Cross border inward remittance agents must apply FATF guidance and enhance scrutiny for transfers involving high risk jurisdictions.
Authorised Persons under the Money Transfer Service Scheme must consider the FATF 28 October 2011 public statement identifying jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, apply enhanced scrutiny and risk mitigation for cross border inward remittances, ensure their Sub agents adhere to these guidelines, notify constituents and Principal Officers, and acknowledge the circular; the directions are issued under FEMA and the PMLA.

Anti money laundering standards: authorised money changers must apply international risk guidance and ensure agent compliance.
Authorised persons in money changing activities are directed to consider the FATF public statement listing jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies and to apply enhanced, risk based vigilance to transactions and relationships with those jurisdictions. The guidance extends mutatis mutandis to agents and franchisees, making franchisers responsible for their compliance, requires acknowledgement by the Principal Officer, and is issued under domestic foreign exchange and anti money laundering statutory powers while not precluding legitimate transactions.

Time-bound customs clearance prevents unwarranted detention and demurrage; warehousing option and officer accountability required.
Time-bound customs clearance is mandatory to prevent unnecessary detention and resultant demurrage; consignments must not be routinely detained without valid grounds. Where release is not advisable, field formations must offer warehousing under the statutory warehouse regime by written intimation to importers or agents, making clear that non-availment renders importers/exporters liable for demurrage. Non-compliance and unwarranted detentions causing demurrage will lead to accountability for erring officers.

Online filing requirement extended for quarterly dealers: Annexures 2A/2B deadline moved; hard copies not required.
Online filing of Annexures 2A and 2B is required before filing DVAT/CST returns; for quarterly return filers the Department, under Rule 49A of the DVAT Rules, 2005, extended the last date for online submission of Annexures 2A and 2B for the third quarter of 2011-12 to 26 March 2012, while the statutory last dates for filing DVAT/CST returns and submitting their hard copies remain unchanged. Hard copies of Annexures 2A and 2B need not be filed with hard-copy returns, and monthly return filers must continue to file these annexures online prior to filing returns.

SION amendment: Corrects import item name to Antimony Trioxide; no change in inputs or export description.
DGFT amends SION A1790 and A1834 in the Handbook of Procedures to correct specified import item names to Antimony Trioxide; the modification is confined to the input names and does not affect input descriptions, input quantities, or the export product description.

Taxability of construction services depends on treatment of consideration and timing of payment relative to completion certificate.
Service tax on construction depends on characterization of consideration, timing of payment relative to completion certification, and parties in the contractual model. Builders' construction services are taxable where consideration (including land or development rights) is received before completion certificate; valuation for flats allotted to landowners is to mirror prices of similar flats sold to other buyers and tax is payable when possession or proprietary rights are transferred by conveyance or allotment. Special rules apply to redevelopment, investment, conversion, BOT and joint development models.

Management dispute: Registrar will withhold registration of competing director filings until parties settle or obtain judicial orders.
Companies must attach an explanation of the cause of a director's cessation when filing the statutory return; the Registrar will treat related complaints as management dispute matters, examine investor complaints, mark the company accordingly, require amicable settlement or judicial/interim orders, and withhold approval, registration and public availability of competing filings until the dispute is resolved.

Buy-back disclosure requirements: Mandatory standardised Letter of Offer disclosures ensure equitable treatment and clear buy-back procedures.
The circular mandates a standardized Letter of Offer for buy-backs requiring comprehensive, clear disclosures on buy-back mechanics, timelines and eligibility; submission of a Due Diligence Certificate by the Merchant Banker; dispatch of the Letter of Offer and tender form within five working days of SEBI comments; opening the offer within five working days of dispatch and keeping it open for ten working days; disclosure of escrow arrangements, sources of funds, capital structure and pre/post buy-back shareholding; procedures for demat and physical shareholders; auditors' certificate; and investor remedies and taxation notes.

Standard Input-Output Norms amended: new SION added and harmonised inputs with reduced wastage and consumables allowed.
Fixation of a new SION C-2048 for Ball Pen Tips of Nickel Silver Wire of 1.60mm diameter specifies required inputs (Nickel Silver Wire, Tungsten Carbide, and consumables allowed up to 2% FOB). SIONs C-864, C-1802, C-1888 and C-1937 are amended to use "Tungsten Carbide Balls" uniformly, reduce wastage from 2% to 1%, and permit cutting tools, drill oil & chemical as item No. 3. SION C-1768 is deleted as a duplicate of C-864.

Establishment of project offices in India by foreign entities remains subject to prior RBI permission and regulatory compliance.
Establishment of project offices in India by foreign entities is permitted under general permission only when the entity complies with the regulatory prior permission requirements and all specified conditions; previously granted general permission is subject to continued adherence to those regulatory provisions, and Authorised Dealer Category I banks must inform their constituents accordingly.

