GST exemption on catering services applies to schools and anganwadis irrespective of government or corporate funding.
Services by way of catering to educational institutions, including mid-day meal schemes and pre-school settings such as Anganwadis, are exempt from GST under Entry 66(b)(ii); this exemption applies irrespective of whether such services are funded by government grants or corporate donations.

AEO T2 and T3 certification moves to portal-based filing, real-time tracking, deficiency response and digital processing.
AEO T2 and AEO T3 certification applications are processed through Version 2.0 of the AEO web application for online annexure filing, real-time monitoring and digital certification. Applicants submit physical documents to the jurisdictional AEO Cell, register on the portal and upload relevant annexures; existing AEO T1 holders applying for T2 may use existing credentials. Portal registration became mandatory for T2 and T3 applicants from 1 August 2021, while applications filed before 7 July 2021 may continue manually unless migrated without delaying certification.

Extension of time for TMA claims allows late filing of refund applications for specified agricultural export assistance.
The filing deadline for Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) refund claims for the quarters ending 31 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 is extended until 30 September 2021 by amendment to Chapter 7A of the Handbook of Procedures under powers of the Foreign Trade Policy, permitting eligible exporters to file pending claims within this extended period.

Customs duty exemption review invites stakeholder suggestions to identify outdated entries requiring modification or rescission and reduce structural distortions.
Comprehensive stakeholder consultation is initiated for review of specified customs duty exemption notifications and entries. Older exemptions are being examined to identify provisions that may have become outdated or redundant and may require modification or rescission, with the objective of establishing a revised customs duty structure free from distortions. Importers, exporters, domestic industry, trade associations and the public may submit suggestions and supporting justification through the MyGov Innovate platform in the prescribed format.

Removal of RCMC requirement from Free Sale & Commerce Certificate forms simplifies export application compliance requirements.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy, has amended ANF-2H and ANF-2I of the Handbook of Procedures by deleting the requirement to furnish RCMC details in the application particulars and the RCMC-related declaration in the declaration/undertaking, publishing revised formats as annexures. The change is notified as a step to reduce regulatory compliance burden while retaining other declarations concerning export permissibility under Schedule 2 of ITC (HS), SCOMET compliance, accuracy of statements, adherence to FT(D&R) Act and related rules, and certifications on penal history, denied-entity status, and IEC issuance.

Regulatory compliance burden reduction: deletion of quarterly and monthly export return requirements and ANF-2C format revised.
Paragraph 2.96(b) of Chapter 2 of the Handbook of Procedures, 2015-2020 is deleted, thereby removing the requirement for exporters (and the previously specified requirement for status holders to send quarterly returns to FIEO) to furnish quarterly export returns to the registering authority. Serial No. 9(d) of ANF 2C mandating submission of monthly export returns, including 'NIL' returns by the fifteenth day following the quarter, is also deleted, and a revised ANF 2C format is notified.

Suspension of GST registration: portal notices require taxpayer response; officer may revoke, drop, or cancel registration thereafter.
Procedure permits immediate suspension of GST registration where return comparisons or analysis show significant discrepancies; system generated intimation/notice (FORM GST REG 31 or interim FORM GST REG 17 on dashboard) must state reasons. The taxpayer must reply on the portal (FORM GST REG 18) within the prescribed period and may remedy defects such as filing due returns. The proper officer reviews responses and may drop proceedings (FORM GST REG 20), cancel registration (FORM GST REG 19), revoke suspension while pursuing verification, or reinitiate cancellation via portal notice.

Dynamic QR Code requirement clarified: QR needed on invoices to UIN holders treated as B2C; exceptions and data rules specified.
An invoice issued to a person with a Unique Identity Number is treated as a B2C invoice and must carry a Dynamic QR Code; a UPI ID alone suffices without separate bank/IFSC details. An authorized collector's UPI ID may be used in the QR. Invoices to recipients outside India (with place of supply in India and payment in foreign currency by RBI approved modes) need not include a Dynamic QR Code. Where invoice numbers are unavailable at payment, a unique order ID linked to the invoice may be embedded in the QR. QR should reflect only the remaining payable amount when part payment exists, with full cross reference on the invoice.

Put option valuation: non-exercise requires justification and valuation agencies must ignore remaining puts for pricing.
If a mutual fund does not exercise a put option that would have benefited the scheme, the fund must justify non-exercise to valuation agencies, the AMC board and trustees by the last date of the notice period; valuation agencies must then exclude remaining put options from the security valuation. A put is deemed in favour of the scheme where the yield on the valuation price ignoring the put exceeds the contractual yield or coupon by the prescribed threshold. The circular applies prospectively and is issued to protect investors and regulate valuation.

Extension of time to apply for revocation of cancellation of registration allows administrative officers to grant limited extensions upon sufficient cause.
A delegated extension regime allows the Joint/Additional Commissioner to grant an initial extension and the Commissioner a further extension where sufficient cause is shown and reasons are recorded; until GSTN portal functionality exists, applicants who apply belatedly must request extension through the proper officer, who forwards it for decision; decisions, hearings and communications follow the prescribed interim procedure, and the circular ceases once portal functionality is available.

