Clearance of laptop and projector equipment extended to software export units; authorised employees eligible under existing procedure.
The circular makes the facility to take out laptop computers and video projection systems available to 100% Export Oriented Units engaged in software development as well as EPZ/STP/EHTP units, subject to the procedure in Board's Circular No.17/98-Customs. Any employee duly authorised by the unit is eligible irrespective of qualification, and Circular No.17/98-Customs is modified accordingly; units must publicize the change and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Refund of CENVAT credit permitted when only customs drawback is claimed, allowing cash refund of unutilised excise credit.
Where exporters claim only the Customs allocation of All Industry Rate drawback, the prohibition on refund in the MODVAT/CENVAT rules applies solely to refunds of credit attributable to Central Excise or countervailing duty; because CENVAT does not cover Basic Customs Duty, cash refund of unutilised CENVAT credit of Central Excise/countervailing duty on inputs used in exported products is permissible, and the same interpretive position applies under equivalent CENVAT refund provisions, subject to applicable safeguards and conditions.

Barter trade restrictions require imports to precede exports and non-monetary settlement under prescribed documentation and bank monitoring.
Barter trade with Myanmar operates as a non-monetary, land-route exchange limited to specified commodities, requiring imports to precede exports and invoicing in U.S. dollars. Designated bank branches must countersign GR forms, verify import evidence, maintain prescribed registers and send certified monthly statements to the Reserve Bank's Exchange Control Department; on completion they must surrender duplicate GR forms with import evidence. Small-value export transactions receive simplified declaration treatment but must be completed quickly and are reported by customs. Transactions are excluded from R Returns and are governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Multiple membership eligibility relaxed where admission under Rule 8 permits cross exchange membership, subject to existing norms.
SEBI relaxes the prior-operation period requirement for multiple stock exchange membership: the minimum-duration barrier does not apply to any member-corporate or individual-admitted under Rule 8 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957; other norms on multiple membership continue to apply.

Computerised challan forms permitted for tax deducted at source when they precisely replicate prescribed challan format, reducing errors.
Use of computerised challan forms for deposit of tax deducted at source is permitted provided the electronic reproductions are an exact replica of the prescribed printed challan in format, colour and substantially similar size, to improve operational efficiency and reduce errors while maintaining the existing deposit procedure.

EEFC account credit entitlement increased, expanding permitted portion of eligible inward remittances and requiring non interest bearing accounts.
The circular increases the proportion of eligible inward remittances that may be credited to EEFC accounts for specified exporters and other residents, effective immediately for remittances received on or after the circular date. All EEFC accounts must be maintained as non interest bearing Current Accounts, no credit facilities may be made available against EEFC balances, and existing credit facilities must be withdrawn on expiry. Other terms of the Scheme remain unchanged, and the directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act with penalties for non compliance.

SEZ unit licensing: LOP/LOI treated as a licence and reporting and monitoring obligations strengthened.
Amendments revise Handbook provisions to treat Letters of Permission/Intent for EOU/EPZ/EHTP/STP/SEZ units as licences, require SEZ unit applications in five copies to the Development Commissioner and execution of a prescribed legal undertaking, allow prompt issuance of amended LOPs on change of activity, set utilisation and approval periods for imported goods, extend multiple Handbook provisions to SEZ units, permit specified export and subcontracting arrangements, and strengthen reporting and monitoring through prescribed on-line/quarterly formats and performance criteria based on Net Foreign Exchange Performance and export obligations.

Foreign exchange release for advertisements: authorised dealers may permit payments abroad only with the specified government approval.
Notification amends Schedule II of the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000 to permit release of foreign exchange for advertisement abroad as described in the substituted Serial No.2; authorised dealers may provide exchange facilities for Schedule II transactions only where the applicant has obtained approval from the Ministry/Department indicated against the transaction; the circular invokes FEMA enforcement provisions and warns of penalties for non-compliance.

Attachment and sale of property to recover excise arrears; refer stale certificate cases to Recovery Cells and permit write off.
Direct Commissioners to use attachment and sale provisions to recover confirmed central excise dues by transferring pending Certificate Action cases to Recovery Cells where debtor assets exist; if dues remain unrecoverable despite recovery efforts, initiate write off under Schedule VII of the Delegation of Financial Powers. The Board will monitor transfers and Recovery Cell performance through MTRs and requires significant arrears not responsive to coercive measures to be taken up by Recovery Cells.

