Container detention waiver urged: advisory asks shipping lines and CFSs not to levy detention or ground rent charges.
Advisory directs shipping lines and custodians of container freight stations to refrain from imposing container detention charges and ground rent charges on import cargo for the period 24.03.2020 to 14.04.2020, beyond the ordinarily applicable free time, in view of the nationwide lockdown and associated disruption; the communication is framed as a public-interest humanitarian appeal responding to requests from importers and customs broker associations.

Rupee Drawing Arrangement permits remittances to PM-CARES Fund with direct credit and remitter details maintained.
Permission is granted under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement to receive foreign inward remittances via non-resident exchange houses in favour of the PM-CARES Fund; Authorised Dealer Category I banks must directly credit remittances to the Fund and maintain full remitter details, and the Master Direction on non-resident exchange house vostro accounts will be updated accordingly.

Relaxation of bond requirement: Customs may accept undertakings in lieu of bonds for eligible traders, subject to safeguards.
Temporary relaxation under section 143AA permits Customs to accept a signed undertaking from specified importer/exporter categories in lieu of prescribed bonds, provided the undertaking mirrors the bond content, is submitted from the registered IEC or authorised broker, includes a commitment to furnish the proper notarised bond by the stipulated deadline, and does not replace security where mandated; security must be furnished as directed by the proper officer.

GST compliance relief: conditional extensions, fee waivers and concessional interest for specified returns during COVID-19 disruptions.
Temporary CGST relief measures clarify that statutory due dates generally remain unchanged but conditional concessions are provided: extended filing windows and waivers of late fee for specified returns if filed by announced concession dates; concessional interest treatment for delayed GSTR-3B filings with an initial nil grace period and reduced rate thereafter for certain turnover bands; cumulative non-application of the Rule 36(4) input tax credit restriction for specific months with reconciliation in a later return; e-way bill validity and various return deadlines extended to a common date under CGST Act powers.

Acceptance of scanned pre-registration applications allows email submission and electronic issuance of REX numbers during office closures.
Scanned Pre-Application forms and supporting documents may be submitted by email to Local Users for REG; Local Users will process electronic submissions, communicate deficiencies electronically, accept additional documents by email, and issue REX numbers and scanned confirmations by email until normal office functioning resumes.

Temporary bond submission relief allows AEO TI importers to email a scanned bond for container scanning, pending later notarisation.
AEO-TI importers under DPD delivery whose containers are selected for Drive Through Scanner inspection may, during the COVID-19 lockdown, evacuate containers by submitting a scanned signed bond by email mirroring the conventional bond's content; the original notarised stamp-paper bond must be submitted within fifteen days after the lockdown ends. This temporary facilitation modifies the earlier public notice to that limited extent and remains effective until further notice.

Relaxation of bond requirements allows undertakings instead of prescribed customs bonds, subject to conditions and later formal bond replacement.
Temporary relaxation permits undertakings in lieu of prescribed customs bonds to expedite clearance; applicable to government undertakings, manufacturers/actual users, Authorized Economic Operators, status holders, and warehouse users. Undertakings must mirror bond content, be signed by the IEC holder on business letterhead, sent from the registered IEC email or authorised broker, and commit to submitting the proper notarised bond by 07.05.2020. Undertakings do not replace mandated security, which must be furnished as required. Post-warehousing movements or ownership changes are restricted to manufacturers/actual users, AEOs or status holders. Bond section must record undertakings and ensure formal bonds replace them within the stipulated period.

No restriction on cargo movement: selective clearance by trade associations lacks legal effect; clear goods promptly to avoid congestion.
The Customs Department states there is no restriction on clearance or movement of any import or export cargo and that trade associations' selective clearance decisions lack legal sanction; stakeholders including custodians, steamer agents, customs brokers, importers and exporters are directed to clear goods expeditiously to prevent container pile up at terminals and avoid impediments to essential cargo, with reported difficulties to be brought to the Commissioner's notice.

Nodal officer appointment to facilitate customs clearance during Covid crisis, with designated contact and email monitoring for stakeholders.
Appointment of a Nodal Officer, Shri Dipin Singla, Joint Commissioner of Customs, to facilitate Customs clearance and assist importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders with procedural queries arising from the Covid-19 crisis; operative contact numbers and an official email are provided and emails to the Nodal Officer must also be endorsed to a monitoring inbox. The appointment is declared a Standing Order and is supplementary to a prior establishment order.

Customs clearance: nodal officers to assist importers with BOE tracking and facilitation during crisis remotely online.
CBIC has designated Nodal Officers in each Customs Zone to facilitate import clearances; stakeholders should contact the nominated officer with the Bill of Entry number, filing date and location code for tracking and assistance. The Annexure provides a stepwise flowchart for Customs clearance, covering Prior Bill of Entry filing, ICEGATE processing, PGA online NOCs, duty payment, examination leading to issuance of Out of Charge (OOC), and subsequent gate pass generation and delivery. Required documents and related party formalities are listed.

