Late filing relief for LLPs: additional fees waived for Statement of Account and Solvency filings.
LLPs may file Form 8 (Statement of Account and Solvency) for the financial year 2020-2021 without payment of additional fees until 30th December, 2021, as a temporary relief addressing COVID-19 related filing difficulties, aimed at easing compliance burdens for MSMEs operating as LLPs.

Refund of wrongly paid GST available when supply classification is subsequently corrected, subject to the prescribed limitation period.
Refunds for tax paid under an incorrect GST head are available where the supply is subsequently reclassified either by the taxpayer or by a tax/adjudicatory authority, provided the taxpayer pays tax under the correct head. The refund claim must be filed within two years from the date of payment under the correct head; for payments made before the refund rule amendment, the two year period runs from the amendment's effective date. Refunds are not available if tax was adjusted by issuance of a credit note.

Export of services: supplies from Indian-incorporated related companies to related foreign-incorporated entities may qualify as export.
Supplies by a company incorporated in India to a related body corporate incorporated outside India are transactions between separate persons and therefore are not barred by clause (v) of Section 2(6) of the IGST Act; such supplies may qualify as export of services provided the other statutory conditions (supplier in India, recipient outside India, place of supply outside India, and payment in convertible foreign exchange) are met.

GST classification clarified: cloud kitchens treated as restaurant service, ice cream parlors as goods, exemptions and rate treatments specified.
Clarifies GST classification and treatment: cloud/central kitchens are restaurant service and taxed accordingly without ITC; ice cream parlors selling premanufactured ice cream are supplies of goods; government funded coaching under the disabilities scholarship scheme is exempt; NSIL satellite launch services to foreign customers qualify as export of service and are zero rated; overloading charges at toll plazas receive toll treatment; "giving on hire" includes renting to STUs and local authorities for exemption eligibility; grant of mineral exploration/mining rights falls under licensing services for minerals and was subject to the standard residuary rate during the disputed period; amusement park admissions and job work for alcoholic liquor are clarified with respective rate treatments.

GST classification clarified for specific goods, updating applicable rates, treatment of composite supplies, and compliance documentation requirements.
Clarifies GST classification and rates for identified goods per GST Council recommendations: fresh fruits and nuts are exempt only when supplied unprocessed; dried fruits and nuts are taxable. Seeds under heading 1209 (including tamarind seeds) are nil-rated only when for sowing; otherwise they attract a concessional rate. Copra is excluded from coconut exemption. All goods under heading 3006 and heading 3822 attract the specified concessional rates. Operational rulings cover acceptance of original DGH Essentiality certificates for inter state stock transfers, separate taxation of UPS and external batteries, 70:30 valuation for renewable projects, and uniform treatment of fibre drums.

Electronic sea cargo manifest compliance requires custodians and terminal operators to file prescribed stuffing, movement and voyage messages.
Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment Regulations, 2018 require electronic advance information for sea cargo and allocate filing responsibilities among carriers, transhippers, custodians and terminal operators. Custodians must file container-specific stuffing and stripping reports and conveyance arrival and departure information, while terminal operators must provide voyage call and container movement details. Transitional filing under the earlier regime remains available until 31 December 2021. From 1 January 2022, stuffing messages, ASR, DP and AR filings by custodians, and voyage call messages by terminal operators become mandatory.

RoDTEP duty credits remit unrebated export levies through transferable e-scrips, subject to export-proceeds realization and customs-duty use.
RoDTEP remits unrebated duties, taxes and levies on specified exports through transferable electronic duty credits. Exporters must claim through an electronic shipping-bill declaration, avoid duplicate remission, and retain audit records. Customs processing generates scrolls from which e-scrips may be created in the electronic duty credit ledger. E-scrips are valid for one year, transferable only in full, and usable solely for payment of Basic Customs Duty on automated imports. Credits depend on timely realisation of export proceeds and may be suspended, cancelled or recovered for excess allowance or non-realisation.

Deduction for sugarcane purchase price clarified to include state-fixed prices, affecting cooperative mills' tax treatment.
The Board clarifies that the phrase price fixed or approved by the Government for purposes of the deduction for expenditure on purchase of sugarcane includes price fixation by State Governments through State-level Acts, orders or other legal instruments, including State Advised Price which may be higher than central statutory minimums, and that the deduction applies where purchase price is equal to or less than such government-fixed or approved price.

Determination of legitimate claims: claims against defaulting members go to MCSGFC for sanction; excess pursued outside exchange.
Claims against members declared defaulters must be placed before the Member Core Settlement Guarantee Fund Committee (MCSGFC) for sanction and ratification; the MCSGFC's advice on legitimate claims shall be sent to the IPF Trust for immediate disbursement, and if the sanctioned amount is less than the claim or exceeds IPF coverage, the investor may pursue arbitration or other legal forums outside the exchange for the balance.

Investor grievance arbitration: exchanges may relocate proceedings for large awards and set staged interim relief from IPF.
Exchanges need not form exclusive appellate arbitration panels but must ensure members who adjudicated a matter at arbitration are not appointed to its appellate panel. Parties may request shifting of arbitration to a metro for awards above a prescribed threshold, with additional costs borne by the requesting party. The circular prescribes staged interim relief releases from the Investor Protection Fund where client-favourable orders or awards arise and limits cumulative interim relief; fees for late claim filings are to be deposited into the IPF. Exchanges must amend bye-laws and report implementation.

