Government guarantee services exempt from GST when supplied to state undertakings and public sector undertakings.
Guarantees issued by Central or State Governments for loans taken by their undertakings or public sector undertakings are specifically exempt from GST under Entry No. 34A of Notification No. 38/1/2017-Fin(R&C)(12/2017-Rate), and the GST Council has recommended reiteration of this exemption; the Goa Commissioner of Commercial Taxes has issued a circular reaffirming this position and inviting reports of implementation difficulties.

GST exemption for PDS milling applies when goods value is up to 25%; otherwise 5% job work rate applies.
Composite supply of milling of wheat into flour or paddy into rice to State Governments for PDS is exempt under Entry 3A if the value of goods in the composite supply does not exceed 25% of the total value; if the goods value exceeds this threshold, the supply is taxable at 5% as a job work service when provided to a registered person, including those registered only for tax deduction purposes.

Concessional GST eligibility for government construction clarified; ropeway projects classified under standard works contract rate applicable.
A ropeway constructed on a turnkey basis for a Government Entity is not "meant predominantly for use other than for commerce, industry, business or profession" and therefore does not qualify for the concessional entry for composite works contracts; such works contract services fall under the residual entry and attract the standard works contract GST rate.

GST exemption on board conducted examinations affirmed; input services for exams also exempt while accreditation fees are taxable.
GST exemption applies to services supplied by Central or State educational boards by way of conduct of examinations, including entrance examinations and any fee charged for such conduct. Input services relating to admission or conduct of examinations supplied to those boards-such as online testing, result publication, printing of admit cards, notifications and question papers-are also exempt. Services of accreditation or registration provided by those boards to institutions or professionals fall outside the examination exemption and are taxable under GST.

GST exemption for road access limited to operation services; does not cover annuity payments for road construction.
Exemption for annuity payments applies only to services of access to a road or bridge classified as operation/supporting transport services; annuity or deferred payments made for road construction are classified as general construction services and are not exempt under the annuity exemption provision, so GST applies to such deferred construction consideration.

GST exemption on catering to educational institutions ensures school and anganwadi meals remain tax-exempt regardless of funding source.
Catering services to educational institutions, including mid-day meal schemes and serving of food to pre-schools and schools, are exempt from GST. Anganwadis qualify as educational institutions by providing pre-school education and are covered. This exemption applies irrespective of funding source, whether government sponsorship or corporate donations.

Designation correction in GST order revises the table entry from Senior Joint Commissioner to Joint Commissioner.
The State tax administration issued a corrigendum correcting the designation in the table against serial No. 7 of the earlier order. The words "Senior Joint Commissioner" were substituted with "Joint Commissioner". The correction is confined to that table entry and does not state any further substantive change.

No Objection Certificate timing reduced to two months; merchant banker must confirm ASBA unblocking and complaints resolution.
SEBI reduced the post-listing period for applying for a No Objection Certificate to two months, subject to all issue-related complaints being resolved, and requires the merchant banker to certify that all SCSBs involved in ASBA have unblocked ASBA accounts; applications lacking this confirmation will be treated as incomplete.

Consolidation of regulatory circulars: master circular compiles SEBI directives for stock exchanges and clearing corporations; individual circulars prevail.
SEBI's Master Circular compiles applicable circulars and communications for recognized stock exchanges and clearing corporations, updates references to repealed statutes, organises guidance across trading, technology, settlement, risk management, derivatives and administration, and centralises access to existing regulatory guidance. In case of inconsistency, the underlying circular prevails, and the Master Circular supersedes the prior compilation while remaining a consolidation and reference document available on the regulator's website.

Financial disincentives enforce MIIs and senior executives to promptly rectify technical glitches, with payments directed to investor protection funds.
SEBI mandates an SOP defining Technical Glitch as malfunction in MII hardware, software or services causing stoppage or variance in operations, requiring prompt reporting to SEBI, a preliminary report within 24 hours and a comprehensive Root Cause Analysis with corrective actions within 21 days. SEBI's Technical Advisory Committee may review RCAs and require further action. Failure to submit adequate RCA or to remediate within TAC/SEBI timelines triggers graduated Financial Disincentives, including per-day penalties, slab-wise payments, and percentage-based penalties on MIIs and on the MD and CTO, payable to investor protection or settlement guarantee funds.

