24x7 customs clearance activated to maintain uninterrupted trade flows; designated nodal officers to receive stakeholder difficulties.
Implementation of 24x7 customs clearance at Custom House, Mundra to maintain uninterrupted import-export handling amid coronavirus-related supply disruptions. Two nodal officers are designated with contact numbers-one for Docks Examination, Docks Preventive and R&I, and one for Import/Export Assessment groups-and stakeholders are directed to report difficulties to the respective nodal officer. The measure is issued with the Commissioner's approval.

Interest and penalty waiver scheme offers graded relief on outstanding tax demands with installment facility and compliance conditions.
Interest and penalty waiver scheme approved for outstanding tax demands created up to 31.03.2019 under multiple Uttar Pradesh tax laws and related rules. The scheme applies to separate orders under those enactments, is effective for three months from the government order, and allows applications through the departmental portal with local assistance for small traders. It provides graded waiver of interest and full waiver of penalty imposed for non-payment, together with payment and no-dues certificates subject to future action if turnover suppression or revenue loss is later detected.

Direct investor access to stock exchange infrastructure allowed for purchasing and redeeming mutual fund units; exchanges to amend byelaws accordingly.
Permits investor access to recognised stock exchange infrastructure to purchase and redeem mutual fund units directly from Mutual Funds/Asset Management Companies; requires recognised stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories to amend their byelaws, rules and regulations as necessary to operationalise such access.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation of second hand machinery requires specified professional and valuation experience.
Applications are invited for empanelment of Chartered Engineers to value second hand and used imported/exported machinery and goods; applicants must submit a proforma with proofs of professional registration, industrial and valuation experience (minimum two years industrial and three years valuation experience, five years total). A committee will scrutinize applications and refer eligible candidates to the engineering institute for verification; accreditation with inspection bodies is advantageous. The panel is valid for three years, empanelment requires half yearly self appraisals, and false information may result in cancellation and penal consequences.

PGA e-SANCHIT paperless processing: beneficiary uploads disabled; PGAs must upload recent LPCOs and confirm ICEGATE emails.
Three additional PGAs are onboarded to e SANCHIT, raising total PGAs to fifty; beneficiary self uploading of LPCOs issued by these PGAs will be deactivated from the cut off date. The newly onboarded PGAs must upload LPCOs they issued during the prior 15 days and may upload earlier LPCOs. PGAs will communicate LPCO details and IRNs via ICEGATE e mail addresses; beneficiaries must ensure correct e mail registration under ICEGATE and use the simplified auto registration provision for e SANCHIT communication.

RFID sealing for bonded warehouse movements streamlines electronic sealing, verification and arrival acknowledgement for customs cargo.
RFID OTLs are mandated as the anti tamper one time locks for deposit into and transfer between customs bonded warehouses where Regulations require a one time lock. Warehouse licensees must procure readers; vendors must provide seals linked by TID to warehouse codes and enable internet uploads. The warehouse code declared in the Bill of Entry will be matched to the seal linkage; a scanned trip report will serve as the statutory arrival acknowledgement. Tampered seals prevent unloading and require bond officer notification; RFID sealing is inapplicable to customs escorted movements and exemptions may be granted where impracticable.

Average export obligation relief granted for EPCG authorizations in sectors with over 5% export decline.
Where a sector or product group experienced over 5% decline in exports in 2018-19 versus 2017-18, Regional Authorities must proportionately reduce the annual average export obligation for affected EPCG Authorizations for 2018-19, record the reduction in the authorization file and Amendment Sheet, and consider applicable Handbook of Procedures policy guidance before issuing demand notices or EODCs, with such consideration reflected on the EODC check sheet.

SEZ approvals: Co-developer recognitions and new SEZ authorisations subject to statutory compliance and contiguity conditions.
Three entities were approved as SEZ co-developers for specified operational scopes, each subject to designated authority approvals and compliance with the SEZ Act. Formal approvals were granted for three sector-specific IT/ITES SEZs conditional on fulfilling the contiguity requirement before issuance of LoAs. Additional measures include approval to expand SEZ area, conditional approval for developer shareholding change requiring continuity of SEZ obligations and tax disclosures, permission for restricted procurements subject to actual use, and directions on unit exit, denotification processing, suspension of duty-free procurement, and compound wall construction at a port-based SEZ.

Margin pledge requirement: client securities must be pledged and re pledged through the depository system, prohibiting title transfers.
SEBI requires client collateral in dematerialised securities to be accepted only as a margin pledge in the depository system, prohibits off market title transfers for margin, mandates segregated tagged demat accounts for client securities margin pledges and margin funding, and prescribes a chain of pledge and re pledge (client TM CM CC) with client confirmation, visibility, and specified procedures for release and invocation to ensure re pledged securities are applied only to the pledgor's exposure.

Late fee exemption for delayed import bills where non receipt of documents from China is certified by importer.
Late fee under the Bill of Entry (Electronic Integrated Declaration and paperless processing), 2018 will not be charged where Bills of Entry for consignments from China are filed late due to non receipt of documents from China, on submission of a letter by the Importer or Customs Broker certifying that the delay was caused by non receipt of documents. A helpdesk under the Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Appraising) is available for queries, and the Public Notice is to be treated as a standing order for officers and staff.

Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies scheme issues transferable electronic duty credit scrips to offset customs and excise duties.
The RoSCTL scheme rebates State and Central levies on exports of garments and made ups and, together with a compensatory Additional Ad hoc Incentive, issues benefits as single, freely transferable electronic duty credit scrips to be utilised for payment of specified Customs and Central Excise duties; notifications and DGFT procedures govern scrip issuance, transferability, use, recovery for over claims and administrative implementation.

Round-the-clock Customs clearance extended to ensure uninterrupted import-export assessment, examination and laboratory services amid coronavirus disruption.
Extension of round-the-clock customs operational facilities: 24x7 assessment, examination and clearance of import and export cargo in the Chennai Customs Zone is instituted through 31.05.2020, with the Customs House Laboratory operating continuously to expedite test results. The measure supplements existing DPD/DPE and weekend assessment arrangements to mitigate congestion or delays due to the coronavirus outbreak, and designated officers with contact details are provided for stakeholder assistance; actions are to be treated as a Standing Order for officers.

Waiver of Late Filing Charges enables officers to remove late fees via ICES before duty payment without reassessment.
A new ACL menu option in ICES, "Waiver of Late filing Charges," allows officers with the ACL role to waive or reduce late filing fees for Bills of Entry without recalling the Bill for reassessment, provided approval is obtained from the designated proper officer and the action is taken before duty payment. The change removes the reassessment requirement for RMS-facilitated filings and is issued for trade publicity and departmental standing order compliance.

24x7 customs clearance introduced to manage export congestion and ensure continuous clearance and testing turnaround.
Introduction of 24x7 Customs clearance for export cargo at ICD Tughlaqabad to address trade disruptions and surges linked to the coronavirus outbreak. Extension of Export Shed and processing cell hours, deployment of sufficient Customs officers beyond regular hours, and requirement for custodians and stakeholders to provide continuous logistical support, including machinery, cranes, service staff and labour. CRCL laboratories to operate 24x7. Instructions operate until end of May 2020 and are to be treated as a Standing Order.

Delegation of GST administrative functions assigns registration, assessment, seizure and penalty powers to specified tax officers within jurisdiction.
The Chief Commissioner assigns specified GST functions to designated Proper Officers, primarily Joint, Deputy and Assistant Commissioners, with certain enforcement and authorization powers reserved to Additional Commissioners. Assigned duties cover registration, amendment, cancellation and revocation of registration; provisional, summary and best judgement assessments; scrutiny and assessment of returns; notices to e commerce operators; searches, seizures, debarment, extension of seizure or provisional assessment periods; confiscation and disposal of goods; determination of tax liabilities and penalties; recovery and requisition of assistance; and engagement of experts, each to be performed within territorial jurisdiction.

Designation substitution under GST: officer titles amended, replacing Deputy/Assistant Commissioners with Joint/Deputy and State Tax Officers.
The order, under sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, substitutes "Joint Commissioner/ Deputy Commissioner" for "Deputy Commissioner/ Assistant Commissioner" against serial numbers 1 and 4 in the table, and substitutes "Assistant Commissioner" for "State Tax Officer" against serial numbers 2 and 3; these textual substitutions take effect from 20.02.2020.

Administrative designation change in GST administration: State Tax Officer and Deputy/Assistant Commissioner replaced by Assistant and Joint/Deputy Commissioners.
The Chief Commissioner of State Tax, under the Rajasthan GST Act, amends a prior order by substituting the expression State Tax Officer with Assistant Commissioner, and substituting Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner with Joint/ Deputy Commissioner in the table of that order; the substitution is given effect from the stated effective date.

Margin framework revision: standardized VaR, extreme loss margins, scan ranges and consolidated crystallized obligation margin.
The circular revises margining for cash and derivatives: cash VaR margins by liquidity group with 6 methodology and specified minima; an Extreme Loss Margin for stocks and broad based ETFs; for derivatives, fixes the EWMA at 0.995, prescribes product specific Price Scan and Volatility Scan Ranges with scaling rules, standardizes Calendar Spread Charges, removes separate short option minimum charge, prescribes product Extreme Loss Margins with special rules for deep OTM and long dated contracts, replaces various crystallized/assignment margins with a consolidated crystallized obligation margin, and imposes additional margins for repeatedly volatile securities.

Export data reporting requirements now require state and district of origin plus GSTIN and trade classification details.
Exporters must furnish in the electronic integrated declaration on ICEGATE, for every Shipping Bill item, the State and District of Origin, applicable Preferential Agreement details, and the Standard Unit Quantity Code; GSTIN declaration is mandatory for taxpayers registered under GST. DG (Systems) will issue a detailed advisory on the specific Shipping Bill fields for these entries.

PGA eSANCHIT LPCO upload mandatory; beneficiaries' self-upload disabled and PGAs must provide recent authorizations via email
PGAs must upload digitally signed Licenses/Permits/Certificates/Other Authorizations (LPCOs) to eSANCHIT; beneficiary self-uploading will be deactivated from the cut-off, so PGAs are to upload LPCOs issued during the 15 days before the cut-off and may upload older LPCOs. PGAs shall communicate via ICEGATE-registered email addresses, with simplified auto-registration using GST emails for limited eSANCHIT functions; formations must ensure correct beneficiary email records and report difficulties.