GST on Priority Sector Lending Certificates: liability lies with seller banks under forward charge, rate prescribed by guidance.
Levy of GST on Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) is to be discharged by the seller bank on a forward charge basis for the transitional period referenced, and a GST rate of 12% is prescribed on the supply; implementation difficulties are to be reported to the Board.

System-driven approval of MEIS claims enables automated clearance for eligible EDI shipping bills subject to specified exclusions and conditions.
System-driven MEIS processing for EDI shipping bills enables automated approval of eligible claims while preserving manual RA processing for other cases. Applicants must declare Project Exports status; IEC and RCMC validity, jurisdictional filing rules, and reactivation of disallowed shipping bills are mandatory pre-conditions. Eligible system-approved applications are printable and attested at Regional Offices and dispatched per applicant's chosen mode. Reactivation of disallowed or cancelled shipping bills requires RA examination and a formal request to DGFT EDI Division with supporting shipping bill identifiers.

Partial tax refund entitlement for CSD: manual quarterly filing with specified documentation and inter-authority payment coordination.
CSD is entitled to an invoice-based partial refund of tax paid on inward supplies supplied subsequently to unit run canteens or authorized customers. Refunds are claimed quarterly using FORM GST RFD-10A filed manually until an online utility is available, accompanied by an undertaking of receipt, declaration of non-duplication, copies of FORM GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A (with attested invoices where necessary), and bank details. The proper officer will acknowledge or issue a single deficiency memo, validate returns, scrutinize documents, sanction refunds per tax head, issue sanction/rejection and payment advice forms, and coordinate inter-authority payment processing.

Refund entitlement for Canteen Stores Department: invoice based quarterly claims require specified documentation and coordinated payment.
CSD refund claims are invoice based and must be filed quarterly using FORM GST RFD-10A with supporting undertaking, declaration of no prior claim, copies of FORM GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A, attested invoices not in GSTR-2A, and bank details. The proper officer will acknowledge applications, may issue a single deficiency memo, validate GSTINs on the portal, and scrutinise submitted forms, treating GSTR-2A as evidence. Refunds are sanctioned at fifty percent of each relevant tax head with separate sanction and payment advice forms; central and state/UT authorities are responsible respectively for paying their tax heads and must communicate sanction orders for coordinated payment via PFMS and PAO.

Refund procedure for unutilized input tax credit clarified, requiring GSTR-2A evidence and prescribed electronic ledger debiting order.
Claimants need not submit hard copies of invoices that appear in FORM GSTR-2A; a printout of GSTR-2A plus an Annexure declaring invoice eligibility must accompany FORM GST RFD-01A. Refunds of unutilized input tax credit are calculated by portal validation as the least of prescribed balances and debited from electronic credit ledgers in a specified sequence; taxpayers must follow this debit order prior to ARN generation. Re-credit and recovery differ by reason for rejection, with ineligible ITC triggering simultaneous demand and other rejections requiring undertakings before re-credit.

Refund procedure: permit FORM GSTR-2A as evidence and prescribe ledger debiting, re-credit and disbursal rules.
Refund claims may be accompanied by a print-out of FORM GSTR-2A instead of all invoices; officers may call for invoices only if GSTR-2A is incomplete. Claimants must submit invoice details and eligibility declarations with FORM GST RFD-01A and ARN. Portal validation calculates refundable amount and debits the electronic credit ledger in a prescribed order; filing is permitted only after ledger debit and ARN generation. Rejected amounts are recredited via FORM GST RFD-01B with concurrent recovery steps for ineligible credit, while other recredits require an undertaking or final adverse appellate outcome. Disbursing authorities must not withhold sanctioned refunds except where statutorily permitted. Deficiency memos require refiling as fresh claims and small credit-ledger refunds below the statutory threshold must be rejected and recredited.

Special registration procedure for GST applicants with only provisional IDs requires nodal officers to coordinate completion of registrations.
A special registration procedure implements Notification No. 31/2018-Central Tax to enable taxpayers who received only a Provisional Identification Number after not filing complete FORM GST REG-26 to complete registration. Jurisdictional Deputy and Assistant Commissioners are nominated as nodal officers to coordinate implementation; difficulties are to be reported to the Commissioner and trade associations asked to publicize the notice.

Discharge of bonds: nominated banks must submit electronic export proof for expedited bond release under SOP.
Nominated agencies/banks must electronically submit prescribed proof of export-EP copy of shipping bill, Customs attested invoice and bank certificate of realisation/eBRC-to designated Assistant/Deputy Commissioners via dedicated email. The officer must acknowledge within 24 hours, issue a deficiency memo within five days if documents are incomplete (additional requisitions require Additional Commissioner approval), and expect submission of missing documents within seven days. The officer will confirm export within seven days of receiving required documents and discharge the bond within seven days of confirmation; formations must clear pendency and report progress.

KYC verification for first time importers/exporters: streamlined documents and procedural steps for customs verification and upload.
KYC verification for first time importers/exporters requires submission of IEC plus Category I identity/registration documents appropriate to the business form and one Category II proof (recent tax return or bank certificate). Assessing officers must open a file per first time importer/exporter, record the file number on the bill, forward soft copies to Systems Branch for upload and to Preventive Branch for verification. Customs brokers must verify IEC/GSTIN and client identity and report contact changes; Preventive Branch shall complete physical address checks in a defined sample and telephone verify the bank account.

