Charge assignment of senior customs posts: officers given immediate additional charge pending further administrative orders.
Immediate administrative assignment of additional charge of specified senior Customs and Central Excise posts to designated officers has been ordered, to operate in addition to their present duties and to remain effective until further orders. The Principal Commissioner, DGHRD, Delhi is assigned charge of the Director General, NACEN, Delhi; and the Principal Commissioner, ICD (Import), Tughlakabad, Delhi is assigned charge of the Chief Commissioner Customs (Preventive), Delhi and the Chief Commissioner Customs, Delhi.

Mandatory knowledge competition for tax officers required monthly, with compulsory participation and rewards for top performers.
Mandatory participation is required of Assistant Commissioners, Assistant Value Added Tax Officers and Value Added Tax Inspectors in a recurring monthly competition testing knowledge of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, the Central Sales Tax Act and related rules and procedures; top performers will be rewarded and given certificates, and detailed schedule and mode of the competition will be communicated to concerned officers in advance.

E-payment of refunds mandated through RTGS/NEFT to beneficiary bank accounts with consolidated cheques and UTR reconciliation.
Procedure mandates electronic payment of sanctioned refunds/rebates through authorized banks using RTGS/NEFT, with claimants providing a one-time bank-certified authorization. Designated Divisional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners will issue consolidated cheques and forward signed statements (Annexure-B), cheques, and soft copies to the authorized bank, which will credit beneficiary accounts after deducting applicable charges. Banks must provide UTRs and periodic scrolls for monthly reconciliation by the PAO, who will match scrolls with issued cheques and report discrepancies for verification; self-credit provisions continue for eligible assessees.

Book profit computation for MAT clarified: use net profit excluding other comprehensive income with specified inclusion rules.
The Committee recommends using net profit excluding Net Other Comprehensive Income as the basis for MAT book profit for Ind AS companies, subject to existing statutory adjustments. Permanently recorded OCI items should be included in book profit at specified times: revaluation surpluses and certain fair-value equity gains on realisation or disposal; remeasurements of defined benefit plans annually; and other permanent OCI items as they crystallise. First-time adoption transition adjustments are to be included according to whether they will be reclassified to profit or loss or will never be reclassified.

Extension of SEZ approvals granted: Board extended multiple approvals and imposed conditioned compliance requirements.
The Board granted multiple extensions of formal approvals, in principle approvals and Letters of Permission for SEZ developers and units, often as final extensions or subject to receipt of statutory clearances and financial closure reports; approved co-developers subject to standard SEZ terms and a general maximum lease period with tax scrutiny preserved for lease rentals and related payments; approved certain SEZ proposals and sector additions while deferring others for lack of state recommendation; cancelled approvals for unsatisfactory progress subject to DC certification regarding tax/duty benefits; and directed specific disclosures and compliance in change-of-ownership cases.

RSA Token required for secured ITBA access; issuance, custody, deactivation, and replacement procedures mandated.
The policy mandates RSA SecurID tokens as mandatory second factor authentication for ITBA/ITD access; tokens are bound to employee identifiers, a PIN is communicated after binding, and no centralized login is permitted without both token and PIN. Distribution, training, updates, custody registers, spare stock management, and lifecycle procedures (leave, transfer, retirement, suspension, death) are managed by designated CIT(Admin & CO)/Pr. CCIT offices and Building in Charge officers, with the RSA Token database centrally maintained and deactivation required within 24 hours of loss or relevant events.

Risk weight linkage to bond ratings: rating-differentiated capital charges specified for corporate bond investments for short and long term instruments
The circular mandates that risk weights for corporate bond investments by SPDs be linked to the bond's external credit rating: a graded scale applies to short term instruments ( one year) with lower weights for top short term ratings and higher weights for lower or unrated ratings, and a corresponding graded scale applies to long term instruments (> one year). The revision replaces a uniform risk weight and is effective immediately for capital adequacy calculations.

Collateral requirement for exchange house vostro accounts removed, leaving banks free to set collateral policies based on risk factors.
Mandated collateral for Exchange Houses under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement is withdrawn and AD Category I banks may determine collateral, if any, on a risk based basis considering factors such as pre funding, the Exchange House's track record, and whether remittances are gross or net; Master Direction No.2 will be updated and other instructions remain in force, pursuant to powers under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Factory stuffing permission: consolidated LoFSP procedure requires sealed Central Excise verification and specified documentation for exporters.
Consolidated procedure issues a one time Letter of Factory Stuffing Permission (LoFSP) to exporters with valid IECs on submission of the prescribed application and enclosures and on receipt of sealed NOC and verification reports from jurisdictional Central Excise confirming genuineness, existence, suitability and functioning of exporter and/or stuffing premises. Status holders may receive a provisional time limited LoFSP pending sealed reports. LoFSPs are valid for exports from any customs station except prohibited goods, require specified documentation, permit Central Excise supervised examination, and are subject to cancellation or suspension on adverse findings.

