership.
A bank in India licensed under the Banking Regulation Act is granted general permission to acquire SWIFT shares per SWIFT by laws, provided the bank has Reserve Bank permission for admission to the SWIFT User's Group in India as a member; this replaces case by case approvals and is effective immediately, with AD Category I banks to inform constituents, without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Section 245 procedure: refunds adjusted against past arrears must be reprocessed with notice, reply and AO order.
Cases where the Centralised Processing Centre processed returns and refunds were fully or partly adjusted against past arrears without following the statutory two stage adjustment procedure must be transferred to Assessing Officers. Assessing Officers shall issue notices to assessees, allow responses, and after considering replies pass orders under the statutory adjustment procedure permitting or disallowing refund adjustments; the Board will fix a timetable for completing this process.

Focus Product Scheme additions expand export incentive eligibility for specified HS lines under amended Appendix 37D.
DGFT public notice amends the Handbook of Procedures by adding numerous HS tariff lines to the Focus Product Scheme in Appendix 37D, extending export incentive eligibility (at the scheme rate) to specified product groups-including aeronautical equipment, optical and measuring instruments, medical and diagnostic apparatus, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, jute products, and select electronic components-effective 15 August 2013; it also deletes Copper Sulphate (THUTIA) from Appendix 37A Table 2 with immediate effect.

Modification of Export Product Description updates SION entries to specify Simethicone and Activated Polydimethyl Siloxane formulations.
Exercising powers under paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy and paragraph 1.1 of the Handbook of Procedure (Vol. I), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade amends SION A-3530 to Activated Polydimethyl Siloxane (Simethicone 100% USP/EP/BP) and SION A-3529 to Simethicone (Simethicone Emulsion BP/USP/EP), thereby modifying the export product descriptions to include formulation-specific specification references.

Light-dues liability: owners must declare and pay tonnage-based charges for deck and excluded spaces before port clearance.
Light-dues under the Lighthouse Act, 1927 are payable by the owner or master on arrival and departure and are recoverable by the Proper Officer; tonnage for assessment is determined per the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 and the Merchant Shipping (Tonnage Measurement of Ships) Rules, 1987, with open deck spaces and excluded spaces converted to tonnage by calculating cubic capacity and dividing by the prescribed factor. Owners, masters or agents must declare volumetric capacity and computed tonnage of deck cargo and other spaces not included in Net Tonnage, and if inadequate information is provided a Surveyor will determine tonnage with inspection costs borne by the owner or master. No port clearance will be granted until all light-dues are paid.

Online registration verification revised: registrations granted on applicant declarations with mandatory post-registration physical inspection within prescribed processing period.
The circular permits registration to be granted on the dealer's online declarations and uploaded documents with a signed hard copy submitted to the ward; issuance of a computerised receipt triggers the statutory processing period and the Ward VATO must act within 15 days. Post-registration, the Ward VATO assigns a VATI to conduct physical verification within three months; the VATI must enter the verification report in the system within one week, and the Ward VATO must initiate action on any adverse report within three days.

Audit suspension on satisfactory Form AR-1: dealer's deposit of due tax may preclude further audit for that year.
Where the auditor's submissions in Form AR-1 satisfactorily establish the parameters that caused a dealer to be selected for audit for 2012-13, and the dealer deposits the tax indicated by those submissions, the departmental audit for 2012-13 may be discontinued and need not be pursued further.

FII investments in Security Receipts now count against corporate debt limits, subject to central bank conditions.
FII and QFI investments in Security Receipts issued by Asset Reconstruction Companies shall be reckoned against the extant Corporate Debt Limits and are subject to terms and conditions specified by the central banking authority; custodians must notify their FII clients and the measure takes effect immediately.

SION input-output norm notification sets required inputs for export of fatty alcohol under Foreign Trade Policy.
Notification of SION A-3643 prescribes input-output norms for the export product "Fatty Alcohol (Cetyl, Stearyl, Ceto-Stearyl)" under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedure, specifying permitted input items and their allowed quantities per kilogram of exported fatty alcohol (Palm Fatty Acid Distillate and Copper Chromite Catalyst).

SION modification updates export product designation and revises permitted input list, adding inputs and adjusting allowed quantities.
Modification of SION A-1442 widens the export product designation to include a product variant and revises the technical SION parameters by adding new permitted inputs and reducing the allowed quantities of certain existing inputs for the specified acetate product, pursuant to powers under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedure.

TDS credit: Assessing Officer must grant credit when the deductor has deposited the tax, after verification.
Assessing Officers must grant TDS credit when an assessee produces a TDS certificate and the AO verifies that the deductor has deposited the tax to the Government account; the AO may consult the relevant TDS AO and, if necessary, issue a notice to the deductor to compel filing of a correction statement as per procedure.

Position limits for exchange-traded currency derivatives tightened, margins significantly increased and member client caps imposed immediately.
Revisions impose tighter controls on exchange traded USD INR currency derivatives: initial and extreme loss margins to be increased by 100% of prevailing rates for USD INR contracts; client gross open position capped at 6% of total open interest or 10 million USD, whichever is lower; non bank trading member gross open position capped at 15% of total open interest or 50 million USD, whichever is lower; stock exchanges directed to amend rules, implement systems, disseminate provisions and effect the measures from the specified implementation date.

Prohibition on proprietary trading: banks must transact in exchange traded currency futures and options only for clients.
AD Category I banks are prohibited from proprietary trading in exchange traded currency futures and currency options; any transactions in these markets must be conducted solely on behalf of clients. The prohibition is effective immediately, remains until further notice, is issued under the foreign exchange regulatory framework, and does not affect other permissions or approvals required under other laws.

ECB access for asset finance companies allowed under automatic route with lender, hedging and limit conditions.
NBFCs classified as Asset Finance Companies may avail ECBs under the automatic route to finance import of infrastructure equipment for leasing to infrastructure projects, subject to minimum five year average maturity, full hedging of currency risk, and foreign currency bonds only from FATF compliant host jurisdictions; automatic route ECBs (including outstanding ECBs) are limited to 75 percent of owned funds with a per year ceiling, while borrowings beyond that require Reserve Bank approval.