Electronic Submission Requirement: merchant bankers must file half yearly reports in pdf and excel via the designated email, replacing hard copies.
Merchant bankers must submit prescribed half yearly reports electronically only, in both PDF and Excel formats, to the designated regulatory email; reports must follow the Schedule XXVII format, employ the prescribed title and file naming convention identifying the merchant banker and period, and be certified by the compliance officer, with hard copy submission dispensed with.

Electronic quarterly reporting requirement for debenture trustees: submit certified PDF and Excel filings via designated email with specified naming convention.
Debenture trustees must submit quarterly reports electronically only, sending one PDF and one Excel file to the designated email address with a prescribed subject-line and file name identifying the trustee and quarter; each report must be certified by the compliance officer. Trustees with no reportable activities for a quarter need not file; other timelines and conditions in prior circulars remain unchanged.

Electronic reporting requirement: Bankers to Issue must file quarterly and annual reports in PDF and Excel to designated email.
Bankers to Issue must submit prescribed quarterly and annual reports electronically in PDF and Excel formats to the designated SEBI e mail, with each submission certified by the compliance officer and files and e mail titles following prescribed naming conventions. Bankers to Issue with no reportable activity for specified tables need not file a quarterly report, but all must submit the annual report in the prescribed format within the stipulated post financial year period, and other submission timelines remain unchanged.

Cross margining for institutional cash positions offsets VaR margins while retaining extreme loss and mark-to-market requirements.
Institutes a cross margin facility for institutional cash positions with offsetting stock futures so that VaR margin is not charged on the cash position to the extent of the offsetting futures, while Extreme Loss and Mark-to-Market margins remain applicable; near-month futures are excluded three days before expiry and F&O margins are unchanged. Exchanges must adopt systems, amend rules, notify members, publish the provisions, and report implementation status monthly under enabling regulatory powers.

Dematerialisation requirement: non promoter holdings must be dematerialised before shift from trade for trade to rolling settlement and certificate required.
Companies with connectivity to both depositories may be shifted from the Trade for Trade Segment to rolling settlement only if at least fifty percent of non promoter holdings are dematerialised, evidenced by a certificate from the Registrar and Transfer Agent or, if no RTA exists, from a practising Company Secretary or Chartered Accountant, and provided there are no other grounds to continue Trade for Trade trading; stock exchanges must report actions taken in the Monthly/Quarterly Development Report.

Export benefit eligibility extended to cuttle fish and squids under a new VKGUY product code in trade procedures.
Amendment adds VKGUY Product Code 10.37 to Appendix 37A designating cuttle fish and squids under ITC HS codes '030741', '030749' and '16059020' as eligible for export benefits, and separately corrects VKGUY Product Code 10.31 to read as Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) under ITC HS code '13021920'.

New additional focus products classification for silk qualifies for export benefits under amended handbook procedures.
DGFT amends the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. I by adding a New Additional Focus Products category and inserting Table 11 into Appendix 37D. The insertion lists specified silk-related products and establishes that exporters of those listed items are eligible for export benefits under the Handbook for shipments made with effect from the effective date provided in the Public Notice.

Real estate mutual fund schemes regulated to impose defined asset criteria, valuation standards, custody, governance and disclosure obligations.
The amendment inserts a new regulatory Chapter for real estate mutual fund schemes, defining "real estate asset" and "real estate valuer", prescribing eligibility for sponsors and personnel, requiring schemes to be close-ended and listed, and mandating banking-channel transactions. It sets concentration and sponsor-related investment prohibitions, requires initial cost recognition and periodic fair value measurement using two independent valuers (lower valuation to be used), daily NAV calculation based on current valuations, and detailed governance, custody, insurance, accounting and disclosure obligations for asset managers and trustees.

Customs valuation: importers must declare brand, model and specifications to prevent undervaluation on entry filings.
Importers of ink and toner cartridges and laptop computers must declare complete product identification-branded/unbranded status, model, type and specifications-accurately in the Bill of Entry Description/Brand/Model/Type/Specification fields to ensure correct customs valuation and prevent undervaluation at assessment.

Service tax compliance failures: strengthen registration surveys, return verification, cenvat controls and PAN based data correlation.
Service tax administration for rent a cab, photography and health club services showed systemic weaknesses: lack of prescribed KPIs and ineffective, unproductive surveys left thousands unregistered; monitoring and verification of ST 3 returns were inadequate, enabling stop filers and suppression of taxable value; misapplication of cenvat credit and slow allotment of PAN based service tax codes impeded cross verification. Audit recommended KPI driven surveys, risk based verification of returns, strengthened inter departmental data correlation, review of conditional exemptions and stricter cenvat enforcement; all recommendations were accepted.