Export proceeds realisation timeframe extended to address pandemic-related delays in repatriation of export value policy
The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Government of India, extended the period for realisation and repatriation to India of the full export value of goods, software or services exported for exports made up to or on July 31, 2020, increasing the prescribed timeline to accommodate pandemic-related delays; provisions for exports to warehouses outside India remain unchanged and the directions were issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Line of Credit to finance eligible exports with Indian content requirement and FEMA compliance obligations for exporters.
Exim Bank's Government of India supported Line of Credit to Burundi finances export of eligible goods and services for specified construction projects, subject to Foreign Trade Policy and LoC terms. At least 75% of contract value must be supplied from India, with up to 25% procurable abroad. The LoC is effective from March 18, 2020, with a terminal utilization period of 60 months after scheduled completion. Shipments must be declared in the Export Declaration Form; no agency commission is payable though exporters may use own funds or EEFC balances for commission subject to AD Category I bank rules and FEMA compliance.

GST refund period clubbing permitted; refunds allocated proportionately between cash and ITC and invoice matching required.
The circular removes the restriction on clubbing refund claims across financial years, clarifies that accumulated ITC from the same product taxed at different rates over time is not refundable under inverted duty provisions, mandates proportionate refunding in the original mode of payment with re-crediting to the electronic credit ledger via Form GST PMT-03 and cash refunds via Form RFD-06, confines refundable accumulated ITC to invoices reflected in GSTR-2A, and requires HSN/SAC codes in Annexure B to distinguish supplies.

Extension of RCMC validity: expired certificates not insisted for incentives and authorizations until 30 September 2020.
Regional Authorities of DGFT will not insist on a valid RCMC where the certificate expired on or before 31 March 2020 for applicants seeking any incentive or authorization, until 30 September 2020; EPCs will manage re-validations and defer collection of applicable fees for 2020-21 until normalcy is restored.

Taxpayer access to GST support ensured via designated officers, telephonic and email assistance with prompt response and disposal.
Designated officers are nominated for each jurisdiction to provide telephonic and email assistance on GST matters and the SVLDR Scheme; taxpayers may contact these officers during normal office hours for urgent GST-related work. Queries and grievances submitted by email or voice call will be responded to within 24 hours where possible and disposed of within three days. Dissatisfied taxpayers may escalate grievances by email to the Commissioner, GST & CX, Alwar, and such escalations will be acknowledged within 24 hours and disposed of within three days, with telephone contact where necessary.

Waiver of late fee for delayed bills of entry allows email-based amendment and regularization to ease import clearance.
A temporary waiver of late fee is granted for Bills of Entry filed late for import consignments that arrived at Mundra Port/terminals/CFSs during the specified COVID-19 window, preventing late fee charges for those late filings. Requests for amendments, waiver of late fees and regularization of prior and advance Bills of Entry may be made by email with IGM, Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry details; Assistant/Deputy Commissioners in the Import Group will act on requests, send deficiency or confirmation emails, retain printed records, and the trade must copy the monitoring email for tracking.

Lower or nil TDS/TCS certificates: prior-year certificates temporarily extended and email-based application and issuance enabled.
Assessing Officers may extend applicability of prior-year lower or nil deduction/collection certificates temporarily until a specified cutoff or disposal of pending applications; taxpayers without portal filings must follow an interim email-based procedure submitting Form 13, historic and projected financials, tax records and transaction details, and Assessing Officers will issue emailed certificates stating deductor TAN, deductee PAN, financial year, relevant source section, estimated sums, applicable rate and validity period. Non-resident payments with a permanent establishment not covered above are subject to a prescribed temporary withholding rate until the temporary period or disposal.

Input tax credit apportionment: asset ratio at State registration determines transferable ITC applied to ledger balance on filing.
Clarification requires apportionment of unutilized input tax credit under rule 41(1) to be based on the value of assets at the State registration level; Form GST ITC 02 is to be filed only in States where both transferor and transferee are registered. The asset value ratio (taken as of the scheme's appointed date) is applied to the transferor's ITC balance as on the date of filing ITC 02, and the ratio is applied to the total ITC (sum of CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and cess) with allocation across tax heads permitted within available balances.

Extension of Handbook validity and automatic six-month extensions for export authorisations and filing deadlines to ease compliance.
The Director General of Foreign Trade extended the Handbook of Procedures 2015-2020 to 31 March 2021 and introduced targeted temporal relaxations: substituted expiry dates and new deeming provisions, automatic six-month extensions for import validity and export obligation periods for specified authorisations, extension of filing deadlines for claims and reports, and aligned appendix/form deadlines; certain repatriation periods remain subject to central bank guidelines.

Refund claims clubbing across financial years now allowed, with refunds apportioned by original cash and credit payment modes.
The circular removes the restriction on clubbing refund claims across financial years, clarifies that ITC accumulation from a later rate reduction on the same goods does not constitute inverted duty structure for refund, and confirms refunds will be apportioned between cash and credit in the proportion originally used, with credit-portion re-credited to the electronic credit ledger. It limits refundable accumulated ITC to invoices uploaded by suppliers and reflected in FORM GSTR-2A, and requires HSN/SAC reporting in Annexure-B to identify capital goods and input services.