Single Window simplification: streamlined ADC referrals, risk-based sampling, and digital declarations speed drug and cosmetics clearance.
Procedural changes in SWIFT exempt non-drug chemicals listed under the PGA Exemption Category (PEC) when declared in the Integrated Declaration; dual-use items and excipients need not be referred to ADC if declared non-pharmaceutical grade, free of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, and not intended for human or veterinary medicinal use; digitally signed declarations, undertakings and guarantees included in the Integrated Declaration will substitute for separate hardcopy submissions; sampling will be risk-based and repeat sampling of a batch already tested and granted ADC NOC will be avoided.

Authorized Economic Operator programme expanded to merge ACP and AEO, delivering broader trade facilitation and compliance benefits.
The Board consolidates ACP and previous AEO schemes into a three-tier Authorized Economic Operator programme, superseding prior circulars and providing a unified application process. Existing AEO certificants will be reclassified into designated tiers and receive benefits subject to compliance; ACP holders receive provisional AEO status and must apply within ninety days. The revised programme expands facilitation by including Direct Port Delivery and Entry, Deferred Payment of Duties, expedited refunds and drawback, acceptance of self certified certificates, paperless declarations, recognition by partner agencies, and pursuit of mutual recognition with other administrations.

Selection of standing counsels: deadlines for advertisement and application submission extended to complete panel recommendations timely.
Chief Commissioners must advertise vacancies for Senior and Junior Standing Counsels, receive and scrutinise applications, conduct interviews, and forward complete recommendations to the Board; the Board has extended deadlines for advertisement issuance, application receipt, and submission of consolidated recommendations in jurisdictions that could not meet earlier dates, and requires strict adherence to the revised timelines under the oversight of the Board's Legal Cell.

Outdoor catering service classification: onboard private caterers liable for service tax; operator taxed only on retained remuneration.
Catering services provided on board trains are classifiable as outdoor catering service, with private onboard contractors liable to pay service tax on amounts they bill for food and catering. Amounts retained by the principal operator as its commission or facilitation fee are taxable under the service head reflecting that remuneration. Expenses incurred as a pure agent do not form part of taxable value if the conditions of the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules are satisfied.

Ex officio membership expanded to include President Laghu Udyog Bharti, altering composition of Board of Trade.
Reconstitution of the Board of Trade updates its ex officio membership to include the President, Laghu Udyog Bharti, New Delhi, to ensure MSME representation. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade issues the revised list of ex officio members comprising presidents and chairmen of major trade bodies, export promotion councils and commodity boards, confirming the updated composition with competent authority approval.

Designated Authority appointment under Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme enables local deputy/assistant commissioner to process scheme matters.
A Designated Authority is appointed under the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme Rules - 2016 to carry out the scheme's procedural and administrative functions within the commissionerate's jurisdiction; the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (P&V) is designated for the Gurgaon I jurisdiction and trade associations are requested to inform members and stakeholders.

Private bonded warehouse licensing requires insurance, undertakings to pay duties, indemnity, experienced warehouse keeper and license validation.
Applicants for Private Warehousing Licenses must submit prescribed undertakings and documents: an all risk insurance policy in favour of the President of India covering duty value of dutiable goods; an undertaking to pay duties, interest, fines and penalties under subsection (3) of section 73A or Warehouse Regulations; an indemnity for loss or damage to warehoused goods; evidence of an experienced warehouse keeper; and, for EOUs/EHTP/STPI, compliance with Bank Guarantee/security conditions in the Foreign Trade Policy. Existing licensees must validate licences under the new procedures within three months of the Regulations' commencement.

Extension of tax return due date under section 119 for Jammu and Kashmir assessees; filing deadline deferred for affected taxpayers.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking its authority under section 119, has administratively extended the due date for income-tax returns for assessees in the State of Jammu and Kashmir who were required to file under section 139(1), in response to reported dislocation of normal life; the order defers the original July filing deadline to a later date in August for affected assessees, providing temporary relief to facilitate compliance.

Due-date extension for filing income-tax returns granted to mitigate bank strike effects, enabling delayed payment and filing.
The Board, exercising powers under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, hereby extends the "due-date" for filing returns of income required under section 139(1) from the original due date to a later specified date, in view of a bank strike and a bank holiday, to avoid inconvenience to taxpayers throughout India who are liable to file by the original due date.

Extension of filing deadline for annual financial statements and returns without additional fees to ease form revision compliance.
The Ministry revised AOC-4 and is updating AOC-4 (XBRL) and AOC-4 (CFS); to allow companies time to adapt, financial statements and annual returns ordinarily due within the statutory post AGM periods may be filed by the extended date without payment of additional filing fees, provided the company's due date for holding its Annual General Meeting falls on or after the commencement of the impacted period. The instruction directs registrars and stakeholders to accept such late filings under these terms during the form deployment.

