E-payment of refund/rebate claims: direct bank-credit mechanism with authorization, UTR tracking, and PAO reconciliation required.
Introduction of an e-payment facility requires claimants to submit a one-time authorization for direct credit to the exporter's bank account; the refund sanctioning authority will forward consolidated statements and a cheque to the nominated bank, which will credit claimant accounts via NEFT/RTGS after applicable charges and retain authorization copies. Banks must generate UTRs for transfers, submit monthly UTR reports and periodic scrolls to the sanctioning authority and PAO, and the PAO must reconcile cheques with bank scrolls and report discrepancies for verification and compliance.

TDS exemption on interest paid by IFSC Banking Units confirmed; no tax deduction on qualifying non-resident deposits or borrowings.
IBUs established in IFSCs are treated as Offshore Banking Units; accordingly, tax need not be deducted at source on interest paid by such IBUs on deposits made on or after 1 April 2005 by non-residents or persons not ordinarily resident in India, and on borrowings from such persons made on or after that date, and such interest is excluded from total income under the corresponding exemption for interest paid by offshore banking units.

Container scanning compliance ensures selected import containers are scanned before exit, with penalties for terminal or custodian noncompliance.
Containers selected by the Customs RMS must be scanned at the Mobile Container Scanning Facility before leaving port or reaching CFS/ICD; terminals must mark EIRs with "Selected for scanning", inspectors must verify container and seal numbers, and after scanning endorse EIRs as "SCANNED CLEAN", "MIS MATCH; SEND TO DC/AC, Container Scanning Division" or note reasons for non scanning. Mis matches trigger scrutiny and may require 100% examination of related containers. Custodians and terminal operators face penalties under the Customs Act and Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations for non compliance. Reporting and weekly statements of selections, scans and outcomes must be submitted to DC/AC(CSD).

Recovery of confirmed demands limited: no recovery during pending appellate stay; initiate only after sixty days if no higher stay.
Recovery of confirmed duty demands is restricted while stay applications are pending before Commissioner (Appeals) or CESTAT for matters prior to 06.08.2014; for matters from 06.08.2014 onward, Circular No. 984/08/2014-CX applies pursuant to statutory amendments. The Board rescinds Circular No. 967/1/2013-CX. Where CESTAT or High Court confirms demand and a stay is pending before a higher forum, recovery may be initiated only after sixty days from the confirming order if no higher stay is in effect.

Drawback eligibility: imported and re exported goods must be identical; stricter first check examination and documentation required.
The notice warns that drawback under section 74 is ineligible where imported and re exported goods are not the same, directs Deputy/Assistant Commissioners to conduct thorough first check examinations of re exported spares claiming drawback, requires spare part names and serial numbers to be recorded in the Bill of Entry at import, and mandates that shipping bill examination reports explicitly and separately address identity and use, avoiding vague phrases.

Inclusion of Inland Container Depots as Port of Registration enables access to export promotion benefits.
Two Inland Container Depots at Hosur (Tamil Nadu) and Nattakkam Village (Kottayam Taluk and District) are added as Ports of Registration under the Handbook of Procedures for the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, thereby enabling exporters using these ICDs to avail export promotion benefits available to Ports of Registration.

Bunker fuel exemption: procedure requires undertakings, dated acknowledgments and quarterly utilization certificates, with recovery for non compliance.
Procedure for duty-free supply of IFO 180 CST and IFO 380 CST from OMC warehouses to Indian-flag container vessels under Sl. No. 65A of notification no. 12/2012-CE: existing export/warehouse procedures apply; Masters/agents and OMCs must submit one-time undertakings; dated receipt acknowledgments required for each supply; quarterly utilization certificates must be filed; non-receipt or misuse triggers recovery of duty, interest and penalty from the Master, with jurisdictional Commissioners empowered to resolve implementation difficulties.

Central Excise registration extension allows consolidated payment for prior months following commencement of excise liability.
Deadline for central excise registration by jewellers is extended to 31.07.2016; excise liability is effective from 1 March 2016. Assessees may pay duty for March, April and May along with June by the extended date. The circular references prior related communications, requests wide publicity, and asks that implementation difficulties be reported to the Board.

Mandatory goods description and item codes required in specified VAT returns; consolidated list published online for compliance.
The circular mandates standardized descriptions of goods and accompanying item codes for use in DVAT-30, DVAT-31 and DVAT return Form 16 and its annexures, requiring all registered dealers to adopt the department's consolidated list (including items not in existing schedules) published online after stakeholder consultation, and making such use compulsory for the applicable tax periods.

Discontinuation of reporting requirement: authorised dealer banks need not submit invocation reports for service-import bank guarantees but must retain records.
Authorised Dealer Category-I banks are directed to discontinue submitting reports of invocation of bank guarantees issued for service imports; they must, however, maintain records of such invocations and furnish details to the Reserve Bank when requested. The Master Direction on reporting under the Foreign Exchange Management Act will be updated to reflect this change, and the circular is issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Act.

