Duty payment timing: pay and credit central excise duty by month end or clearances will be treated non duty paid.
Assessees must calculate and deposit central excise duty for the second fortnight of March and ensure the amount is credited to the Government account by the month end in compliance with rule 8, since duty is deemed discharged only when so credited; failure to ensure credit will render clearances non duty paid. Trade Notices should be issued to alert the trade and secure timely crediting of duty (including clearances on the last day).

Protective show cause notices: pending duty cases on cotton yarn cops/cones for hank conversion must be expedited.
The Board directed issuance of protective show cause notices for duty on cotton yarn on cops/cones consumed captively or sent out for conversion into Hank yarn, observing that charging duty on the intermediate product would negate the exemption for plain reeled Hanks used by the Handloom Sector; following acceptance by the Auditor General and settlement of objections, pending call book cases are to be taken out and decided expeditiously with field formations informed.

Audit Committee review of cost audit reports: cost auditor observations must be included in committee discussions and internal control reviews.
The term "auditors" includes Cost Auditors, and the Audit Committee must examine the Cost Audit Report where cost audit has been directed; the committee should discuss the Cost Auditor's observations and consider the report's suggestions in fulfilling its duty to review internal control systems, audit scope and auditors' observations before financial statements are submitted to the Board.

Pre-audit requirement for refund claims standardized; low-value claims random post-audit and mid-range claims compulsory post-audit implemented.
Pre-audit is required for refund and rebate claims at or above the high-value threshold while low-value claims may be post-audited by random selection by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Audit), and intermediate-value claims must be compulsorily post-audited; a supervised audit cell of specified officer levels is to be constituted and earlier instructions are modified accordingly.

Chit fund services characterised as cash management, and therefore excluded from banking and other financial services for service tax purposes.
Chit fund activity is characterised as mobilisation and movement of subscribers' cash to keep funds operational, constituting cash management; because cash management is expressly excluded from the statutory definition of banking and other financial services, services rendered by chit funds do not fall within that category and therefore are not taxable as the specified service under the Finance Act, 1994.

Drawback rate revision for silk products increases duty-drawback rates and removes requirement for imported beads and sequins.
Revision of All Industry Rate of Duty Drawback increases rates for silk fabrics, handloom/powerloom silk lungies and silk made-ups by applying the same rate-adjustment principle used for garments. The entry description for the relevant silk garment has been amended to delete the requirement for imported beads and sequins. The notification is retroactively applicable to the prior amendment date, allowing exporters to file supplementary drawback claims and requiring settlement of pending claims; public notices and standing orders are to be issued for implementation.

Mailing of mutual fund annual reports replaces newspaper publication; funds must mail abridged reports and display them online.
Regulation 56 is amended to substitute "Mailing" for "Publication," removing the requirement to publish scheme-wise annual reports or abridged reports in newspapers; mutual funds must mail the annual report or an abridged summary to each unitholder and display scheme-wise annual reports on their websites linked to the industry portal. The amendment also deletes the proviso that full portfolio disclosure is unnecessary if full accounts are published in newspapers and updates cross-references to mailing of abridged summaries.

DEPB verification controls: mandatory authorised submitter registration and documented submission procedures for DEPB scrip processing.
The notice mandates that DEPB scrips registered at CFS Mulund be submitted only by authorised persons who hold a clerically issued identification number and accompanying triplicate authorisation certificates; files must include specified documents, authority letters indicating scrip numbers, and clerical acknowledgement receipts, with originals returned only against original acknowledgements.

Import licensing for rough marble blocks and slabs restricts imports to eligible users with floor pricing and reporting requirements.
Import licences for crude or roughly trimmed marble, rough blocks and slabs are restricted to eligible domestic manufacturers/processors with prior imports, specified hotels and reputable religious trusts on relevant ministry recommendations; licences must bear a floor price, be limited annually to fifty percent of prior-year CIF imports, be subject to an actual user condition, require monthly import returns to the regional licensing authority, and be applied for in the prescribed form with supporting documents under the Handbook of Procedures.

Excise duty payment extension allows granite manufacturers deferred payment and consolidated RT12 return filing under prescribed deadlines.
Granite manufacturers may defer excise duty payment for clearances made in March-May 2002 and file a single RT 12 return for those clearances by the prescribed consolidated deadline; formal registration of such units need not be insisted upon until 1 June 2002, providing temporary relief from the registration requirement while allowing extended timelines for duty payment and single-return filing.

