Refund Procedure: Customs refund claims processed after scrutiny, merit review and sanction with EDI adjustment and cheque issuance.
Refund applications are to be date-stamped, entered in a master register and scrutinized for completeness within ten working days, with Deficiency Memos issued where required. Complete claims are processed FCFS, analysed for time-bar, merits and unjust enrichment, and checked against arrears. The Asstt./Dy. Commissioner issues a speaking order-in-original after personal hearing where applicable; pre-audit is required at specified thresholds. After sanction, R.O. preparation, EDI adjustment and accounts cheque issuance follow, with CRC completing post-audit.

Consular receipts exemption: diplomatic missions may submit only a self-certified Form 15CA; no accountant certificate required.
Consular receipts remitted abroad by diplomatic missions are exempt from tax and thus require only a self-certified undertaking in Form 15CA to the remitting bank; no accountant's or Assessing Officer certificate (Form 15CB) is necessary. The mission must electronically upload remittance details, print and sign the acknowledged Form 15CA (signed by the Head of Mission or an authorized officer), and submit the duplicate to the Reserve Bank of India/authorized dealer, which will forward a copy to the concerned Assessing Officer.

Inclusion of barge charges: Supreme Court ratio bars addition pre-new rules; post-rule change valuation rules govern treatment.
For imports assessed under the pre October 2007 valuation regime, the Supreme Court held that transport costs already included in CIF/FOB contracts and bills of lading cannot be further increased by adding barge charges; pending assessments covered by that ratio should be finalized accordingly. For assessments from October 10, 2007 onwards, the 2007 Customs Valuation Rules expressly state that transport cost includes demurrage, lighterage and barge charges, and includibility must be governed by those rules read with the statutory valuation provision.

PAN/TAN based reporting enables generation of challan and refund reports irrespective of payment mode or place.
All screens and reports using the t_clean_challan table are withdrawn and replaced by PAN/TAN based utilities sourcing from t_oltas_challan, enabling field formations to generate challan and refund reports irrespective of mode or place of payment. New facilities include screens for claiming local suspense refunds and viewing refund payment details (t_oltas_refund), PAN/TAN based CIT/DCIT/AO collection reports, and CCIT/CIT Top Taxpayers advance-tax reports; the change aims to reduce discrepancies between OLTAS dashboards and CCIT/CIT/AO reports.

Drawback rates for gold and silver jewellery updated-specific per weight rates and port based appraisal and monitoring clarified.
New entries to the Drawback Schedule add specific tariff items while existing rates and caps remain unchanged. Gold and silver jewellery drawback rates are specified as rupees per unit weight of net metal content, equal to import duty, and apply only to exports through prescribed ports after expert appraisal; they are excluded where duty free import/replenishment is allowed under export obligation schemes. Monthly monitoring and reporting of such exports is required. Metal and glass artware and lanterns are reclassified to reduce disputes using a predominance criterion, and embroidered silk fabric is to receive the same drawback treatment as plain silk under the applicable silk fabric subheadings.

KYC/AML obligations require authorised persons to collect remitter details and report suspicious transfers promptly to intelligence.
Authorised Persons under MTSS are required by PMLA to adopt Board approved KYC, AML and CFT policies: implement customer acceptance criteria, risk based identification and monitoring, ensure complete remitter information accompanies all inward transfers, assess and document Overseas Principals before tie ups, appoint a Principal Officer to oversee reporting, and maintain transaction and identity records for prescribed retention periods while reporting cash and suspicious transactions to FIU IND.

Know Your Customer requirements: mandatory board approved KYC/AML/CFT policies, due diligence and FIU IND reporting for money changers.
The circular requires Authorised Persons engaged in money changing activities to adopt board approved KYC/AML/CFT policies covering customer acceptance, identification, transaction monitoring and risk management; to implement risk based customer categorisation and enhanced due diligence for higher risk customers (including PEPs and certain non resident or jurisdictional risks); to retain customer identification and transaction records for ten years; to appoint a Principal Officer responsible for CTR/STR filing to FIU IND in prescribed formats; and to ensure internal audit, staff training and customer education, with penalties for non compliance under PMLA and related rules.

Collateral requirement for non-resident exchange houses narrowed, with shorter projected-drawings cover and optional agreement registration.
AD Category-I banks must maintain comprehensive legal documentation with non-resident exchange houses, but formal registration of Rupee/Foreign Currency Drawing Arrangement agreements is now optional. Collateral requirements have been relaxed: prescribed collateral for newer exchange houses reduced, established exchange houses remain without mandatory collateral though banks may require protection, and where auditors cannot be appointed banks may obtain cash deposits or guarantees from banks of international repute. Foreign currency collateral held with AD Category-I banks for specific arrangements has also been reduced, with periodic review of adequacy required.

Asset cover requirement: issuers must maintain full security and provide enhanced half year reporting and disclosure obligations.
Issuers of listed debt securities must maintain 100% asset cover sufficient to discharge principal at all times, disclose the extent and nature of security half yearly and in annual financial statements, and submit a half yearly certificate by a practicing company secretary or chartered accountant (with specified exemptions). Trustees must counter sign a half yearly communication detailing credit rating, asset cover, debt equity ratio and payment status. Issuers must furnish a half yearly statement of deviations in use of issue proceeds and comply with prescribed half yearly financial reporting timelines.