Import Data Processing and Monitoring: banks must route and record all import transactions through centralised IDPMS for compliance.
A centralized Import Data Processing and Monitoring System (IDPMS) mandates that all Category I Authorised Dealer banks upload and manage import transaction data in real time, ensuring Customs and SEZ data flow to the RBI secured server and are shared with banks by AD Code. Banks must not process remittances until the Bill of Entry is reflected in IDPMS; non EDI ports require manual BoE upload by nodal branches. Limited write offs and time extensions are permitted under specified safeguards; outstanding remittances must be uploaded and BEF reporting will be discontinued once IDPMS is operational.

Remittance of assets: ADs may permit specified outward transfers from India; excess or hardship cases require RBI approval.
The Remittance of Assets Regulations, 2016 replace earlier rules and set when Authorised Dealers may permit outward transfers of funds or proceeds of assets held in India and when prior Reserve Bank approval is required. Definitions cover Non-resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin, remittance of asset, expatriate staff and not permanently resident. ADs may allow remittances for retirements, inheritances, student account closures, NRO balances and certain company liquidation or expatriate provident fund contributions, subject to documentary evidence, routing conditions and undertakings; excess or hardship remittances need RBI approval and all transactions remain subject to Indian tax laws.

Extension of VAT return filing deadline for the fourth quarter; returns accepted until 16 May, tax payable as usual.
Deadline for filing fourth-quarter VAT returns for 2015-16 is extended to 16/05/2016 for online or hard-copy submission of prescribed DVAT forms with annexures; tax liabilities remain payable in the usual manner under the Delhi Value Added Tax Act. Dealers filing returns with digital signature need not submit a hard copy or Form DVAT-56.

Accounting standards applicability: amended standards govern preparation of accounts for periods commencing on or after notification.
Amended Accounting Standards under the Companies (Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules, 2016 must be applied in preparation of company accounts for accounting periods that commence on or after the date of notification, thereby fixing the temporal applicability of the amendments and providing regulatory guidance for implementation and compliance.

Customs broker licence renewal requires specified declarations, documents and formal fee payment before endorsement.
Renewal of Customs Broker Licence requires submission at least ninety days before expiry of a complete application accompanied only by specified documents: declarations on constitution/address, time-expired/inoperative cards, maintenance of accounts, pending judicial/quasi-judicial cases and arrears; self-attested Form B licence; list of Photo Identity Card holders (Forms F/G/H) with numbers and validity; self-attested association membership certificate where applicable; and self-attested PAN if not previously submitted. Processing will normally complete within sixty working days from receipt of a complete application, followed by fee payment via TR-6 challan and submission of the endorsed receipt for renewal endorsement.

Coastal carriage exemption simplifies documentation and mandates coastal manifests and marking for eligible vessels while allowing limited preventive checks.
Vessels exclusively carrying coastal goods and operating from coastal or EXIM berths are exempted from Sections 92, 93, 94, 95, 97 and sub-section (1) of Section 98 of the Customs Act; where loading/unloading occurs at EXIM berths, Sections 30 and 41 apply and a new coastal manifest format requires Masters or agents to submit arrival and departure manifests in duplicate. Containers and non-containerised cargo must be marked for coastal carriage and sealed; preventive officers may carry out random checks with prior approval.

Composition scheme option for restaurants and halwais permits an alternate single-rate tax and restricts input tax credit eligibility.
Dealers supplying cooked food and related items may opt for a notified composition scheme at an alternate single rate if within the prescribed turnover threshold. Dealers shifting from the earlier composition provision to the new composition provision w.e.f. 1 April 2016 need not pay tax on opening stock held at transition, but cannot claim input tax credit on closing stock as of the prior year end. Applications for the scheme must be filed manually until online filing is ordered.

Consent to Operate requirement continues as validity for BISN Jetty notice is extended for exporters.
Validity of Public Notice No. 02/2005 for BISN Jetty of the Inland Waterways Authority of India was extended up to 31.03.2021, and exporters were directed to submit renewal of Consent to Operate from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board as a continuing compliance requirement.

Relaxed KYC norms allow courier-recorded delivery address plus ID to satisfy KYC for certain individual import consignments.
Authorised courier companies may accept the delivery address recorded by the courier together with the proof of identity taken at delivery as sufficient proof of address for KYC when an individual lacks a current address document, applicable to imports of documents, gifts, samples and low value dutiable consignments up to the prescribed CIF limit. Courier companies must exercise due diligence and maintain records of delivery addresses as evidence for KYC verification.

Interest on tax refunds: resident deductors entitled to interest on excess withholding, aligning departmental practice with judicial principle.
Refunds of tax withheld in excess to resident deductors must include interest from the date of payment of the tax, reflecting the principle that sums retained without right carry an obligation to reimburse with accrued interest; departmental officers should not file or press appeals contesting interest liability and must align refund practice accordingly.

Call Book case disposal: cases decided on merit or clarified by the board should be removed and adjudicated promptly.
Cases in the Call Book shall be taken out and adjudicated where the issue has been finally decided by a higher court or where the Board has issued a new instruction clarifying the issue; field formations need not await a separate direction from the Board. This clarification applies to Central Excise duty, Customs duty and Service Tax matters and implementing difficulties should be reported to the Board.