Mandatory e-payment required for qualifying customs duty payments; importers must use authorised electronic channels or seek permission.
Mandatory e-payment is required for customs duty payments above the prescribed threshold and for consignments of designated clients at the Air Cargo Complex, Bangalore; affected challans will be routed only for e-payment, with the National System Manager enabling site-level mandatory e-payment settings and system checks, and importers seeking bank-branch payment must obtain permission from the Additional Commissioner (Systems).

Extension of time for using re-credited CVD refunds in DEPB scrips set with a final cutoff and strict use limits.
Extension permits use of re-credited 4% CVD refunds in DEPB and Reward Scheme scrips until a final cutoff; no further extensions will be allowed. Re-credited CVD refund amounts must be used only for payment of Basic Customs Duty and CVD and not for payment of the 4% CVD (SAD), to avoid cascading re-credits. The procedure follows CBEC guidance and the authorised manual filing of bills for utilising re-credited DEPB/Reward Scheme scrips.

Minimum public shareholding: IPP and secondary market promoter sales recognised; disclosure rules expanded for warrant proceeds.
Clause 40A is revised to permit meeting minimum public shareholding via an Institutional Placement Programme and to provide for sale of promoter-held shares through the secondary market in accordance with a specified circular, with certain provisos and explanations omitted. Clauses 43 and 43A are amended to require that statements on fund utilisation also cover funds raised on conversion or exercise of warrants issued with public or rights issues of specified securities. The amendments must be incorporated into existing Listing Agreements and take immediate effect under the regulator's statutory powers.

Extension of online filing deadline for VAT returns; tax deposit obligation unchanged and late-payment penalty applies.
The circular extends deadlines for online and hard copy filing of VAT/CST returns for the specified tax periods, while expressly maintaining taxpayers' statutory obligation to deposit tax by the due date and preserving applicability of penalties for late tax payment.

Scope of gross amount in works contract composition: free-of-cost supplies included only from the rule's later amendment.
The Explanation to Rule 3(1) of the Works Contract Composition Scheme, effective from 07/07/2009, requires inclusion of the value of free of cost supplies in the gross amount only from that effective date; a proviso excludes works contracts whose execution commenced or which received any payment (except via credit/debit) on or before that date, for which the gross amount does not include free of cost supplies.

Mandatory e-payment of customs duty required for high value consignments and ACP clients; branch payment only with permission.
E-payment of customs duty is made mandatory at the Airport & Air Cargo Commissionerate, Chennai, for consignments above the prescribed threshold and for ACP clients; seventeen scheduled banks are authorised for collection. Only electronic payment will be permitted for those categories once mandatory e-payment is in effect. Branch payment remains possible solely with prior permission from the Additional Commissioner (Systems Manager), after which the Appraiser (EDI) will enable it and challans will be sent to the bank from the next day. Refer to Public Notice No.18/2011 for detailed procedure.

Export obligation period extended for silk imports under Advance Authorization/DFIA schemes, lengthening compliance timeframe administration
Export Obligation Period for silk imports under Advance Authorization and DFIA schemes is amended by the Handbook of Procedures to extend the compliance timeframe counted from customs clearance of each import consignment. The Public Notice effects an immediate change to the specified-inputs schedule, altering the period within which exporters must fulfil export obligations arising from imported silk consignments under these authorisation schemes.

Delegated approval for external commercial borrowing modifications allows designated banks to approve reductions and schedule changes subject to conditions.
Designated AD Category I banks are authorised to approve specified post LRN modifications to ECBs: reductions in loan amount (automatic route) with lender consent, maintained average maturity, and submitted monthly ECB 2 returns; drawdown schedule changes that reduce declared average maturity provided repayment schedule is unchanged, reduced maturity meets minimum requirements, cost changes stem only from maturity change, and ECB 2 returns are filed; and reductions in all in cost with lender consent and ECB 2 filings. Elongation/rollover beyond original maturity requires RBI approval. All approvals must comply with extant ECB guidelines and be reported to DSIM in Form 83.

Foreign contribution regulation: banks must ensure designated accounts, certify receipts and report specified remittances to authorities.
The Guidelines implement the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and Rules, 2011, obliging banks and authorised persons in foreign exchange to ensure compliance by persons receiving foreign contribution, to accept such contribution only into a single designated account through specified branches, to certify and report particulars of foreign remittances and to observe restrictions on transfer, utilisation and maintenance of accounts; the Rules set procedural requirements for registration, prior permission, reporting, public disclosure of large receipts, and vesting of unutilised funds after cancellation.

Standard Input Output Norms prescribe input quantity requirements for TPE export articles to guide export compliance procedures.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade notifies SION H-572 for "Articles made of Thermo Plastic Elastomer (TPE)" by amending the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. II, prescribing relevant Thermoplastic Elastomer granules as the input for the export item and establishing the input-output relationship to be applied for export compliance.