Foreign Trade Policy review: call for stakeholder suggestions to shape the draft policy and handbook via prescribed submissions.
Invitation for stakeholder consultation to revise the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures by submitting chapter-/paragraph wise suggestions with justifications in the prescribed format, sent by e mail to the designated address within fifteen days of the notice, establishing the procedural mechanism and timeframe for participatory input into the proposed new policy.

UPI with ASBA mandatory for retail IPO applications; intermediaries must use listed SCSBs and approved mobile apps.
Phase II requires UPI with ASBA as the only payment mechanism for retail investor applications through intermediaries, discontinuing the prior Channel III flow of bid cum application forms to SCSBs for fund blocking. Applications must use SCSBs, mobile apps, and UPI handles listed on the regulator's website; incorrect handles or banks not on the live list risk rejection. Alternate channels remain available for investors whose banks are not live. Intermediaries must retain physical UPI application forms for six months and electronic records for at least three years.

Post-sales discounts under GST affect whether a discount reduces supplier value or is taxable consideration for dealer services.
Post sales discounts are assessed by their substance: a discount without dealer obligations is treated as related to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply if statutory conditions are met. If the discount is an incentive requiring the dealer to undertake promotional activities, it is separate consideration for services and taxable in the dealer's hands, with the supplier eligible for input tax credit. Discounts paid to induce dealers to reduce customer prices must be added to the dealer's transaction value, limiting a registered customer's input tax credit to tax actually paid to the dealer. Where suppliers issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce original tax liability, dealers need not reverse input tax credit if they pay the reduced value after adjusting the credit notes plus the original tax charged.

Refund processing: wrongly mapped refund applications should be processed by the receiving tax authority, then portal mapping corrected.
Where the common portal has electronically transferred a FORM GST RFD-01A refund application to a tax authority that is not the taxpayer's administrative jurisdiction due to incorrect portal mapping, processing should not be held up: the authority that received the application via the portal shall process the refund claim, and thereafter inform the portal of the incorrect mapping with a request to update it for future transfers.

Place of supply clarified: port cargo handling follows IGST contract-based rules; temporary-import processing uses export exception.
Port-related cargo handling activities are treated as ancillary services not related to immovable property, so their place of supply is determined under the IGST service provisions according to contract. Services on goods temporarily imported for processing (e.g., cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds) that are exported after processing without being put to any other use fall under the IGST exception for temporarily imported goods; their place of supply is determined accordingly.

GST on penal interest: interest charged by sellers included in supply value and taxed, lender interest may be exempt.
Where penal interest is charged by the seller as part of a deferred payment for goods, that penal interest is included in the value of supply and is taxable; where penal interest is charged by an independent lender in respect of a loan, such interest falls within the exemption for services by way of extending loans insofar as the consideration is represented by interest, and is not subject to GST. Non interest service fees or other charges connected to loan extension are not exempt.

Secondary or post-sales GST discounts clarified through departmental circulation for officer awareness and compliance.
Clarifications on secondary or post-sales discounts under GST were circulated through a forwarding letter enclosing the central circular on the subject. The communication states that the circular addresses various issues relating to such discounts and requests that subordinate officers be informed and compliance ensured. The letter is administrative in nature and transmits the GST clarification for departmental implementation without creating any independent rule or adjudicatory determination.

Refund processing for incorrectly mapped taxpayers on the common portal is guided by the prescribed GST RFD-01 procedure.
Processing of refund applications in Form GST RFD-01 filed by taxpayers having incorrect mapping on the common portal was addressed through a GST circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and forwarded by the Uttar Pradesh Commercial Tax administration for information and compliance. The communication requires subordinate officers to be informed of the enclosed circular and to ensure that affected refund applications are handled in line with the prescribed refund procedure.

Place of supply clarification under GST is circulated for compliance by subordinate officers and administrative implementation.
Clarification is issued on the determination of place of supply in certain situations under GST. The communication forwards CBIC Circular No. 103/22/2019-GST dated 28.06.2019 for information and compliance by subordinate officers. It is issued with the approval of the Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Uttar Pradesh, and serves as an administrative intimation for implementation of the stated clarification.

GST liability on additional or penal interest clarified through departmental circular and compliance instructions for field officers.
GST liability on additional or penal interest is clarified through a departmental communication forwarding the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs circular on the subject. The clarification applies to the treatment of additional or penal interest under GST and is circulated to field officers for information and compliance. The addressees are directed to inform subordinate officers and ensure implementation accordingly.

