Handbook of Procedures notification under foreign trade policy institutes Volume I and appendices, activating procedural framework for trade regulation.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, exercising power under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014, notifies the Handbook of Procedures (Volume I) and its Appendices as the operative procedural framework for trade regulation and administration, specifying their commencement in exercise of statutory authority.

Cost audit applicability clarified: threshold-based audit obligation applies from specified dates for covered industries under cost accounting rules.
Clarifies that circulars relating to Cost Accounting Records Rules (2011) and industry-specific Cost Audit Orders remain applicable; companies meeting specified threshold limits must have cost accounting records audited by a qualified cost auditor for financial years commencing on or after applicable effective dates. Supersession of earlier industry rules by 2011 rules is noted, with Cost Audit Order No. 52/26/CAB-2010 applying from financial year 2011-12 for erstwhile-covered products and from financial year 2012-13 for products first covered by revised 2011 rules. Multi-product companies whose activities fall under Companies (Cost Accounting Records) Rules, 2011 but not under cost audit orders must file the prescribed compliance report.

SEZ port codes assigned - applicants must use the new codes when filing applications under FTP and SEZ rules.
Nine SEZ port codes for specified Maharashtra SEZs have been allocated and uploaded to the DGFT website; applicants must use these LOCODEs when filing applications on the DGFT server under the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 and the SEZ Act and Rules, pursuant to DGFT approval.

UIN communication by auto email confirms allotment and enables online reporting of overseas direct investment remittances.
AD Category I banks may generate the Unique Identification Number (UIN) online for the automatic route; the UIN will be communicated by an auto generated e mail, which shall constitute confirmation of allotment, and subsequent remittances under the automatic and approval routes must be reported online in Part II of Form ODI only after receipt of that electronic confirmation. Physical submission of Form ODI for approval route applications remains required alongside online Part I reporting.

Exit policy for stock exchanges mandates voluntary surrender or compulsory de-recognition with dissemination board and asset-distribution safeguards.
The circular sets a regulatory framework for voluntary surrender and compulsory de-recognition of stock exchanges, mandates transfer or exit processes for exclusively listed companies including relocation to other exchanges or to a dissemination board, and prescribes asset valuation, distribution constraints and required contributions to the regulator's investor protection fund. It requires prior approval before alienation of assets, payment of statutory dues and provisioning for pending arbitration awards and unresolved investor complaints, while enabling trading members access through subsidiary broking entities and permitting SEBI to impose additional conditions in the public interest.

Retrospective clarificatory amendments bar reopening of completed assessments under reassessment provisions merely on that basis.
Clarificatory amendments introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 in section 2(14), section 2(47), section 9 and section 195 were given retrospective effect to remove doubts about statutory meaning and to state the law from the dates of their original operation. Assessments completed under section 143(3) before 1 April 2012, where no reassessment notice had been issued before that date, are not to be reopened under sections 147/148 merely because of those amendments, though any assessment or other order validated by them remains enforceable.

Cost accounting records must be maintained and compliance reports filed by construction and real estate companies meeting statutory thresholds.
Companies in the construction and development (real estate) sector that meet the threshold in Rule 3 of the Companies (Cost Accounting Records) Rules, 2011 must maintain cost accounting records and file a compliance report with the Central Government. The Rules require conformity with Generally Accepted Cost Accounting Principles and Cost Accounting Standards; scope includes developers, infrastructure projects, BOT/BOOT and EPC contracts and projects abroad. Exemptions retained for contractors paid only conversion charges, non-corporate JVs, unlisted companies below thresholds and bodies under special Acts; no cost audit presently applies.

Consent application limits clarified: specified serious defaults excluded and procedural timelines established for settlement process.
Amendments to the consent framework identify categories ordinarily ineligible for settlement-including insider trading, front running, serious fraudulent or unfair trade practices, failures on open offers and material disclosures, mutual fund NAV manipulation, failures to redress investor grievances, non compliance with summons or SEBI orders-while preserving HPAC/Panel discretion in exceptional cases. The circular imposes procedural limits: no consent before investigation completion, repeat application and time bar restrictions, a 60 day filing limit from service of show cause notices (with limited condonation), prescribed application format and fee, registration and deficiency cure procedures, internal committee formulation of terms, HPAC recommendation and Panel of WTMs approval, acceptance with remittance within a fixed period, and publication of consent orders.

Special Currency Basket valuation revised; authorised dealer banks instructed to apply updated rupee conversion and notify constituents.
Revision of the Special Currency Basket rupee valuation is communicated to Authorised Dealer Category I banks, with the circular notifying a further revision effective from May 9, 2012. AD Category I banks are directed to apply the updated rupee valuation in relevant transactions and to bring the circular's contents to the notice of their constituents. The directions are issued under the statutory powers in the foreign exchange legislation and are without prejudice to permissions or approvals required under other laws.

Cost audit exemption for export zone and fully export oriented units, conditioned on records, DTA limits and regulatory data requests.
Exemption from mandatory cost audit is extended to units located in Special Economic Zones, Export Processing Zones, Free Trade Zones and to fully export oriented units, but only for those specific units and not for other units of the same company. Exempted units must still maintain cost accounting records and file compliance reports. Exemption is subject to regulatory requests for industry cost data, limits on domestic tariff area sales, and loss of zone or export oriented status, each of which triggers application of mandatory cost audit from the year of breach or change.

