Faceless penalty administration: assessment centres designated to perform penalty functions until dedicated penalty units established.
Existing NeAC/ReACs/AUs/RUs established under the Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019 are directed to act as the National Faceless Penalty Centre, Regional Faceless Penalty Centres, Penalty Units and Penalty Review Units respectively until dedicated penalty centres and units are set up; income-tax officers in those bodies shall perform the corresponding penalty functions, and the order is effective immediately.

Export controls on diagnostic kits: manufacturers must obtain quota based online authorisations and meet documentary eligibility requirements.
Export of specified diagnostic kits and components is permitted only under quota based export authorisations issued via the DGFT ECOM portal. Only manufacturers may apply online within the specified window; licences are subject to a limited validity period. Eligibility requires documentary proof of manufacturing, one application per IEC, and submission of purchase orders, IEC copy and a signed undertaking confirming domestic commitments; all documents must be self attested. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Procedural relaxation for rights issues extended, subject to continued compliance with specified circular conditions.
SEBI extends the one-time procedural relaxation for Rights Issues provided earlier, making the specified waiver in the prior circular applicable for Rights Issues opening up to March 31, 2021, provided the issuer and Lead Manager(s) continue to comply with the specified remaining condition(s) in that prior circular; the extension is issued under Sections 11(1) and 11A of the SEBI Act and Regulations 299 and 300 of the ICDR Regulations and is effective from the date of issue.

Mandatory e Sanchit uploads and IRN declaration required for specified imports; label upload and undertaking mandatory for drug/cosmetic consignments.
Importers, exporters and brokers must upload prescribed documents to e Sanchit and declare IRN numbers or document codes in the Bill of Entry for listed CTHs; the system will disallow filing BEs for applicable CTHs without these mandatory documents. For items requiring Drug Controller clearance, upload of the consignment label and declaration of its IRN in the supplementary documents table is mandatory, together with the codified undertaking (statement type Actual Undertaking UTG, statement code DC007) in the Statement Table confirming packaging integrity.

Consultant engagement terms: contractual duties, confidentiality, notice and conflict of interest obligations govern policy consultancy.
Engagement as Consultant for Export Import Policy is offered for one year or until services are required, with duties to examine policy cases, prepare briefs and analyse proposals under the controlling officer. A consolidated monthly fee is payable (subject to tax deductions) with no other allowances; normal working hours apply but attendance beyond hours and on holidays may be required. The consultant gets eight days' leave per year; the Department or consultant may terminate the engagement on 15 days' notice or pay in lieu. The consultant must maintain confidentiality under the Official Secrets Act, avoid conflicts of interest, uphold professional integrity, cooperate with investigations, and is accountable under vigilance and departmental norms.

Prior approval for requisition and notice under the Income-tax Act required, conditioning attachment actions on senior officer authorization.
Prior approval of the Principal CIT/Principal DIT/CIT/DIT is required for requisition under the Income-tax Act and for issuance of the notice that precedes attachment, thereby conditioning requisition and notice steps by Assessing Officers and Tax Recovery Officers on specified senior officer authorization.

E-way bill verification: stop vehicles only on confirmed adverse information against the declared buyer or seller.
Mobile unit officers may stop vehicles for e-way bill verification during intra and inter provincial movement only when there is confirmed adverse information against the purchaser or seller declared in the specified documents; routine checks or inspections of buyer/seller firms and stoppages that harass transporters or impede smooth transit are prohibited, and strict compliance with prior circulars is directed.

Corrigendum to GST audit procedure substitutes the specified audit date and directs officials to treat the new date as authoritative.
A corrigendum to the GST audit circular substitutes the figures and words previously stated in Paragraph 2.3 with a later date, directing that the paragraph be read and understood accordingly; the instruction is issued by the Commissioner, Commercial Tax, to zonal and additional commissioners and joint commissioners responsible for tax audit functions.

Limitation compliance: ensure appeals are filed on time and avoid mechanical condonation applications or administrative inaction.
Field formations must ensure appeals and petitions are filed within the prescribed limitation periods and avoid mechanical condonation of delay applications; supervisory officers must personally monitor timely filings, flag important nationwide cases to the Board's policy section and Commissioner (Legal), and examine appeals dismissed for limitation with a view to corrective measures, including disciplinary action.

Cost recovery charges: uniform rules for staffing, quarterly payment, and benchmarked exemption procedure for customs facilities.
Guidelines set a unified regime for posting customs staff on cost recovery basis and for collection, exemption, and withdrawal of cost recovery charges: applicability to facilities notified after 26 June 2002 (with exceptions); defined staffing norms by facility; creation/continuation of posts with one-year initial validity and DGHRD processing; quarterly advance payment at a uniform rate of 1.85 times monthly average post cost plus allowances; delayed payment tolerances with interest; exemption eligibility tied to Department of Expenditure permission and meeting prescribed performance benchmarks, with exemptions effective prospectively from the fourth month and subject to monitoring and possible withdrawal.