Computerized export filing under ICES 1.5 to commence, enabling electronic submission and processing of shipping bills.
The notice announces commencement of computerized filing and processing of shipping bills through the Indian Customs EDI system (ICES 1.5) at the specified Land Customs Station under the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) Patna, and directs exporters, importers, CHAs, custodians, banks and trade stakeholders to follow the procedural framework set out in Public Notice No. 05/2018 and related Public Notice No. 07/2018 for operational guidance.

Drawback claim processing centralized in EDI: no separate BRC filing and sanction through ICES-1.5 after EDPMS verification.
The amendment dispenses with pre-audit, separate drawback claim filing, submission of BRC copies, and creation of shipping bill-wise drawback files; drawback claims will be processed by the Drawback Branch in the EDI system and sanctioned through ICES-1.5 after verification of EDI documents and reflection of BRC on the EDPMS module. Queries raised in EDI must be printed and replied to via the service centre or ICEGATE; claims re-enter the processing queue only after replies are entered in ICES-1.5.

Refund entitlement after payment: importers may claim customs duty refunds directly when no dispute exists, subject to procedural timelines.
Post-amendment, an importer may claim a refund of customs duty or interest paid even absent a lis, because refunds are no longer conditional on an order of assessment. Refund applications received by the Refund Section should be forwarded to the Assessment Group to record any assessment changes in ICES; the Assessment Group must respond within fifteen days either executing re-assessment or giving reasons for rejection. The Refund Section will then decide the claim independently and the AC-Refund must pass the refund order within the prescribed statutory timeframe.

GST compliance verification required for contractors and suppliers to qualify for government tenders, work orders and payments.
State Authorities must require contractors and suppliers to submit the GST portal Application Reference Number (ARN) evidencing filing of the latest due return before allowing tender participation, issuance of work or supply orders, or sanctioning payments; authorities must verify filing status via the GST portal search by GSTIN/UIN, endorse verification on the file, amend governing rules and documents to make ARN submission mandatory, and issue instructions to subordinate bodies while reporting compliance to the Finance (R&C) Department within the prescribed period.

Withdrawal of Proper Officer powers shifts tax authority for Hitech Lights Limited to the deputy tax officer.
The Commissioner withdraws the functions and duties of the Proper Officer in respect of M/s Hitech Lights Limited, Village Manpura, Nalagarh, Revenue Distt. BBN at Baddi from the named incumbent and vests those powers in the deputy tax officer for Revenue District BBN at Baddi with immediate effect.

Recovery of wrongly availed CENVAT credit: reverse via GSTR 3B and discharge tax with applicable interest and penalty.
Arrears from wrongly availed CENVAT credit and inadmissible transitional credit are to be treated as central tax liability to be discharged from electronic credit or cash ledgers and recorded in Part II of the Electronic Liability Register (Form GST PMT 01). Pending portal functionality, taxpayers may reverse such credits through the Table in FORM GSTR 3B and pay applicable interest and penalty via column 9 of Table 6.1 of FORM GSTR 3B.

Recovery of wrongly availed CENVAT credit requires reversal in GSTR-3B with interest and penalty payable.
Pending portal functionality, taxpayers must reverse wrongly availed CENVAT credit and inadmissible transitional credit via the Table of FORM GSTR-3B; applicable interest and penalty apply on such reversals and are to be paid through the designated column of Table 6.1 of FORM GSTR-3B. When available, liability should be recorded in Part II of the Electronic Liability Register and discharged using amounts in the electronic credit or cash ledger.

Principal-agent relationship: invoice issuance determines when supply of goods is on behalf of principal and triggers GST registration.
Clarifies that Schedule I treats certain transfers of goods between principal and agent as supply without consideration where the agent acts in a representative capacity. An objective invoice-based test is prescribed: if the agent issues the invoice in his own name for further supply, the transfer falls within Schedule I; if invoicing is in the principal's name, it does not. The key factor is whether the agent has authority to pass or receive title. Agents covered by Schedule I may be treated as suppliers and face GST registration obligations, while commission agents in wholly exempt agricultural transactions remain outside registration.

Agent-supplied goods treated as deemed supply - invoice issuance and title transfer determine GST liability.
Schedule I deems certain transfers of goods between principal and agent as deemed supply without consideration where the agent supplies or receives goods on behalf of the principal. The decisive criterion is the agent's representative character, objectively determined by whether the agent issues the invoice in his own name and has authority to transfer or receive title. Only goods (not services) fall within this entry. Agents who invoice in their own name or take possession and transfer title fall within Schedule I and may face registration obligations; agricultural commission agents may be exempt where underlying supplies are exempt.

Mandatory GSTIN or UIN on tax invoices required to ensure recipients can claim input tax credit and maintain compliance.
Suppliers must include the GSTIN or UIN of the registered recipient on every tax invoice to satisfy the invoice particulars requirement; failure to do so has prevented recipients from availing input tax credit and has created compliance difficulties for UIN holders. Registered suppliers are therefore requested to record recipient GSTIN/UIN on all invoices, and Trade Associations should circulate this requirement to their members.

E-way bill requirement continues for goods stored in a transporter's godown unless declared as recipient's additional place of business.
E-way bill requirement applies to goods in transit stored in a transporter's godown; if the recipient taxpayer declares that godown as an additional place of business (with the transporter's concurrence), transportation is deemed concluded when goods reach that declared premises and e-way bill validity need not be extended. Subsequent movements from that godown to other recipient premises require a valid e-way bill. The transporter continues to have warehouse-keeper recordkeeping obligations and the recipient must maintain prescribed books and records.