TDS matching rules: streamlined acceptance or verification of TDS credit claims depending on matching and TAN validity.
The Board withdrew the earlier instruction and set procedures for TDS claims in return processing: where the difference between a taxpayer's TDS claim and matched AS-26 data is within a small threshold, TDS credit may be accepted without verification; zero matched TDS requires due verification before credit; claims with an invalid TAN must be disallowed; and all other cases require due verification before allowing TDS credit during assessment processing of ITR-1 to ITR-6.

Standard bale weight: weight, not bale count, determines export compliance; limited tolerance prevents penal action.
The notice presumes 1 bale = 170 kgs and directs that permitted export quantity be measured by aggregate weight (product of number of bales and 170 kgs). Non standard bale sizes are permitted provided the total shipped weight does not exceed the allotted weight. Compliance and enforcement for RC holders will be determined by weight rather than bale count, with penal action applicable for defaults subject to an allowable shortfall of up to five percent.

Centralization of DTAA investigations requires regional CCsIT management with unified oversight by one CIT.
Investigations based on information received from abroad under DTAAs/TIEAs should be centralized regionally: cases remain under the respective jurisdictional CCsIT rather than a single CCsIT, with unified oversight by one CIT in the region, replacing the earlier instruction to place all such cases under a single CCsIT.

Position limits for banks in USD:INR derivatives revised to cap gross open positions by open interest or fixed monetary threshold.
Gross open positions of trading-member banks across all USD:INR futures and options contracts are constrained by a capped limit measured as a proportion of total open interest or by a lower fixed monetary threshold; exchanges must adopt and enforce this revised limit and banks must comply with related position-monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

Approval for appointment of CHA personnel required, with antecedent and character certificates and AC/DC authorization for employment.
Appointment of persons to assist in Customs work requires prior approval of the designated Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, who shall consider antecedents and character. CHA firms must seek AC/DC approval before appointment and, when applying for Customs Cards (Forms H and G), submit a police certificate of no fraud or pending criminal proceedings, a Gazetted officer character certificate, and an antecedent certificate disclosing any show cause notices or penalties in Customs matters.

Charitable purpose definition narrowed and threshold raised, affecting exemption eligibility and commercial activity receipts.
The Finance Act, 2011 specifies income tax and withholding/advance tax rates for AY 2011 12 and makes comprehensive amendments to the Income tax Act, 1961 and related laws: it narrows the scope of charitable purpose by raising the monetary threshold for commercial like receipts, creates targeted exemptions (e.g., for certain statutory bodies and notified infrastructure debt funds), expands investment linked deductions (including affordable housing and fertilizer), increases weighted research deductions, introduces countermeasures for non cooperative jurisdictions, rationalises transfer pricing and introduces an alternate minimum tax for certain LLPs, while revising procedural, filing and information exchange rules.

Net Overnight Open Position Limit excludes exchange currency derivatives and bans netting with OTC, requiring exchange-only close-outs.
Positions in exchange-traded currency futures and options are excluded from banks' Net Overnight Open Position Limit; exchange positions cannot be netted with OTC positions and must be closed on the exchange. Trading member banks face a prescribed exchange position cap, and AD Category I banks must reduce positions to the specified limits by the compliance deadline, pursuant to directions issued under statutory foreign exchange powers.

Public Financial Institution designation requires meeting establishment, business, longevity, net-worth, registration, NOC and disclosure criteria.
Eligibility for declaration as a Public Financial Institution requires establishment under a central enactment or Companies Act, principal business in industrial/infrastructural financing, minimum years of existence and majority income from that financing, a prescribed net-worth threshold, registration as an IFC or HFC where applicable, submission of a regulator NOC for IFC/HFC applicants, and post-declaration audited-statement disclosure of compliance by such IFCs/HFCs; public sector undertakings are exempt from the sectoral financing and net-worth conditions.

Rebate and refund amounts will be paid directly to assessees' bank accounts via NEFT/RTGS on submission of authorization.
Facility permitting payment directly to assessee/exporter bank accounts for rebate/refund claims, replacing cheque issuance. Fresh claims filed on or after 01.06.2012 require a one time authorization in duplicate with a cancelled cheque showing IFSC; pending claims without orders must submit authorization immediately. Divisional sanctioning authorities will forward periodic statements and a consolidated cheque to the bank, which will credit individual accounts via NEFT/RTGS after deducting applicable charges per RBI guidelines. Divisional offices retain a copy of the authorization and claimants may contact jurisdictional officers for difficulties.

CENVAT credit eligibility clarified for boiler components: bona fide boiler parts allowed, foundation/support structure components excluded.
Components that are genuinely parts of a boiler are classifiable as boiler parts and eligible for CENVAT Credit, while structural components used for laying foundations or making structures to support capital goods/boilers are not admissible; the determination is fact-specific and must follow existing legal provisions and judicial precedents.