Processing time-barred tax returns: administrative relaxation permits processing of valid refund claims with prior CCIT approval.
The Board relaxes the time-frame in the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 143 to permit processing of validly filed, time-barred non-scrutiny returns with refund claims up to assessment year 2017-18, subject to prior administrative approval of the Pr.CCIT/CCIT, DGIT(Systems) enablement to the assessing officer, and exclusions for returns selected for scrutiny, returns showing or likely to produce demand, or returns unprocessed for reasons attributable to the assessee.

Assessment Wing priorities shift to adjudication, registration expansion, and enforcement monitoring under state GST instructions.
Guidelines were issued for officers posted in the Assessment Wing after GST implementation and expiry of the period for final assessments. Officers were directed to focus on adjudication-related work, expand the registration base, and give priority to registration verification, cancellation, revocation and amendment. Priority also covered return monitoring, return scrutiny, refund scrutiny, enforcement alerts, high-value e-way bill work, disposal of SIB and audit cases, recovery of outstanding dues, and waiver of interest matters. Officers at check posts and similar formations were also required to assist in registration augmentation tasks under zonal directions.

MIS monitoring through departmental modules mandated for officers at every level, with monthly review based on module reports.
Regular monitoring of MIS reports available on departmental website modules has been made mandatory for officers at every level in the Commercial Tax Department, Uttar Pradesh. The circular notes that different IT-based modules have been developed for departmental wings, but field officers were not regularly reviewing the reports. An enclosed chart prescribes the frequency of monitoring for various modules and officer levels, and headquarters review in monthly meetings is to be based strictly on the MIS generated through those modules.

GST rate on laterals and parts for sprinklers and drip systems treated at the applicable tariff even when supplied separately.
Laterals and parts used solely or principally with sprinklers or drip irrigation systems and classifiable under the HSN heading for such systems attract GST at the composite rate of twelve percent even if supplied separately; parts of general use classified under other headings will attract the GST applicable to those respective headings according to Section and Chapter Notes to the HSN.

Guarantee service exemption: government-issued loan guarantees to their undertakings or PSUs are not subject to GST.
Services supplied by Central or State Governments to their undertakings or PSUs by way of guaranteeing loans from banking companies and financial institutions are exempt from GST under Entry No. 34A of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate); the CBIC circular reiterates this exemption and the Maharashtra tax administration has directed that the circular be applied mutatis mutandis under the Maharashtra GST Act, 2017, inviting reports of implementation difficulties.

GST on milling services: exemption for composite supplies to State when goods value is limited; otherwise job work rate applies.
Clarification: milling of wheat into flour or paddy into rice for State distribution under PDS qualifies as a composite supply; exemption under entry No. 3A applies when the value of goods in the composite supply does not exceed the specified threshold, a factual determination. If the goods component exceeds that threshold, the supply to a registered person is to be treated as job work and attracts the concessional job work rate; persons registered solely for tax deduction purposes qualify as registered persons for this treatment.

GST rate classification for ropeway construction: concessional rate not available; standard works-contract rate applies to government entities
Concessional GST under entry No. 3(vi) for composite supply of works contract to government entities applies only where the civil structure is meant predominantly for non commercial use; constructions like a ropeway for tourism do not qualify and therefore turnkey ropeway projects provided to a Government Entity must be classified under the general works-contract entry 3(xii) and attract the standard GST rate for such services.

GST exemption on examination services confirms boards' exam fees and related input services are not taxable, accreditation attracts GST.
Boards that function as educational authorities and conduct examinations are treated as educational institutions for examination services; fees charged by such Boards for conducting examinations, including entrance examinations, are GST exempt. Input services supplied to these Boards relating to admission or conduct of examinations (such as online testing, result publication, printing of notifications, admit cards and question papers) are likewise exempt when provided to the Boards. Services of accreditation or registration provided by the Boards fall outside the examination exemption and are taxable at the standard rate.

GST exemption scope: annuity for access to road/bridge covered, but annuities for road construction are not exempt.
Entry 23A exempts annuity payments only for services providing access to roads or bridges under the supporting-transport heading; it does not extend that exemption to services classified as general construction of roads. Therefore, deferred payments characterized as annuity for road construction remain taxable and are not covered by the annuity exemption applicable to access services.

GST exemption for catering services to educational institutions applies regardless of government or corporate funding source.
Services consisting of serving food to educational institutions, including catering and mid-day meal schemes, are exempt from GST. The exemption covers pre-schools and schools and includes Anganwadi centres as educational institutions. The exemption applies regardless of funding source, whether by government sponsorship or corporate donations, and the CBIC clarification is to be implemented under the State GST law with implementation issues to be notified to tax authorities.