Exclusion from section 144B: cases arising from Section 133A actions removed from 144B's scope with immediate effect.
Cases where assessment proceedings are pending or initiated pursuant to action under Section 133A, or where action under Section 133A is conducted in ongoing assessment proceedings, are excluded from the purview of Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, by a CBITs order amending prior scope-specifying instructions; the order takes immediate effect.

MEIS schedule amendment adds HS code for solar cells and corrects description to harmonize export incentives.
The DGFT amended Appendix 3B, Table 2 of the MEIS to add HS code 85414012 for solar cells assembled in modules and to correct the description of HS code 85414011 to "Solar Cells, not assembled", harmonising the MEIS schedule with the amended ITC (HS) nomenclature and related notifications and fiscal changes.

Mandatory PAN KYC and Nomination: RTAs must not process service requests until documents provided; payments via electronic mode.
SEBI prescribes that RTAs phase the issuance of Form SH13/ISR3 and make it downloadable; follow specified signature verification steps including banker attestation and acceptable bank documents; accept driving licence in smart/book/digital form for name mismatches; permit self-attestation of hard-copy documents except in transmission cases; update folios from Client Master List or demat records per investor authorisation and accept e-sign; and suspend processing of service requests or complaints for physical holders until PAN, KYC and nomination details are furnished, with payments to be made only electronically. RTAs must obtain a practicing Company Secretary's compliance certificate within the prescribed period.

Court cases monitoring module streamlines tracking of appeals, revisions and writ petitions under the UPVAT and UPGST Acts.
An online Court Cases module is introduced on the departmental website to monitor appeals, revisions and writ petitions arising from orders passed under the UPVAT and UPGST Acts at the appellate authority, Tribunal, High Court and Supreme Court levels. Assessment and enforcement units are directed to make timely and accurate entries of all pending and future court matters so that disposal of appeals and recovery of demand can be effectively tracked.

Holding AGMs through VC or OAVM permitted for eligible companies; compliance requirements remain and statutory timelines unaffected.
Companies proposing to hold Annual General Meetings may conduct AGMs through Video Conference or Other Audio Visual Means if they meet the prescribed procedural and technical requirements in the earlier General Circular; this permission does not extend statutory time limits for holding AGMs and non-adherence to timelines remains liable to legal action under the Companies Act.

Intermediary services: facilitation between three parties qualifies while principal supply and subcontracting do not.
The circular clarifies that an Intermediary arranges or facilitates a main supply of goods, services or securities between two or more other persons and does not supply the main supply on his own account; classification requires a minimum of three parties, two distinct supplies (main and ancillary), and a facilitator role such as agent or broker, while principal-to-principal supply and subcontracting of the main supply are excluded from intermediary services.

Investor Charter requirement: investment advisers must publish charter, monthly complaint disclosures and complaint lodging links to enhance transparency.
Investment advisers must prominently publish the prescribed Investor Charter and provide a direct complaint lodging link and a link to SEBI SCORES on their websites/mobile apps; those without digital platforms must email the Charter and monthly complaint status to clients. Advisers must disclose monthly complaint data in the Annexure B format by the seventh day of the succeeding month, report pending counts including >3 months and average resolution time, and maintain an internal grievance resolution timeline of 30 days. The disclosure regime takes effect from January 1, 2022.

Investor transparency obligations require research analysts to publish charters and disclose monthly complaints online with direct complaint links.
SEBI requires registered Research Analysts to publish an Investor Charter on their websites/mobile apps or email it to clients if no digital presence exists, and to disclose monthly all investor complaints including SCORES complaints in the prescribed format by the seventh day of the succeeding month. RAs must display a direct complaint lodging option and link to the SCORES portal; those without digital platforms must provide monthly complaint status to investors via email.

Portfolio managers must publish an investor charter, disclose monthly complaint data by the 7th, and provide complaint links.
Portfolio managers must publish an Investor Charter on their websites detailing services, investor responsibilities, timelines, fees, account opening/termination procedures and grievance redressal, and must disclose monthly complaint data (including SCORES complaints) in the Annexure B format by the 7th of the succeeding month. They must provide website/mobile links for lodging complaints and links to SCORES, register on SCORES, include investor relations officer details and grievance mechanisms in the Disclosure Document, and adhere to specified operational timelines for onboarding, disclosures and complaint resolution.

Investor Charter requirement mandates AIFs to disclose grievance data and maintain quarterly complaint records for investor transparency.
AIFs must publish an Investor Charter (Annexure X) in the PPM for new schemes or send it by registered e mail for existing schemes, and disclose investor complaint data in the Annexure Y format-added as a PPM chapter for new schemes or by updating the PPM annually for existing schemes. AIFs shall maintain complaint records compiled within seven days from each quarter end and disclose quarterly and three year complaint statistics, including pending counts, average resolution time and complaints older than three months.

