Faceless Assessment expansion centralises customs appraisal across additional zones and assigns local appellate jurisdiction for import appeals.
2nd phase roll-out of Faceless Assessment expands operational coverage to additional Customs Zones and specified Appraisement Groups, subsuming the first phase. The Board nominates specific senior Commissioners as Nodal Commissioners to monitor faceless-assigned Bills of Entry and ensure speedy, uniform electronic assessments. Notification No.63/2020-Customs (N.T.) empowers jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs (Appeals) at the place of import to decide appeals arising from faceless assessments even where the assessing officer is located elsewhere, and trade is to be guided by public notices with implementation issues reported to the Board.

Amendment under section 149: cancellation of OOC requires DC/AC approval before AO/EDI acts; bank account registration requires bank verification.
Cancellation of Out of Charge status to permit amendments under the Customs Act is to be undertaken by AO/EDI only after prior approval of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of the concerned group and the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (EDI), identifying the DC/AC as the proper officer; AO/EDI will cancel the OOC in ICES after such approvals. Bank account registration with AD code and IFSC requires IEC submission via E Sanchit; EA/TA EDI verifies bank authorisation/NOC and obtains bank confirmation if needed, then places the verified request before AO/EDI, who approves registration/modification after satisfying compliance with public notices.

Pledge-based margin mechanism required; temporary parallel title-transfer allowed before mandatory migration to depository pledges.
Members must migrate margin obligations to a pledge / re-pledge mechanism in the depository system, with a temporary allowance for parallel acceptance of collateral by title transfer during a limited transition; funded stocks under margin trading should preferably be held by pledge and existing 'Client Margin / Collateral' demat accounts must be closed within the prescribed transition period.

Regulatory timeline extensions for depository participants and RTAs allow additional time to meet specified compliance requirements.
SEBI extends compliance timelines for DPs, RTAs and KRAs due to the COVID 19 disruption, designating a period of exclusion for processing demat requests, transmission of securities, closure of demat accounts and investor grievance redressal, and allowing a short post exclusion window to clear backlogs. It also extends submission deadlines for half yearly Internal Audit Reports and annual systems audits for DPs, while all other conditions of prior circulars remain applicable and depositories must notify participants and publish the circular.

Regulatory timeline extension for compliance obligations permits delayed reporting and audits due to the pandemic with continued conditions.
SEBI extended deadlines for specified compliance obligations of trading members, clearing members and depository participants due to COVID 19, postponing reporting and audit deadlines (including client funding reporting, AI/ML reporting, internal and system audits, net worth certificates, call recording maintenance and Cyber Security & Cyber Resilience Audit) with several extensions running until September 30, 2020; all other conditions of earlier circulars continue and market infrastructure entities must notify members.

Extension of filing deadline for quarterly financial results granted, easing timeline between successive reporting periods.
SEBI extended the timeline under Regulation 33 of the LODR Regulations for submission of financial results for the quarter/half year/financial year ended 30th June 2020 to address the shortened interval between successive reporting deadlines; the extension is effective immediately and stock exchanges are directed to notify and disseminate the circular to all listed entities.

Prohibition on PABA in health supplements: imported products containing PABA will be refused clearance immediately.
Imported health supplements and nutraceutical products containing PABA (Para Amino Benzoic Acid) are banned and shall not be cleared for import; affected manufactured or imported products must be withdrawn from the market. Customs directs importers, brokers and trade associations to publicise the ban; the notice is to be treated as a Standing Order and queries are to be referred to the Additional Commissioner (Technical).

Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunications Equipment requires certification before import or sale, effective from October.
Mandatory testing and certification under MTCTE Phase II requires testing and certification of specified telecommunications equipment (Transmission Terminal Equipment, PON family broadband equipment, and feedback devices) via the MTCTE portal; applications accepted from 25 June 2020 and certification mandatory for import, sale or use with effect from 1 October 2020.

Customs duty exemption review: public invited to submit suggestions online; departmental officers to promote participation.
An online public consultation has been launched to solicit suggestions for review of Customs duty exemption notifications and Customs laws and procedures via the MyGov Innovate portal. Stakeholders including importers, exporters, brokers, shipping agents, custodians, trade associations and the public are invited to submit inputs within the prescribed submission window. The notice directs departmental officers to promote the initiative and treats the Public Notice as a Standing Order for creating awareness and facilitating participation; difficulties may be reported to the Commissioner.

Refund application mapping: process by the authority receiving the electronic transfer when portal reassignment is unavailable.
Where a refund FORM GST RFD-01A is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority that does not match the taxpayer's administrative assignment, and portal reassignment to the correct jurisdiction is not possible, the authority receiving the electronic transfer should process the refund claim. After processing, the authority should notify the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request an update so that subsequent refund applications are routed to the correct jurisdictional tax authority.

