Deemed GST registration verification requires physical and financial checks, risk-based notices, and prevention of approval after failed Aadhaar authentication.
Deemed GST registrations involving non-opted or failed Aadhaar authentication require compulsory post-registration physical verification. Officers must verify declared business premises, operational capacity, ownership or lease documents, employees, identity details and bank KYC, and may undertake preliminary financial scrutiny of tax returns, linked bank accounts, capital sources and funding records. Risk-based notices may address return-filing discrepancies before cancellation proceedings are completed. Verification must be concluded within the stipulated period with weekly status reporting, and field formations must prevent deemed approval in such Aadhaar-authentication cases.

Compliance timeline extensions for regulated intermediaries permit delayed submission of audits and KYC uploads amid pandemic disruptions.
SEBI extended compliance timelines due to COVID 19: trading and clearing members received extensions to submit half year Internal Audit, System Audit and half year net worth certificates for the period ended September 30, 2020 (with deadlines in late December 2020 and specified items to January 31, 2021). Depository Participants received extensions for half year Internal Audit reports and annual systems audit to December 31, 2020; uploading client KYC to KRA had an exclusion period through December 31, 2020 plus a 15 day backlog clearance window.

Extension of filing deadline for CRA-4; last date deferred and additional fees relaxation retained, other requirements unchanged.
Extension of the filing deadline for CRA-4 by substituting the earlier last date with a later date, deferring the compliance cutoff. The amendment follows stakeholder representations and COVID-19 disruptions. All other procedural requirements and conditions of the earlier circular remain unchanged, and the prior easing of additional fee consequences for late filing continues. The change is effected with competent authority approval.

Designated port list updated: Hazira added for import of unshredded metallic scrap; no exceptions permitted.
Hazira Port is added to the list of designated ports in Para 2.54(d)(iv) of the Handbook of Procedure, 2015-2020, making import of unshredded metallic scrap and waste permissible only through the enumerated designated ports, with no exceptions allowed, including for EOUs and SEZs.

Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme allows eligible taxpayers quarterly returns while maintaining monthly tax payment compliance and interest safeguards.
The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme permits eligible registered persons to furnish FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B quarterly while paying tax for the first two months through FORM GST PMT-06. Eligibility is restricted to persons within the prescribed aggregate-turnover threshold and ends from the succeeding quarter after the threshold is crossed. Monthly payment may follow the fixed-sum or self-assessment method. The Invoice Furnishing Facility is optional for reporting selected invoices in the first two months. Quarterly filing, interest on delayed payments or returns, and late fee for delayed quarterly compliance remain applicable.

SEZ approval conditions: extensions, shareholding and mergers approved subject to continuity, eligibility, tax disclosure and environmental compliance.
The Board approved one-year extensions of LoAs for specified SEZ units and granted approvals for name, shareholding, control changes, mergers and transfers subject to conditions requiring seamless continuity of SEZ activities, fulfilment of eligibility and security clearances, compliance with revenue/company/securities rules, immediate furnishing of full financial details to revenue authorities, preservation of Assessing Officer tax-assessment rights, and PAN/jurisdictional AO disclosure. Procurement of restricted items was ratified subject to use within SEZs and environmental compliance. Several appeals were rejected; two were remanded for further verification. Two FTWZ in-principle approvals were granted.

Post-registration verification required for deemed GST registrations where Aadhaar authentication is absent, enabling physical and financial scrutiny.
Deemed registrations where Aadhaar authentication was not opted for or failed must undergo compulsory post-registration verification including physical verification of principal and additional places, inspection of premises, verification of ownership/lease, employee records, Aadhaar and PAN, and bank KYC; supplemented by preliminary financial verification through income tax returns, bank account activity linked to registration, capital composition, audited balance sheets where available, and loan proposals, with FORM REG-17 notices usable in specified risk scenarios and cancellation proceedings initiated if registration appears not genuine.

Filing of creditor list on central electronic platform required to enhance transparency and enable stakeholder claim verification.
The circular requires the interim resolution professional or resolution professional to file, maintain and update the list of creditors on the IBBI electronic platform under clause (ca) of sub regulation (2) of regulation 13 of the CIRP Regulations, 2016, for dissemination on the Board's website. The obligation applies to CIRPs ongoing as on 13 November 2020 and to those commencing thereafter. The Board's website provides for multiple filings and the circular annexes prescribed formats and category wise templates specifying identification, claim details, admitted amounts, security or guarantee coverage, related party status and voting share details.

Export of gems and jewellery permitted via courier, subject to applicable courier regulations and other export laws.
The prohibitions in the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010 and the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 on precious and semi-precious stones, gold or silver apply to imports only and do not restrict exports of gems and jewellery through courier; such exports remain subject to other applicable courier-regulation provisions and any other extant export laws.

Revision of SION input-output norms for ossein: import unit corrected to metric tonnes, affecting export compliance.
Revision of SION A1827 amends the Handbook of Procedure entry for Ossein to specify Crushed Bones as the required import input and changes the unit of measurement for the imported item from kilograms to metric tonnes; the amendment is notified under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedure.