GST refund scrutiny for mentha oil exporters targets bogus input tax credit and supply-chain verification.
Scrutiny of GST refunds sanctioned to exporters of mentha oil and its products is directed under the refund mechanism for unutilized input tax credit claimed by exporters. The circular is based on reported instances of invoices issued without actual supply of goods and bogus ITC being passed on to exporters. Refunds sanctioned for 2017-18 to 2020-21 are to be examined through scrutiny of the inward supply chain, with officer responsibility, timelines, cross-verification, and monthly reporting prescribed for monitoring compliance.

Suspension of export incentive scrip issuance temporarily halts applications and processing in the relevant IT module.
Issuance of benefits and scrips under export incentive schemes is temporarily suspended owing to changes in the allocation procedure; no fresh online applications will be accepted in the IT module and all pending applications for issuance of scrips will remain on hold until trade is informed of reopening.

Advance intimation timelines reduced to ten days for all commodity derivatives contract modifications, standardising notice across categories.
SEBI has revised the advance intimation requirement for contract specification modifications in commodity derivatives so that Category A, Category B and Category C changes each require a 10-day advance intimation; other provisions of the prior circular continue unchanged and the change is effective from the date of this circular under SEBI's regulatory powers.

GST limitation extension applies to appeals and related quasi-judicial remedies, not taxpayer compliances or original adjudication proceedings.
Limitation extension under the Gujarat GST regime is restricted to judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings involving appeals, reviews, revisions, rectification and similar statutory proceedings against quasi-judicial orders. Taxpayer compliances, original adjudication and other actions remain subject to statutory or notified timelines. Authorities may continue pending quasi-judicial hearings and disposal of refund, registration revocation and demand matters. Scrutiny, summons, search, enquiry, investigation, arrest, show-cause notices, reply periods and order passing are outside the extension.

Certificate of Origin declarations undergo duplicate-use validation in bills of entry where trade agreements limit certificates to one import.
Certificate of Origin declarations in Bills of Entry for preferential-rate duty claims are subject to system validation where a trade agreement restricts a certificate to one import or importing operation. The same CoO number cannot be used in more than one Bill of Entry, but may be used for multiple items within the same Bill of Entry. Officers must verify the declared CoO number against the submitted certificate copy.

Certificate of origin declarations must use unique numbers across bills of entry while allowing multiple items within one filing.
Preferential duty claims under trade agreements require additional Certificate of Origin declarations in Bills of Entry. For agreements where a Certificate of Origin is valid for only one import or importing operation, its number cannot be used in more than one Bill of Entry. The same Certificate of Origin number may, however, cover multiple items in a single Bill of Entry. Assessing and examining officers must verify that the number declared in the Bill of Entry matches the submitted Certificate of Origin copy.

Faceless assessment reform: increased facilitation, uniform officer hours and query limits to accelerate customs clearances.
The Board directs enhancements to faceless assessment to speed customs clearance by increasing facilitation levels for risk-managed consignments, mandating uniform FAG working hours and prompt first decisions, limiting queries per Bill of Entry, enabling targeted reorganisation and specialization of FAGs, shifting Direct Port Delivery to a Bill of Entry-based principle for fully facilitated advance BEs, introducing RMS-generated uniform examination orders, and operationalising an Anonymized Escalation Mechanism on ICEGATE for delayed Bills of Entry.

Same line of business criteria govern delisting of listed subsidiaries via scheme of arrangement, requiring certification and listing tenure.
SEBI requires objective criteria for a listed holding company and listed subsidiary to qualify as being in the same line of business: same NIC three digit principal activity; at least fifty percent of each company's revenue and net tangible assets attributable to the same line of business per the latest audited annual results; post name change revenue continuity on a restated consolidated basis; and mutual self certification. All such criteria must be certified by the statutory auditor and a SEBI registered merchant banker, and the entities must satisfy prescribed listing tenure conditions.

Dynamic QR Code requirement clarified: B2C invoices must follow prescribed UPI, agent collection, order ID and part payment rules.
Clarification requires Dynamic QR Codes on B2C invoices issued to persons with a UIN, permits an agent's UPI in the QR when payment is collected by an authorised party, and disallows separate bank account/IFSC details because UPI is account linked. Invoices to recipients outside India (with place of supply in India and payment in foreign currency through authorised channels) may omit dynamic QR. For retail counter sales where invoice numbers are generated after payment, a unique order ID linked to the invoice may be encoded. Dynamic QR must show only the remaining payable amount where part payment exists, with full payment details recorded on the invoice.

GST classification of irrigation system parts: components solely for sprinklers or drip systems follow the system's tariff heading.
Laterals and parts designed solely or principally for use with sprinklers or drip irrigation systems and classifiable under the HSN chapter for those systems fall within the entry for sprinklers and drip systems and attract the GST rate applicable to that heading even if supplied separately; parts of general use classifiable outside that chapter attract the rate of their own tariff heading.