Relaxation of takeover and buy-back procedures extended to cover open offers and tender buy-backs opening through year-end.
SEBI extended one-time procedural relaxations for open offers under the Takeovers framework and for buy-back by tender offer, maintaining the same scope of eased enforcement for open offers and tender-offer buy-backs that open through December 31, 2020, in response to market representations and issued under SEBI's regulatory powers.

Intermediary classification determines whether ITeS suppliers qualify as export of services under GST and export conditions.
Clarifies that an intermediary arranges or facilitates supplies but excludes persons supplying services on their own account; suppliers of ITeS providing services on their own account are not intermediaries, while suppliers who only arrange or facilitate pre delivery, delivery, or post delivery support are intermediaries. Mixed supplies require a facts and circumstances inquiry to identify the principal supply. Suppliers who are not intermediaries may qualify as export of services if the supplier and recipient locations, place of supply, convertible foreign exchange receipt, and distinct establishment conditions are satisfied.

Non-filing of GST returns: notice followed by best-judgement assessment and potential recovery if returns remain unfiled.
Non-filing of GST returns triggers issuance of FORM GSTR-3A requiring return filing within fifteen days; if not filed the proper officer may assess tax liability by best judgement under section 62 and issue FORM GST ASMT-13, relying on available data such as GSTR-1, GSTR-2A, e way bills and inspection information, with the assessment summary uploaded in FORM GST DRC-07; a valid return filed within thirty days of the assessment order leads to deemed withdrawal of the assessment, otherwise recovery and enforcement measures may follow.

Recording of encumbrances required in depository system; participants subject to concurrent audit and off system encumbrances prohibited.
Depositories must implement a system to capture and record all types of encumbrances specified under Regulation 28(3) of the SEBI Takeover Regulations, adopting processes similar to those for NDUs; freeze and unfreeze instructions by Participants will be subject to 100% concurrent audit, and Depository Participants must not facilitate or be party to any encumbrance outside the depository system.

Relaxations for rights issue timelines extended, providing one time procedural relief under securities regulations for eligible issues.
SEBI extended previously granted one time procedural relaxations under the ICDR Regulations for rights issues, making those relaxations applicable to rights issues opening within the newly specified extended period; the relief is procedural, directed to listed entities, issuers proposing to list specified securities and market intermediaries, and issued under SEBI's statutory market regulation powers.

Health supplements containing PABA banned; immediate prohibition on manufacture, sale and import clearance of such products.
The instruction mandates an immediate prohibition on the use of PABA (Para Amino Benzoic Acid) in health supplements and nutraceuticals, prohibits further manufacturing with PABA, requires withdrawal of products already manufactured or imported, directs e commerce operators to de list such products immediately, and instructs Authorized Officers and Customs to prevent clearance of imported products containing banned ingredients and to ensure mandatory compliance.

Telecommunications equipment: testing and certification for specified Phase II devices mandatory from 1 October 2020; applications accepted online.
Mandatory testing and certification under phase II of the MTCTE regime makes testing and certification compulsory for Transmission Terminal Equipment (SDH, multiplexing), PON family broadband equipment (PON ONT, PON ONU, PON OLT) and Feedback Devices from 1 October 2020; applications were acceptable on the MTCTE portal from 25 June 2020, and certification is required for sale, import or use in India. Customs and departmental officers must issue instructions to ensure trade compliance and report implementation issues to the Board.

Reporting of Code of Conduct violations to stock exchanges required; revised format and remittance to investor protection fund mandated.
Listed companies, intermediaries and fiduciaries must promptly inform the stock exchange(s) of any violations of the Code of Conduct under the PIT Regulations using the revised Annexure A reporting format, which collects details of the reporting entity, designated person or immediate relative, transaction particulars, dates of Regulation 7 intimations (where applicable), observed violations, actions taken, reasons recorded and prior instances. Any amounts collected for such violations must be remitted to SEBI for credit to the Investor Protection and Education Fund by online transfer or demand draft, with transfer particulars reported in the Annexure A.

Trading window exemptions extended to Offer for Sale and Rights Entitlements when conducted under board-specified framework.
SEBI clarified that trading window restrictions under the Prohibition of Insider Trading regime shall not apply to Offer for Sale (OFS) and Rights Entitlements (RE) transactions when conducted in accordance with the framework specified by the Board. The amendment supplements existing exemptions under Schedule B and Regulation 9. Stock exchanges must notify listed companies and publish the circular; the directive is issued under SEBI's regulatory powers and is effective immediately.

Adoption of e-Office encourages PDF electronic communications with contact details for immediate acknowledgement and diary reference.
Launch of e-Office in the Audit Commissionerate, Kochi implements a transition to a paperless environment to improve efficiency, transparency, accountability and service delivery. Taxpayers are encouraged to use electronic communications in PDF, preferably searchable, and to provide mobile and email details to receive immediate acknowledgements and a Diary Number for future reference.