Co investment by AIF managers via portfolio management route now subject to registration, reporting, and modified fee/onboarding rules.
The amended framework permits AIF managers to offer Co investment via the portfolio management route subject to prior intimation if already registered as a Portfolio Manager, or subject to prior registration if not registered. Portfolio Managers must submit monthly reports to the regulator within seven working days (Annexure A) and quarterly client reports (Annexure B). Fee and direct on boarding provisions of earlier guidance do not apply to Co investment, while remaining applicable to other portfolio management services. Reporting formats apply from April 2022; other provisions from the notification date.

Segregation and ring fencing of scheme assets required when using pool accounts, with daily reconciliation and trustee oversight.
Mutual funds may use pool accounts only for mutual fund level transactions where AMCs have board and trustee approved policies and controls ensuring Segregation and Ring-fencing of each scheme's assets, liabilities, bank accounts and securities, with pool accounts reconciled to nil at end of day, unidentified funds allocated to scheme accounts by the next business day, trustee confirmation in half yearly reports, and half yearly audits by trustees' auditors.

Mutual funds must publish an Investor Charter and monthly complaint disclosures on websites within seven days.
SEBI mandates that all Mutual Funds publish an Investor Charter and disclose monthly investor complaint data (including SCORES complaints) on their websites and on AMFI's website in the prescribed format, with information to be posted within the 7th day of the succeeding month. Mutual funds must provide direct complaint-lodging links and a SCORES link/app, display the charter to existing and new unit holders, follow specified timelines for services and disclosures, and are subject to regulatory action for non-compliance.

Refund of wrongly paid GST allowed when supply is later reclassified, subject to payment under correct head and two year filing limit.
The term "subsequently held" includes both taxpayer self reclassification and findings by tax officers or authorities; refunds are available if the taxpayer pays tax under the correct head and files the refund claim within two years from the date of payment under the correct head, with a transitional two year filing period for payments made before the notification. Refunds are not available where the liability was adjusted by issuance of a credit note.

Risk-based identification for notices under section 148: upload flagged information on the VRU portal for tax reassessment oversight.
Assessing Officers must identify and upload on the VRU functionality information categories specified for implementation of the Board's risk management strategy to enable issuance of notices under section 148, including information from government agencies, internal audits, tax authorities, search or survey results, FT&TR references, and court or appellate orders affecting income.

Legal Entity Identifier requirement expands to large-value cross-border transactions, mandating LEI collection and GLEIF validation.
AD Category I banks must obtain and validate the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) from resident non-individuals undertaking capital or current account large-value transactions from October 1, 2022; once an entity has an LEI it must be reported in all its transactions. Non-resident counterparties may be processed if LEI is unavailable to avoid disruption. Banks must capture LEI data, validate it against the GLEIF global database, encourage voluntary early adoption, and inform constituents that LEIs can be obtained from GLEIF-accredited Local Operating Units, including the recognised Indian issuer.

Revocation deadline extension for cancelled GST registrations: filing allowed until extended date, applicable irrespective of application status.
Time to apply for revocation of cancelled registration is extended to 30 September 2021 where the original due date fell between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2021 for registrations cancelled under the specified clauses of section 29(2). The extension applies regardless of application status: not filed, pending with the proper officer, rejected (allowing fresh filing), pending on appeal, or decided on appeal. Proper officers and appellate authorities must treat the extended timeline as applicable, and taxpayers may refile where necessary.

PMS transactions in corporate bonds must use RFQ for at least 10% of secondary market trades.
PMS must execute at least 10% by value of their monthly secondary market corporate bond trades via the stock exchanges' RFQ platform in OTO or OTM modes, with compliance measured on a rolling three month basis; trades where a PMS is on both sides must use OTO, OTM trades executed with another PMS count as OTM, and PMS may accept contract notes from brokers for RFQ transactions.

IGM seal-number amendments require responsible parties to provide satisfactory justification, with unresolved requests escalated for supervisory review.
IGM seal-number amendment applications must include a proper explanatory letter and justification from the party responsible for the seal-number change. Proper officers must scrutinise the explanation before processing the amendment. If the officer is not satisfied with the justification, the application must be referred to the Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of the Import Noting Section for further consideration.

Coumarin testing requirement for imported cinnamon: consignments must be tested to ensure coumarin limits are met before clearance.
Imported consignments of cinnamon must be tested for coumarin content on a dry-weight basis, with the coumarin content not exceeding 0.3 percent by weight; testing is to follow the manual of methods of analysis for spices, herbs and condiments, and Authorized Officers are directed to ensure all consignments are tested and to report implementation difficulties to the Board.