E commerce export procedure via foreign post offices enables MEIS rewards subject to per consignment cap and prescribed documentation.
Exports of goods sold via e commerce through designated Foreign Post Offices at Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai qualify for MEIS rewards subject to a per consignment FOB cap. Any IEC holder must file a Postal Bill of Export (PBE) in duplicate covering one consignor and up to ten consignees, attach invoices, and provide the website URL, SKU and payment transaction reference. PBEs are manually processed by Customs, postal authorities affix tracking numbers, the original PBE is retained by Customs, and expedited, non intrusive examination is to be used unless authorised opening is justified.

Removal of mandatory warehousing for export oriented units shifts compliance to prescribed digital records and procurement certificate procedures.
Mandatory warehousing provisions for EOUs, STPIs, EHTPs and similar units are removed while preserving duty exemption conditions under Notification 52/2003-Customs and FTP; units are delicensed as warehouses effective from the amendment date but must maintain prescribed digital Form A records with an audit trail, furnish monthly digital copies to proper officers, and follow revised procedures for procurement certificates, bill of entry submission and inter unit transfers supported by commercial documents with jurisdictional intimation.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme permits settlement of pending appeals through prescribed declaration and payment, with immunity from prosecution.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme allows settlement of specified indirect tax disputes pending before Commissioner (Appeals) by declaration in Form 1, acknowledgment by the designated authority (Form 2) which suspends appeal proceedings, deposit and reporting of required sums in Form 3, and issuance of a discharge order in Form 4; settled cases receive immunity from prosecution. The scheme excludes search and seizure matters, pre existing prosecutions, narcotics or prohibited goods cases, offences under certain penal statutes, and specified detention orders, and identifies the designated authority to receive and process declarations.

False information to public servants triggers criminal action under Section 182 IPC against malicious or anonymous complaints.
Criminal proceedings will be initiated against persons who give information known or believed to be false, including anonymous or pseudonymous complaints, when such information is intended or likely to cause a public servant to use lawful power to the injury or annoyance of another; the Commissionerate warns that, in addition to other lawful action, prosecution under Section 182 IPC will follow to deter misuse of complaint mechanisms and protect public resources.

Extension of VAT return filing deadline for quarterly returns; payment obligations remain under applicable VAT provisions.
Extension of the last date for filing first quarter returns for 2016-17 in Forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48 is granted under Rule 49A, with required annexures/enclosures; tax due remains payable as per the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004, and dealers filing with digital signature need not submit a hard copy/Form DVAT-56.

Indian Customs ICES 1.5 mandates electronic filing, registration, automated duty assessment and licence/bond ledgering at ICD Borkhedi.
ICES 1.5 at ICD Borkhedi mandates electronic filing and system registration (IE-Code, Customs brokers, shipping agents, ICEGATE) for Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; provides standardized code usage, service-centre and remote filing procedures, and fee schedules; establishes automated validation, duty computation, Appraising Group workflow, RMS risk-based facilitation, examination streams (first/second check), query/amendment and audit procedures; and implements online registration and ledger-based debit/credit for export-promotion licences, bonds and TRAs with bond management and re-crediting rules.

Sevottam implementation mandates SQM based process ownership, recordkeeping and grievance redressal for customs services.
Implementation of Sevottam in the Custom Commissionerate, Tuticorin mandates time bound delivery of specified services under the Service Quality Manual and Citizens' Charter, centralised receipt and acknowledgement of citizen communications via a Sevottam Counter, nomination of Process Owners for defined service areas, mandatory recordkeeping in prescribed SQM formats subject to audit for certification, monthly interaction with the Nodal Officer, designation of a Public Grievance Officer for CPGRAMS, and appointment of a Nodal Officer for document control and exigency procedures.

Age attainment rule: persons born on April first deemed to reach their age on March thirty-first for tax eligibility.
The Board clarifies that a person born on 1st April is considered to have attained a particular age on 31st March, the day preceding the anniversary of the birthday; field authorities must apply this criterion in determining senior/very senior citizen eligibility for resident individual taxpayers, relying on the Supreme Court rule that the day of birth is counted as a whole and age is attained on the day before the birthday anniversary, under the Board's powers under section 119.

Custodianship appointment for courier consignments extended, preserving regulatory obligations under customs cargo handling rules.
The Express Industry Council of India is appointed as custodian for courier consignments at the Bengaluru Express Industry Council of India Courier Terminal under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, and subject to the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations 2009; the custodianship has been extended under Regulation 10(2) of HCCAR for a further stipulated period or until further orders.

Customs Broker authorisation and identity-card rules updated to require verified documentation, formal authorisation, and extended ID validity.
Customs brokers must verify antecedents and educational qualifications of employed persons, attest copies of supporting documents and submit a bond declaration and prescribed enclosures when applying for issuance or renewal of identity cards. Authorisation to sign customs documents must be given by the Proprietor, Managing Partner or Managing Director with a notarised employee affidavit and proof of association membership and CB licence validity; authorised Form G cards will be issued in BLUE. Form H cards will be issued for three-year terms and renewed subject to licence validity.