Reduced GST rate for affordable residential apartments clarified to include Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area for metropolitan city threshold.
For applying the reduced GST rate for construction of affordable residential apartments, the term metropolitan city is clarified to mean the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area as defined in the Tamil Nadu Town & Country Planning Act, 1971; eligibility remains subject to the notification's carpet area and gross amount thresholds and commencement/option conditions.

FLA reporting moved to secure web portal; online submission mandatory, non-compliance treated as FEMA violation.
Reserve Bank requires migration of Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets to a web-based FLAIR portal with entity registration, RBI-issued login credentials, system-driven validation, system-generated acknowledgements, ability to revise and download filings, and provision to submit earlier years on RBI confirmation. The revised form mandates investor-wise direct investment and fiscal-year financial details, broader FATS reporting, and fields for first year of FDI/ODI receipt and disinvestment. Email submission is discontinued and non-compliance will be treated as non-compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management Act, effective immediately for 2018-19.

Post sale discounts as conditional consideration require GST by the dealer and affect input tax credit entitlement and valuation.
Post sale discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from supplier's value of supply if statutory reduction conditions are met. Conditional post sale incentives given for promotional acts are separate consideration for services by the dealer and subject to GST, with the supplier eligible for input tax credit. Payments by the supplier enabling the dealer to reduce customer price form part of the dealer's value of supply, and credit note situations do not obligate the dealer to reverse ITC if the dealer pays the reduced net value plus original tax in accordance with rules.

Incorrect GST portal mapping requires receiving tax authority to process refunds and request mapping correction.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority that does not match the taxpayer's administrative assignment and electronic reassignment on the portal is unavailable, the authority which received the application should proceed to process the refund. After completing processing, that authority must inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request an update so future applications route to the correct jurisdiction. Trade notices should publicize this guidance and implementation difficulties reported to the Commissioner.

Place of supply rules: cargo-handling follows contractual IGST provisions; temporary imports for processing follow export exception.
Clarification sets the place of supply for port cargo-handling activities as determined under section 12(2) or 13(2) of the IGST Act based on contractual terms, and provides that services on goods temporarily imported for treatment and exported without other use (e.g., cutting and polishing of diamonds) are treated under section 13(2) of the IGST Act.

Post-sales discounts: contingent incentives to dealers constitute consideration for services and attract GST when charged.
Clarifies that post sale discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply if statutory conditions are met. Discounts contingent on dealer activities are consideration for services, attracting GST charged by the dealer with corresponding input tax credit to the supplier. Supplier funded reductions to induce lower customer prices are consideration to the dealer and must be included in the dealer's value of supply; customers' input tax credit is limited to tax actually paid. If discounts cannot be excluded, suppliers may issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce original tax liability; dealers need not reverse input tax where they pay the reduced value adjusted by such credit notes.

GST on penal interest: interest charged by seller as part of supply is taxable; financier's interest may be exempt.
The circular clarifies that penal interest charged by the seller as part of an installment sale must be included in the value of the supply of goods and is taxable, whereas penal interest charged by a separate financier qualifies as exempt "interest" and is not subject to GST; fees or charges that do not meet the definition of interest remain taxable. Penal interest is not treated as a separate taxable service under the Schedule II entry for agreeing to tolerate or refrain from an act.

Refund application processing should proceed even when portal mapping sends claims to the wrong jurisdictional tax authority.
Where reassignment on the common portal is not possible, the tax authority that has electronically received a FORM GST RFD-01A refund application should proceed to process the claim and thereafter notify the common portal of incorrect taxpayer mapping with a request for correction so that future applications are routed to the correct jurisdictional authority.

Place of supply for port cargo handling hinges on ancillary service status; contract terms determine territorial taxation.
Place of supply for port-related cargo handling services that are ancillary to goods movement is determined by the contractual terms between supplier and recipient and under the general place-of-supply provisions for such services, not under immovable property rules. For services on goods temporarily imported for processing and exported without being put to use in India, including cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds, the place of supply follows the rule specific to services in respect of temporarily imported goods destined for export after treatment.

GST on penal interest: penal interest by seller is taxable as part of supply value; lender charged interest may be exempt.
Clarification distinguishes penal interest included in the value of supply when credit is supplied by the seller (taxable as part of the goods' value) from penal interest charged by an independent lender (exempt as interest on loans); non interest service charges by lenders are not exempt.