Regulatory sandbox allows SEBI-registered entities to live-test FinTech solutions with limited exemptions, reporting and revocation safeguards.
SEBI's Regulatory Sandbox permits SEBI registered entities to live test FinTech solutions on limited real customers under safeguards. Applicants must satisfy eligibility criteria-innovation, need for live testing, prior offline testing, user benefits, risk management, testing readiness and post test deployment plans-and submit a CEO certified application. SEBI reviews suitability within 30 working days, determines test conditions, and may grant testing authorisation for up to 12 months. Selective regulatory relaxations or a limited certificate of registration may be granted, but core investor protection, KYC and AML requirements remain non derogable. Reporting, record keeping and revocation provisions apply.

Mutual fund physical holdings restricted; disposal timelines required for gold/silver and other commodities under new rules.
SEBI restricts mutual fund schemes from investing in physical goods except in gold via Gold ETFs, but permits holding underlying goods only when physical settlement of exchange-traded commodity derivatives occurs; such holdings must be disposed of within prescribed timelines-gold and silver within 180 days, and other commodities by the immediate next expiry day of the same contract series or, if the Final Expiry Date precedes that, within 30 days-while all other conditions of the earlier circular remain unchanged.

Faceless Assessment rollout for imports under Chapters 84-85 assigns bills centrally while ports handle physical checks and bonds.
Phase 1 implements Faceless Assessment for imports mainly under Chapters 84 and 85 between Bengaluru and Chennai from 8 June 2020: the Customs Automated System assigns bills of entry to designated Faceless Assessment Groups which verify self-assessments, raise electronic queries via ICEGATE/e-Sanchit, order examinations or testing, and issue speaking orders for re-assessments; Port Assessment Groups and Turant Suvidha Kendras remain responsible for physical examinations, bond/BG registration, provisional assessment finalisation, and actions when cases are routed back to the port. Appeals against re-assessment orders lie with the Commissioner (Appeals) having jurisdiction over the port of import.

Faceless Assessment rollout enables remote assignment of bill of entry assessments across interlinked customs zones, preserving local appeal jurisdiction.
Phase 1 introduces Faceless Assessment at Bengaluru and Chennai by enabling the Customs Automated System to assign non facilitated Bills of Entry for specified imported articles to nominated Faceless Assessment groups on a first cum first basis, irrespective of the physical location of the assessing officer. Complementary measures preserve local appellate jurisdiction by empowering jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs (Appeals) to decide appeals for imports into their territories, nominate nodal Commissioners to monitor assessment practice, and require establishment of Turant Suvidha Kendras to facilitate trade and carry out specified verifications.

Relaxation of filing timelines for alternative and venture capital funds allowing delayed submission of specified monthly regulatory filings.
AIFs and VCFs may submit regulatory filings for the months ending March, April, May and June 2020 on or before August 07, 2020, under the authority of Section 11(1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, with immediate effect; the Circular is published on the regulator's website under Legal Framework and Circulars.

GST appeal hearing jurisdiction is allocated among senior departmental officers by monetary threshold and designated territorial or functional zones.
GST appeal hearing jurisdiction under section 107 of the DGST Act, 2017 is allocated among senior departmental officers by monetary threshold, territorial zone and functional branch. SCTT-I to SCTT-IV hear appeals exceeding 15 lakhs for their respective assigned zones and specialised branches. The Additional Commissioner handles specified zones and lower-value Enforcement and Embassy Refund appeals, while the JCTT hears appeals up to 15 lakhs for Zones II to VII and XI (KCS).

Extension of AEO certification validity eases renewal timelines while excluding entities with adverse reports.
Extension of AEO certificates validity was directed to ease renewal during the lockdown: certificates expired or expiring within the affected period are extended to a specified cut off, except where a negative report is received. Authorities must publicise the extension via Trade/Public Notices and report implementation difficulties to the issuing office.

Import authorization under MoU: Mozambique-grown pulses allowed subject to certificate-based verification and DGFT NOC.
Imports of pigeon peas and other pulses from Mozambique under the bilateral MoU are allowed subject to a fiscal-year allocation and conditions: shipment only via five specified ports; presentation of a Certificate of Origin certified by Mozambique's designated authority with government stamps; transmission of scanned certificates by the issuing authority and by the Indian importer to specified DGFT email addresses; and DGFT verification and issuance of a no-objection communication to enable Customs clearance.

Undertaking in lieu of bond: replacement deadline extended and provisional assessment permitted under pandemic facilitation measures.
Provisional assessment may be effected upon submission of a Bond or an Undertaking in lieu of Bond for eligible categories as per the cited circulars and public notices, subject to existing security requirements. Importers using the undertaking must replace it with a proper Bond by the revised deadline prescribed by the Commissionerate; all other provisions of the earlier Public Notice remain in force.

Undertaking in lieu of bond under customs rules extended, permitting temporary acceptance with existing conditions until review.
Acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of a bond for customs clearance is permitted temporarily under the existing conditions prescribed by the Board, allowing trade participants to submit an undertaking now and furnish the proper bond subsequently; this relaxation will be reviewed by the Board after the lockdown and trade stakeholders must report difficulties to the customs office.