Export container transit via land customs: sealed shipping-bill transference and LCS seal inspection govern cross-border movement.
Export of containerised cargo from ICDs/CFSs to Bangladesh and Nepal via designated LCSs is permitted subject to a specified procedure: filing six Shipping Bill copies and required documents at the ICD/CFS; assessment, examination and sealing of containers with seal numbers recorded on Shipping Bills and AR form; transference copies accompanying the carrier to the LCS; seal inspection and endorsement by the Customs officer at LCS; return of a transference copy to the originating ICD/CFS for matching; 100% examination and possible adjudication if seals are tampered; and a custodial bond secured for transit accountability.

Extension of customs jurisdiction to EEZ and Continental Shelf makes offshore mineral oils non-imports when brought to mainland.
Jurisdiction of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is extended to India's EEZ and Continental Shelf for prospecting, extraction or production of mineral oils and for supply of goods connected with those activities. Mineral oils produced in those areas and brought to the mainland are not treated as imports and are exempt from customs duty but are deemed produced in India and subject to central excise. Supplies from mainland to EEZ/Continental Shelf are not exports; foreign goods brought into EEZ/Continental Shelf are imports liable to duty.

High seas sale valuation: actual contract price governs when it exceeds CIF plus standard high seas sales charges.
Where a sale on the high seas determines transaction value, declared high-seas-sales charges are added to CIF; actual declared charges must be added when they exceed the standard assumed charge. If the actual sale contract price paid or payable by the high-seas-sales-buyer is known and exceeds the CIF value plus the standard high-seas-sales charges, that actual contract price shall be taken as the value for duty assessment.

Excise duty deferral for granite manufacturers allowed; payment and consolidated return deadlines extended accordingly under central excise rules.
Granite manufacturing units, having been excluded from SSI exemption, are liable to excise duty on clearances for March-May 2002 but may defer payment until 15th June 2002 instead of fortnightly payments under Rule 8; they may file a single consolidated RT 12 return for March-May 2002 by 10th June 2002.

FCCB automatic route: issuance allowed without government or central bank approval, subject to reporting and compliance.
An amendment allows Indian companies or corporates created by Parliament to issue FCCBs under the automatic route without prior Government or Reserve Bank approval, subject to reporting to the Reserve Bank through authorised dealers and obtaining a loan registration number; authorised dealers must ensure strict compliance with the notification and forward offer documents to the regional office for registration, pursuant to the enabling provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Agri Export Zones notification adds specified district-level zones for targeted agricultural products under export policy framework.
Notification adds designated Agri Export Zones to Handbook (Vol I) by inserting entries in Appendix 59 under authority of Paragraph 4.11 of the Export and Import Policy 1997-2002. The Director General of Foreign Trade specifies product-based zones and enumerates the constituent states and district/block/mandal areas for each zone (including zones for mangoes, pineapple, apples, potatoes, onion, garlic and various vegetables), and states the addition is issued in the public interest.

Excise duty deferral granted for specified budget imposed goods, allowing delayed payment, consolidated returns, and temporary registration relief.
Excise duty was imposed at differing rates contingent on an assessee's choice to opt into the CENVAT credit scheme. For clearances in March-May 2002, the Board permitted deferred payment of duty until 15 June 2002, waived fortnightly payment obligations by inserting Rule 8A in the Central Excise Rules, 2002, allowed a single consolidated RT 12 return for those months to be filed by 10 June 2002, and deferred insistence on formal registration of affected manufacturing units until 1 June 2002.

Export warehousing expanded to include additional hinterland districts, easing exporter access under Central Excise rules.
The Board amended the list of permissible locations for export warehouse registration to include Raigad District and East Midnapore District as hinterland areas serving major ports, enabling exporters and warehousing operators in those districts to register and operate export warehouses under the existing export warehousing scheme; field formations are to inform stakeholders, acknowledge receipt, and implement the amendment under the applicable Central Excise framework.

Compounding of offences permitted against directors of liquidated companies when statutory conditions are satisfied; companies cannot be compounded.
Compounding of offences under Section 621A is permissible for offences committed by directors of a company in liquidation if statutory conditions and guidelines are satisfied; Section 446 does not bar criminal proceedings or compounding against directors. However, where penal provisions apply to the company as well, compounding is not permissible against the company while Section 446 restrictions apply.

Import of currency by post permitted without prior central bank clearance subject to supervisory conditions and recordkeeping.
Customs may clear Indian and foreign currency received by residents through post without requiring an RBI No Objection Certificate where the value does not exceed Rs. 5000/-, subject to approval by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Customs and conditions that senior-level approval be exercised, detailed exemption records be maintained, remitter and addressee particulars be recorded, and spikes in volume be reported to the relevant regional office.