Service tax compliance failures led to extensive non levy, recovery pendency and misuse of Cenvat credit, prompting audit action.
Audit of service tax administration reveals extensive non levy, short levy and non recovery across multiple service categories, significant pendency of adjudication and recovery cases, numerous fraud/presumptive fraud detections with partial demand and poor penalty collection, and widespread incorrect Cenvat credit claims (including excess utilisation, ineligible credits and pre entitlement claims). Audit-led observations produced quantified revenue implications and prompted targeted amendments to rules and the Act, while departmental action has included issuance of show cause notices and partial recoveries.

Customs operational procedure at the new air cargo complex ensures dual-site services, document rules, and preserved first-check protocol.
Customs operations will function concurrently at the new and existing air cargo complexes with Service Centre, banking, and document-generation facilities available at both sites; electronic filing via ICEGATE and trade-facility systems continue unchanged. Importers/CHAs must keep a set of documents at each site; originals accompany the Customs copy of the Bill of Entry at the shed while photocopies or faxed copies may be accepted for verification. The first check procedure is retained for FOC goods with online shed approvals; Chartered Engineer certificates and other authorisations may be assessed on photocopies though originals are to be submitted to the shed. Re-imports require original Bills for verification. ATA Carnet imports require verification of guarantees and separate registers; procedures apply immediately until further orders.

Revised MCR format mandates uniform NAUM and AAUM calculation and monthly submission via email and hard copy by firms.
Revised MCR requires all mutual funds to submit a standardized monthly report by the third day of each month, including Interval Schemes and Overseas Fund of Funds. NAUM shall reflect AUM as on the last calendar day of the month (excluding liquid fund purchases on the next month's first day) and AAUM shall be the aggregate of daily AUM over calendar days in the month. New schemes are reported in the month of allotment. Compliance officers must confirm data accuracy. This circular supersedes prior MCR circulars.

Interest on delayed refunds: claim procedure established using ANF 8A, filing requirements and authority for payment.
ANF 8A provides the mechanism to claim interest on delayed refunds of Duty Drawback, Terminal Excise Duty on deemed exports, and Central Sales Tax to EOUs by filing a prescribed application with the same Regional Authority/Development Commissioner that sanctioned the claim; it requires specified applicant and claim particulars, supporting documents (approval letter, cheque and forwarding letter, interest calculation), signatures on each page, and a declaration undertaking compliance with Foreign Trade Policy and refund of any excess interest found on scrutiny.

Utilisation of VKGUY scrips: freely importable ITC HS items allowed for duty payment, subject to specified Appendix exceptions.
VKGUY (erstwhile VKUY) duty credit scrips may be used to pay Customs duties on imports of items that are freely importable under the ITC (HS) Book, subject to exceptions listed in Appendix 37B; capital goods were excluded for scrips earned in 2004-05 and 2005-06 but broadly permitted with specific exclusions for scrips earned from 2006-07 onwards, and Para 3.12.4/3.8.3 read with Para 3.8.3.1 of the FTPs govern applicability by export year.

Foreign investment limits in commodity exchanges set with composite ceiling; FDI requires government approval and FII limited to secondary markets.
Foreign investment in commodity exchanges is permitted subject to a composite foreign investment ceiling and differentiated limits for direct and portfolio investment; FDI requires specific government approval, FIIs may purchase equity only in secondary markets, and all foreign investment must comply with Forward Market Commission regulations, with amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations to follow.

Foreign investment limits in credit information companies require prior government and regulatory approvals and limit FII secondary market participation.
Aggregate foreign investment in credit information companies is capped and any foreign investment up to that cap requires prior FIPB approval and RBI regulatory clearance; SEBI registered FIIs may invest only via secondary market purchases and must observe the overall foreign investment ceiling, with an additional restriction on individual FII holdings; directions issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and banks are to notify constituents.

TDS on rent excludes service tax; deductors must compute TDS on rent payable excluding the service tax component.
The circular states that service tax collected in relation to rent does not form part of the landlord's income and that tax deduction at source on rent must therefore be made on the rent amount payable excluding the service tax; authorities are instructed to communicate this rule to regional officers and internal audit teams and to ensure compliance through audit verification.

International competitive bidding: residents may incur foreign exchange liabilities and make payments without prior ministry approval.
Persons resident in India may incur foreign exchange liabilities and make or receive payments in foreign exchange for global bids for projects executed in India under International Competitive Bidding without prior Administrative Ministry or Central Government approval, and Authorized Dealer Category I banks may sell foreign exchange to resident companies awarded such contracts, subject to other applicable laws.

Refund of additional customs duty allowed within one year on production of sales tax/VAT proof and auditor unjust enrichment certificate.
Refunds of the additional duty of customs under Notification No.102/2007-Customs must be filed centrally and supported by original evidence of Sales Tax/VAT or CST payment; an auditor's certificate correlating payments with sales invoices may accompany original tax documents. Claims must be filed within one year from payment of duty, limited to quantities evidenced by documents, with only a single claim per Bill of Entry (monthly consolidation allowed). No interest is payable; field formations should dispose claims within three months. Unjust enrichment must be addressed by an auditor's certificate and an importer's self-declaration.