Brand Rate duty drawback fixation: expedited processing and provisional grants to clear long pending applications and enable disbursal.
Customs directs expedited disposal of pending applications for fixation of Brand Rate duty drawback, mandating processing of complete final Brand Rate applications and requests for provisional Brand Rate or provisional All Industry Rate, promoting electronic document submission and risk based inquiry by principal officers where verification is impractical, while allowing acceptance of prior Central Excise verifications and enabling eligible exporters to switch to the Revised Simplified scheme to accelerate provisional disbursal.

Acceptance of undertaking in lieu of bond extended for import clearance, with bond submission deadline deferred accordingly.
The facility to accept an undertaking in lieu of a customs bond for clearance is extended until 15.06.2020, with the deadline for submission of the proper bond in respect of such undertakings extended until 30.06.2020. All conditions set out in the earlier Circulars and Public Notices remain unchanged. Stakeholders may contact the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Appraisement) for difficulties, and the Public Notice functions as a standing order for officers and staff.

24x7 Customs clearance extended to facilitate trade during COVID; ports to deploy officers and maintain after-hours records.
24x7 Customs clearance is extended at all Customs formations to facilitate trade during the COVID-19 situation; designated sea ports and airports already operating 24x7 shall continue. Chief Commissioners must deploy sufficient officers round-the-clock at sea ports, air cargo stations, ICDs and CFSs, maintain station-wise records of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills filed beyond normal hours, and issue appropriate public notices or standing orders.

MEIS HS code alignment: amended ITC HS codes applied retroactively to harmonize with updated tariff schedule.
Under paragraph 1.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-2020), the DGFT amends Appendix 3B, Table 2 of the MEIS by substituting specified ITC HS codes with amended counterparts, effective 01.01.2017 to 06.03.2019, to align the MEIS schedule with ITC HS 2017 and the Customs Tariff Schedule.

Validity extension of duty credit scrips and suspension of late cut period to relax MEIS/SEIS filing deadlines under FTP.
Duty credit scrips issued between 01.03.2018 and 30.06.2018 are extended to be valid until 30.09.2020. The period 01.03.2020-30.06.2020 is excluded when computing late cuts for MEIS applications that had attracted a late cut as on 01.03.2020, with last dates and applicable cuts to be re determined. For SEIS, FY 2016 17 filings with a 10% late cut have a final date of 30.06.2020 after which they are time barred; for FY 2017 18, a 5% late cut applies until 30.06.2020 and a 10% late cut applies for filings up to 31.03.2021.

Undertaking in lieu of bond permitted for customs clearance, with electronic submission and e records upload required.
Temporary acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of bond for customs clearance under Section 143AA is extended, with the definitive bond submission deadline moved further and all other conditions of the governing Board Circular remaining in force. The undertaking must be submitted from the registered email of the IEC holder or authorised customs broker and uploaded to e-Sanchit. The relaxation will be reviewed by the Central Board, trade associations are asked to publicise the notice, and officers should treat the instruction as a standing order while reporting implementation difficulties to the designated contact.

Power of Attorney treatment in margin arrangements extended to align with depository pledge repledge implementation, authorities direct member notification.
The circular defers the effective date of the provision that holding of Power of Attorney by Trading Members/Clearing Members shall not be treated as equivalent to collection of margin for client demat securities, from its earlier scheduled date to August 1, 2020, due to COVID 19 operational constraints, aligning the change with implementation of the pledge/re pledge mechanism through the Depository System; exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories must notify members and publish the extension.

Acceptance of undertaking in lieu of bond extended during lockdown, with deferred deadline for filing the required bond.
The Board has extended the temporary facility to accept an undertaking in lieu of the bond required under section 143AA of the Customs Act for clearance during the lockdown, with a deferred deadline for submission of the proper bond in respect of such undertakings. All conditions specified in the original circular remain unchanged, the measure will be reviewed at the end of the lockdown, implementation difficulties may be reported, and the Public Notice is to be treated as a Standing Order for officers.

SEZ approvals and permissions: extensions, co developer regulatory actions, and conditional import/export authorisations enforced.
The Board approved extensions of formal approvals and LoAs for SEZ developers and units, interim three month extensions for used clothing and plastic recycling LoAs subject to environmental prohibitions, approvals and cancellations of co developer statuses with recovery directions where applicable, an increase in SEZ area subject to contiguity, conditional permissions for import/use of specified raw materials and restricted FTWZ storage and export/import of listed firearms/cartridges with safety and statutory prerequisites, and industrial licence approval subject to remaining statutory clearances.

SVLDRS deadline modification: statutory filing and committee decision timelines adjusted to facilitate compliance under amended rules.
Amendment revises timelines under the SVLDRS framework by substituting specified calendar cut-offs for prior period references in three paragraphs of the Circular, thereby changing filing and Designated Committee decision deadlines and inviting notification of implementation difficulties to the Board.