Scale Based Regulation reclassifies NBFCs into layered categories and imposes proportional capital, governance and prudential requirements.
Scale Based Regulation classifies NBFCs into Base, Middle, Upper and Top Layers by size, activity and risk, applies progressively stricter regulations to higher layers, and prescribes layer-specific prudential and governance measures including revised Net Owned Fund minima with glide paths, a >90-day NPA norm with phased compliance, an Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process, enhanced capital quality and leverage norms for Upper Layer entities, harmonised concentration limits referenced to Tier I capital, board and disclosure enhancements, Chief Compliance Officer and compensation policies, and transition and supervisory timelines for movements between layers.

Due diligence by Merchant Banker required for AIF placement memorandum filing, including certification and annual change intimation.
AIFs must file placement memoranda through a SEBI-registered Merchant Banker who shall independently exercise due diligence on all disclosures, provide a prescribed due diligence certificate at the time of filing and for annual intimations of changes, and disclose the Merchant Banker's details in the placement memorandum; Merchant Bankers must follow Annexure A/B formats and accompanying annexure checklists cross-referencing compliance with applicable AIF Regulations, and may not be associates of the AIF, its sponsor, manager or trustee.

Import container controls require scanning, secure storage, full examination of suspicious cargo, periodic verification and disposal procedures.
Handling of un-claimed, un-cleared, suspicious and detained import containers requires mandatory scanning, weighment, secure designated storage, reporting and verification. Containers without a Bill of Entry beyond 24 hours, or uncleared beyond 15 days subject to specified exclusions, fall within the controls. CFSs must maintain continuously monitored CCTV-secured storage areas and transfer covered containers there under supervision. Suspicious containers require immediate 100 percent examination, while designated-area containers require fortnightly physical verification. Containers pending clearance beyond 30 days are to be taken up for disposal under applicable customs procedures.

Pre-registration business verification becomes mandatory to prevent fraudulent GST registrations while requiring prompt processing of registration applications.
Physical verification of an applicant's place of business is compulsory before grant of registration under the DGST Act, 2017, to address non-existing and potentially evasive registrations. Rule 25 permits verification by the Proper Officer and requires the report, supporting documents and photographs to be uploaded in Form GST REG-30 within 15 working days after verification. Pre-registration verification must be completed within seven days of receiving the application, without delaying registration processing.

Latest container freight station request governs when Direct Port Delivery importers submit multiple change requests for one consignment.
For Direct Port Delivery import consignments, multiple online requests to change the container freight station for the same bill of lading or consignment are resolved by treating the latest request as final. The approach covers duplicate or revised requests caused by changed preferences, error correction, or repeated submissions and avoids uncertainty in consignment stacking.

Container Freight Station custodianship extended with bond, insurance and indemnity conditions until 31 January 2022.
The Principal Commissioner has extended the Custodianship and approval as Customs Cargo Service Provider for M/s. LCL Logistix (India) Private Limited, CFS, Haldia up to 31.01.2022 under Regulation 10(2) and Regulation 13 of Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2019 (HCCAR, 2009) and Section 45 of the Customs Act, 1962, subject to bond of Rs. 8,64,00,000, insurance of Rs. 15 Crore, indemnity obligations under Regulation 5(6), and ongoing compliance with the Customs Act and HCCAR, 2009.

Ship-call monitoring strengthens timely SCMTR manifest filing through vessel-wise compliance checks, error resolution, escalation, and weekly reporting.
Ship-call-based monitoring at Mangalore Customs Commissionerate requires vessel-wise oversight of timely and error-free filing of SCMTR import and export messages and manifests. An Assistant Commissioner is allocated to each vessel to verify filing acknowledgements, coordinate with relevant stakeholders, support resolution of user-level errors and escalate unresolved system issues through the SCMTR cell. Daily ship-call registers and weekly vessel-wise monitoring logs must record filing status, acknowledgements, errors, rectification status and system responses for the Voyage Call Number, Sea Arrival Manifest, entry-inward application, Sea Departure Manifest and Sea Departure Notification-Acknowledgement.

GST classification: revised rates and headings clarified for seeds, copra, henna, reagents and fibre drums.
Clarification sets GST treatment across goods categories: fresh fruits/nuts exempt while frozen/processed/dried attract 5%/12%; tamarind and other seeds under the sowing seed classification attract 5% if not for sowing from 01.10.2021; copra (dried coconut flesh) attracts 5% and is excluded from coconut exemption; pure henna powder/leaves attract 5%; value added supari and flavored/coated cardamom attract 18%; BSG/DDGS and similar residues classify under residues heading and attract 5%; all goods under chapter 30 specified by Chapter Note 4 attract 12%; all goods under heading 3822 attract 12%; original DGH essentiality certificate suffices for inter state transfers of the same imported goods; UPS and external batteries on same invoice are taxed separately; renewable energy projects may use a 70:30 goods:services valuation for 01.07.2017-31.12.2018 with no refunds; heading 4819 goods uniformly 18% from 01.10.2021 and past supplies at 12% treated as paid.

Mandatory e-filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin extended; agencies must onboard by deadline or face de-notification.
The DGFT extended the deadline for mandatory electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin via the Common Digital Platform to 31st October 2021 while allowing manual submissions until then. Issuing agencies must complete onboarding onto the platform by the deadline or face de-notification; a revised notified list of onboarded agencies will be published thereafter.

Transmission of securities to surviving joint holders: RTAs must effect transfer under company law unless articles provide otherwise.
Registrars to an issue and share transfer agents must transmit securities to surviving joint holder(s) in accordance with clause 23 of Table F and section 56(2) and 56(4)(c) of the Companies Act, 2013; RTAs should not withhold transmission due to counterclaims by legal representatives of a deceased holder, except where the company's Articles of Association provide otherwise, and must act to protect investor interests consistent with listing obligations.