Mandatory upload of drug consignment labels and IRN in e Sanchit required for specified imports; BE filing blocked otherwise.
Importers and customs brokers must upload prescribed supporting documents to e Sanchit and declare the documents' IRN numbers in the Bill of Entry; the EDI system will block filing of Bills of Entry for specified CTHs unless the mandated document codes and IRN details are provided. For goods requiring Drug Controller clearance, the Label of Consignment (doc code 0110DC) must be uploaded, its IRN declared in the Supp Docs table, and a codified undertaking (statement code 0110DC) confirming intact packaging and non deterioration must be declared in the Statement Table.

Customs ICES e-Sanchit: Mandatory upload of specified import documents and IRN declaration; label and undertaking required for drug items.
Uploading specified supporting documents to e-Sanchit and declaring their IRN numbers in the Bill of Entry is mandatory for listed CTHs w.e.f. 15.01.2021; the ICES system will disallow filing of Bills of Entry for applicable CTHs unless the prescribed document codes and IRN details are provided. For items requiring Drug Controller clearance, the Label of Consignment must be uploaded and the codified undertaking (UTG DC007) declared in the Bill of Entry.

Policy relaxation online submission required; manual applications will not be accepted, with paperless processing and support channels provided.
Applications for policy or procedure relaxation under the Foreign Trade Policy must be filed exclusively through the DGFT's online e PRC module; manual hard copy submissions and physical documents will not be accepted. The e module provides a paperless, contactless electronic workflow for submission, communications, clarifications, corrections and approvals. Users are directed to the DGFT website for module navigation and to online Help/FAQs, and may use the Helpdesk ticketing, a toll free helpline, or an email contact for assistance.

Cumulative gross exposure in ETCDs clarified: specified short positions excluded; mutual funds barred from writing options.
Specifies that, for calculating cumulative gross exposure in Exchange Traded Commodity Derivatives (ETCDs), short positions up to the quantity of underlying goods received in physical settlement and short positions up to the long position in the same goods shall be excluded; additionally mutual funds are prohibited from writing options or purchasing instruments with embedded written options in goods or on commodity futures.

Relaxation of LODR compliance: electronic-mode general meeting exemptions extended, maintaining waiver of physical report and proxy requirements.
Extension of LODR relaxations permits listed entities to conduct general meetings through electronic modes and preserves the exemption from sending physical annual reports and from requiring proxies for meetings held via video conferencing or other audiovisual means; stock exchanges are directed to notify listed entities and disseminate the circular, which takes immediate effect under the regulator's statutory powers.

GST audit selection and procedure: zone categorisation, profiling, audit calendar, reporting and officer targets.
The circular prescribes zone wise classification and turnover based taxpayer categories for selecting registered persons for GST audit for 2017 18 and 2018 19, mandates formation of Zonal/Local Audit Review Committees, allocates profiling duties to Joint/Deputy/Assistant Commissioners, requires preparation and circulation of Pre Audit Draft and Final Reports via the departmental audit module, mandates audit team formation and online issuance of audit notices, sets timelines for taxpayer communication and replies, fixes audit completion deadlines in view of limitation provisions, and assigns quarterly functional targets to audit officers.

Condonation of delay for restored companies permits waiver of additional filing fees for eligible overdue e form filings within a limited window.
A scheme waives additional filing fees for companies restored on the Register following disposal of restoration appeals in the defined restoration period, allowing eligible companies to file overdue e forms with the Registrar within a limited window by paying normal filing fees. The waiver excludes filings for increase in authorized capital and specified charge related documents and does not grant immunity from civil or criminal proceedings.

Remuneration compliance: arm's-length lower pay accepted as transitional relief where prescribed minimum was missed.
An eligible investment fund must pay an eligible fund manager remuneration not less than a prescribed minimum; a proviso allows seeking Board approval if remuneration is lower. The Board granted transitional relief for prior years permitting arm's-length lower remuneration to be treated as compliance, while requiring future remuneration to adhere to the prescribed sub-rule and any applications for lower remuneration to follow the Board's stated procedure.

No Bill of Coastal Goods required for purely coastal vessels; coastal manifest rules apply at EXIM berths.
Filing of a Bill of Coastal Goods is not required for vessels carrying exclusively coastal goods; such vessels are exempted under Notification No. 56/2016, and where coastal goods are handled at EXIM berths a coastal arrival and departure manifest must be filed under Notification No. 57/2016, with masters or agents submitting the prescribed manifests for unloaded, carried-forward, or loaded goods.

Input tax credit reconciliation requires reversal of excess claims where supplier-uploaded invoices do not support cumulative eligible credit.
Input tax credit for February through August 2020 must be reconciled cumulatively with invoices and debit notes uploaded by suppliers up to the due date for the September 2020 FORM GSTR-1. Aggregate credit claimed in the corresponding FORM GSTR-3B returns cannot exceed 110% of cumulative eligible credit supported by uploaded supplier invoices. The limit does not override substantive eligibility conditions. Excess credit identified on reconciliation must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September 2020 FORM GSTR-3B; non-reversal is treated as ineligible credit availed in September.