Indirect tax dispute resolution: file declaration and pay tax, interest and reduced penalty to obtain disposal and immunity under the scheme.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 permits appellants with matters pending before the Commissioner (Appeals) as on 1 March 2016 to file a declaration in Form I by 31 December 2016; acknowledgement suspends appellate proceedings for sixty days. The declarant must, within fifteen days of acknowledgement, pay tax, interest as provided by law, and a penalty equal to twenty five percent of the penalty in the impugned order and notify payment in Form 3. On proof of payment the designated authority shall issue a discharge in Form 4 and the Commissioner will remove the appeal from pendency; such discharge is conclusive for reopening but is not an order on merits and is non refundable.

Drawback claims processing: special administrative drive to remove irrelevant queries and resolve zero zero cases promptly.
Zones and Commissioners shall ensure timely disbursement of processable drawback claims, use the electronic BRC module to avoid routine bank realization certificates for covered exports, address EGM mismatches via Trade Facilitation Committees, and launch a focused drive (1-7-2016 to 30-9-2016) to (a) remove generalized or irrelevant queries from the query database and resolve those cases and (b) redress zero-zero drawback determinations where exporters have produced documents or replied to queries.

Suspension of ACU Euro operations permits Euro trade settlements outside ACU until further notice under FEMA directions.
The circular temporarily suspends ACU Euro operations while the Euro payment channel is reviewed; accordingly, eligible current account and trade transactions in Euro may be settled outside the ACU mechanism until further notice. Authorised Dealer Category I Banks must notify constituents. The direction is issued under FEMA and is without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

External Commercial Borrowings approval route: referrals to Empowered Committee, with RBI retaining final decision authority.
ECB proposals under the approval route above a prescribed referral threshold will be placed before an Empowered Committee for consideration, and the Reserve Bank will take a final decision after considering the Committee's recommendation; all other ECB policy aspects remain unchanged and the Master Direction will be updated.

Special Currency Basket value revised under FEMA, affecting deferred payment protocols and notified to authorized banks in June.
The circular notifies Authorized Dealer Category I banks of a revised rupee valuation of the Special Currency Basket to be used for settlements under the Deferred Payment Protocols with effect from a specified date in June 2016, directs banks to inform constituents, and states that the Directions are issued under FEMA sections 10(4) and 11(1) without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Indian Customs EDI system (ICES 1.5) at Tuna Port enables electronic filing and automated processing of import/export declarations.
ICES 1.5 at Tuna Port implements end to end electronic filing and processing of import Bills of Entry and export Shipping Bills. It mandates registration of IE codes, Customs Brokers, Shipping Lines, DGFT licences and ICEGATE remote filing, prescribes digital signature use, service centre charges, and coding standards. Electronic submission and generation of a Bill/Shipping Bill number constitutes self assessment; the system performs automated validation, valuation, duty calculation, appraiser assignment, RMS risk routing, bond and licence debits, concurrent audit, and produces assessed copies and TR 6 challans for payment and out of charge.

Tax Declaration Scheme enables regularisation of undisclosed income with prescribed levy and limited statutory immunity.
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 permits taxpayers to declare past undisclosed income and regularise it by paying the prescribed tax, surcharge and penalty; TDS credit is allowed if not earlier claimed. Declarations will not be shared with other agencies and will not trigger departmental investigation where valid. Immunity is available only under the Income-tax Act, Wealth-tax Act and, subject to transfer by a specified date, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act. Fair market value for immovable property is the higher of acquisition cost and open-market price as on 1 June 2016; declared rents must be reported where property was let.

Indirect tax dispute resolution: declaration with designated authority suspends appeal and prescribes deposit and discharge procedure.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 allows a party who was in appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) on 1 March 2016 to file a declaration with a Designated Authority. The rules prescribe Forms 1-4: Form 1 for declaration; Form 2 for acknowledgement that suspends appeal proceedings for sixty days; Form 3 to report deposits to be made within a fortnight and reported within seven days; and Form 4 for the Designated Authority's discharge order. On matching Form 4, the Commissioner removes the appeal as disposed without deciding the substantive issues, yielding no binding precedent.

Bank eligibility change: requirement amended to scheduled commercial bank for shipping agent registration documents.
Amendment replaces the requirement of nationalised bank with scheduled commercial bank for Fixed Deposit and solvency certificates submitted for registration and renewal of Shipping Agents/Steamer Agents, as specified in Para 3A(v), 3A(vi) and Para 3B(i) of Public Notice No. 05/2016; trade is invited to report any difficulties.

Integrated Declaration determines ADC referral; declared end use and product grade govern single window clearance procedures.
SWIFT clearance procedures reduce routine ADC referrals by using a published PEC list for tariff mapped chemical items and by exempting dual use items or excipients from ADC NOC when declared in the Integrated Declaration as not pharmaceutical grade, free of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, and not intended for human or veterinary medicinal use. Sampling will be risk based, repeat sampling of an already tested batch for NOC is avoided, digitally signed declarations within the Integrated Declaration replace hardcopy guarantees, and ADC routing is limited to notified ports with IT upgrades to enable necessary data access.