Simulated test environment optionalizes mandatory mock trading sessions; exchanges must provide access and monthly reporting.
Mandatory mock trading sessions become optional if a Recognised Stock Exchange provides a simulated test environment available to all members, for at least two hours after market hours on at least two trading days weekly, with data from at least one trading day in all segments not older than one month. Members with approved algorithms must participate at least one trading day monthly and such participation shall be audited and reported in the System Auditor's report; exchanges must provide daily logs to members and a summary to the regulator in the monthly development report.

Tariff Related Quota licenses must be declared in import declarations or concessional duty will be denied by the system.
DGFT-issued electronic TRQ licenses are transmitted to ICEGATE for registration in ICES; importers must provide TRQ license details in the Bill of Entry to claim concessional duty, whereupon the system will automatically debit imported quantities against the license and present license and debit information to the appraising officer. Omission of license details or exhaustion of licensed quantity will result in denial of the notification benefit and levy of tariff duty. Officers must scrutinize duty and duty-foregone calculations on initial Bills of Entry, and implementation issues are to be reported to the designated customs official.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) adoption enables app/web public issue applications with mandate-based fund blocking and electronic reconciliation.
Permits application to public issues of debt, preference and securitised instruments via stock-exchange app/web interfaces and intermediaries with blocking of application funds through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Stock exchanges and depositories must validate PAN and demat details in near real time and transmit bid and UPI ID data to a designated Sponsor Bank, which initiates a one-time mandate for investor authorization. Upon mandate acceptance banks block funds and communicate status to Sponsor Bank, stock exchange and registrar; registrar reconciles block confirmations, prepares basis of allotment, and triggers debit/collect and unblocking actions for final settlement and allotment.

Personal hearing through video conference may be allowed when a draft assessment modification is disputed after a written response.
Under the Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019, the ReAC may allow personal hearing through Video Conference where a proposed modification in a Draft Assessment Order is disputed by the assessee or authorised representative; allowance follows consideration of case-specific facts. Requirements: the assessee must have submitted a written response to the DAO; Video Conferences are ordinarily thirty minutes and may be extended on request; documents or evidence may be furnished during the session or within a reasonable time permitted by the assessing unit.

Foreign law firms' practice restriction bars establishment of offices in India under FEMA and mandates bank reporting of violations.
Foreign law firms, foreign lawyers and foreign companies are not permitted to practice law in India and therefore shall not establish branch offices, liaison offices, project offices or other places of business in India for the purpose of practicing law; Authorized Dealer Category I banks must not grant FEMA approvals for such establishments and must report violations of the Advocates Act to the Reserve Bank, while other BO/LO/PO policy provisions remain unchanged and the Master Direction has been updated accordingly.

Temporary import exemption for durable containers clarified: declaration, identification and continuity bond requirements specified.
Clarifies exemption on temporary import of durable containers not conforming to standard marine dimensions but intended for re export. Reiterates eligibility: durable, reusable, identifiable at re export, and compliant with Notification No.104/94 Cus. Prescribes procedures: declare containers as separate items in bill of entry or shipping bill (sections 46 and 50), verify unique identifiers on export, discharge duties on any laden cargo while containers remain exempt subject to bond and security, and register continuity bonds in the Customs Automated System. Directorate General of Systems to issue Systems Advisory.

Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme enables eligible taxpayers to file quarterly returns while making monthly tax deposits.
The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme allows eligible registered persons to furnish FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-1 quarterly while depositing tax for the first two months through FORM GST PMT-06. Taxpayers may use either the fixed sum method based on prior cash payments or the self-assessment method using current liability and available input tax credit. Optional Invoice Furnishing Facility reporting permits selected invoices to be reflected for recipients before quarterly FORM GSTR-1 filing. Deposits are applied to quarterly return liability, and interest and late-fee consequences depend on timely monthly deposits and quarterly filings.

Pre-show cause notice consultation mandatory for high-value duty demands; consultation to be conducted by the issuing authority.
Pre-show cause notice consultation is mandatory where the proposed demand of duty or recovery of CENVAT Credit exceeds the revised monetary threshold for higher-level adjudication, excluding preventive or offence-related show cause notices. The consultation shall be carried out by the authority issuing the show cause notice even if adjudication will be by a different officer. The circular rescinds the earlier instruction on the subject and has overriding effect over conflicting circulars and instructions.

Prohibition on trade with North Korea requires customs to amend erroneous country entries before granting clearance to prevent misleading trade reports.
Customs formations must correct inadvertent data entry errors identifying North Korea as the country of import/export before granting Out of Charge/Let Export Order (OOC/LEO); clearance is to be permitted only after deleting the incorrect reference to North Korea and recording the correct country, and RMS amendments will be made to prevent recurrence.

Preferential issue ineligibility clarified: parties transferring units within six months, including sponsors, are barred from allotment.
Preferential issue of units by a listed InvIT shall not be made to any person who sold or transferred units of the issuer during the six months preceding the relevant date; if any person belonging to a sponsor sold or transferred units in that period, the sponsor is ineligible for allotment on a preferential basis.