Trade data submission: EDI ports must provide real-time statistics while Non-EDI ports must submit data within fifteen days.
The Board directed that Customs EDI-compliant stations furnish trade statistics to DGCI&S on a real-time basis, and that Customs Non-EDI stations submit trade-related data to DGCI&S within fifteen days of filing, with Commissioners and Chief Commissioners instructed to take necessary action.

Reconstruction of EP copy shipping bills now requires CFS officer attendance, with lost copies reconstructed per existing procedural safeguards.
Reconstruction of EP copy shipping bills is to be undertaken by the officer in charge of the relevant CFS where EP copies were not printed due to power failure or representative absence; lost or misplaced EP copies continue to follow the procedure in Standing Order No.3/2009 but the CFS officer shall attend to reconstruction, with DGFT online verification available. These guidelines are effective immediately and implementation difficulties should be reported to the commissioner.

Free shipping bill processing: manual filing barred at ICD Maliwada; EDI required and exceptions need Systems Manager permission.
All free shipping bills at ICD Maliwada must be processed through the Indian Customs EDI (ICES 1.5); manual processing is prohibited except where specific prior permission is granted by the Systems Manager for exceptional situations.

Launch of Indian Customs EDI System extends electronic shipping bill processing to ICD Waluj; prior notices apply; helpdesk contact provided.
Commencement of electronic processing of export shipping bills under the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES 1.5) at Inland Container Depot Waluj is announced, with operations governed by the procedures and transitional arrangements in the Commissioner's earlier public notices which apply mutatis mutandis. Help desk support from designated vendors and local departmental officers is provided, and a named Appraiser contact at ICD Waluj is specified for direct assistance to exporters, importers, customs house agents, custodians, banks and other trade stakeholders.

No Objection Certificate for release of issue deposit requires resolution of investor complaints and full post issue compliance.
SEBI requires issuers to apply for a No Objection Certificate to release the deposit held with the designated stock exchange after four months from the last listing permission, filing the prescribed application through the post-issue lead merchant banker with the SEBI regional office having jurisdiction. Applications must evidence that bank guarantees have at least two months' residual validity, investor complaints received by SEBI are resolved and monthly Action Taken Reports per Annexure C are submitted, and that all fees and commissions to intermediaries including ASBA banks have been paid, with supporting certificates and bank/DP statements for refund and securities escrow accounts.

Credit of duty on returned goods permitted when goods are received before the duty payment deadline, enabling input credit access.
Credit of duty on goods returned or rejected and received back into the factory before the prescribed duty payment date is allowable under the Central Excise Rules because duty is treated as deemed paid and the invoice for returned goods is a valid document to avail credit; the assessee may also avail credit on its own invoice, and the mechanism is revenue neutral as duty must be discharged by the statutory due date.

Nil bank guarantee entitlement extended to all status holders under the Foreign Trade Policy; trade notices and officer guidance required.
The reference to Star Export House in prior instructions granting 'nil' bank guarantee for imports under Advance Authorization, EPCG and DFIA schemes is to be read as applying to all status holders recognized under the Foreign Trade Policy; trade notices and internal standing orders should be issued and implementation difficulties reported to the Board.

TDS on professional medical services: TPAs must deduct tax at source when paying hospitals for insured claims.
Payments by Third Party Administrators to hospitals for medical services are treated as fees for professional services and therefore subject to withholding under Section 194J; TPAs are liable to deduct tax at source when crediting or paying such amounts. Failure to deduct renders TPAs deemed assessee in default with associated interest and penalty exposure. Recovery proceedings under the deeming provision will not be initiated after six years from the end of the relevant financial year, and tax demands may be waived if the hospital shows tax has been paid supported by an auditor's certificate, though interest and penalty consequences remain until payment.

SEZ monthly reporting requirements mandate standardized formats and timely submission to monitor zone performance by prescribed deadline each month.
Development Commissioners must submit monthly reports by the seventh of the following month using prescribed formats A-E and I (with formats G-H required of Zonal DCs) to monitor SEZ performance. The templates require structured data on approval processing under SEZ Rules 17-19, other permissions (diversification, capacity, changes, extensions, bond execution), Rule 74 approvals, duty collection and foregone figures, sectoral import export data, developer inspection status, CST/drawback claims and staffing and recruitment details.

Withdrawal of bonded warehouse scheme bars new licensing for diamond and gemstone bonding; existing warehouses face transitory regulatory control.
Setting up bonded warehouse facilities for import and re-export of diamonds and gemstones is disallowed following deletion of the scheme from the Foreign Trade Policy; no new bonded warehouse licences for these goods may be granted and prior authorisation is withdrawn. A three-month transitory period requires existing warehouses to surrender bonding licences, treats diamonds and gemstones as dutiable for regulatory control with ex-bonding procedures to apply, and prohibits fresh bonding in existing warehouses.

SEZ policy clarification procedure: zonal Development Commissioners must raise cases in AS(SEZ)-chaired post-BOA meetings for consideration.
Clarification procedure under the SEZ Act and Rules requires Development Commissioners to submit policy queries for discussion in Zonal Development Commissioner meetings held after BOA meetings, chaired by the Assistant Secretary (SEZ); matters must be brought with full case details for consideration before referral to the Department of Commerce.