Limitation for customs duty recovery: time bar applies to belated notices; retroactive interest and new penalties disallowed.
CEGAT held that a show cause notice issued beyond the statutory limitation for duty recovery is time barred where the extended period was not validly invoked, and ruled that provisions creating post enactment interest and a new penalty cannot be applied to imports made before those provisions came into force; however, liability for confiscation and ordinary penalties for breach of exemption conditions remains. The Board will seek appellate review and has directed careful drafting of show cause notices and adherence to its interim guidance on limitation reckoning.

Valuation guidelines for mutual fund securities: phased compliance for equity valuation, debt valuation, and NPA provisioning requirements.
Staggered implementation of valuation and provisioning guidelines requires mutual funds to apply a valuation framework to non-traded and thinly traded equity and equity-related securities and to maintain provisioning standards for identification of NPAs, with separate effective dates for equity-related measures and for valuation of non-traded and thinly traded debt instruments.

Standard Input Output Norms amendments expand and specify product level import inputs and accountability for exports.
Director General of Foreign Trade issues administrative amendments to the Handbook of Procedures, Vol.2 by correcting and adding Standard Input-Output Norms. The Notice revises descriptions of import/export items, deletes or substitutes notes, adds new SION entries for chemicals, engineering, food, plastics, sports and textiles, prescribes precise input quantities and ratios per export unit, and includes qualifying rules (facility-specific allowances, pro-rata strength adjustments and net-to-net accountability clauses).

DEPB Scheme: Bill of Export accepted as valid export document for issuing DEPB on exports via notified land customs.
For exports through notified land customs stations, the Bill of Export shall be accepted in place of the Shipping Bill for issuance of DEPB; the licensing authority must endorse the Bill of Export number and date, FOB value in Indian rupees as per the Bill of Export, and description of the export on the DEPB, and the Bill of Export is recognised as a relevant export document for notified land customs (including specified stations) to facilitate DEPB claims.

Possession prohibition of specified denomination currency warns travellers to avoid carrying such notes into Nepal or face seizure.
Possession of Rs. 500-denomination Indian currency notes in Nepal is an offence under the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 (BS) (1962); such notes are non-exchangeable, prohibited from being brought into or taken out of Nepal, and are liable to seizure with penal consequences including imprisonment. The Indian Ministry of Finance circular directs urgent wide publicity and prominent display of notices at airports and Land Customs Stations to advise travellers to Nepal of this prohibition and enforcement risk.

DEPB validity clarified ensuring duty credit entitlement exists on the date of duty debit, with related EPCG transitional adjustments.
DEPB is affirmed as a duty credit entitlement that must be valid when actual duty is debited; certification for imported metallic waste/scrap must confirm classification by internationally accepted parameters. Indigenous manufacturers supplying EPCG holders may seek Advance Licences for deemed exports to import components. Transitional provisions allow issuance or conversion of Advance Licences for unutilised prior EPCG licences without extra fee and permit reissuance under prior EPCG schemes for a specified import window. Licence-holders must produce installation certificates within six months. DEPB valuation requires converting FOB free foreign exchange at the authorised dealer's T/T buying rate on negotiation date and licensing authorities must endorse DEPBs with CIF/FOB limitations. Appendix-28A product descriptions are corrected.

Customs duty reduction on petroleum products and CENVAT adjustments for diesel and petrol take effect, altering import and excise charges.
Reduced basic customs duties on crude petroleum and specified petroleum product headings take effect 30 September 2000; kerosene for parallel marketing retains a higher duty. Administrative notifications implement reductions. Adjustments in excise/CENVAT treatment: High Speed Diesel receives a CENVAT charge of twelve percent after exemption beyond seventy five percent of CENVAT duty, and Motor Spirit is exempted from special excise duty and is chargeable only to CENVAT at sixteen percent.

Audit monitoring transfer: Directorate General of Audit to oversee EA-2000 and extend audit coverage to additional large units.
Responsibility for implementation, development and monitoring of Excise Audit-2000 (EA-2000) is transferred immediately to the Directorate General of Audit, which will receive all related communications and assist the Board in oversight. Commissioners must undertake a consolidated April-September evaluation and forward reports by prescribed deadlines; commissionerates that have completed initial EA-2000 audits are to extend EA-2000 to additional large units previously audited under the normal system. Chief Commissioners and Commissioners must also accelerate training of audit parties and inform trade and field formations.

Regularisation of Advance Licences: exports with minor packaging differences may count toward obligation if inputs are accounted.
Exports whose contents conform to the Advance Licence description may be counted toward export obligation despite differences in external description (such as packing size), provided inputs are properly accounted for under SION or ad hoc norms. This treatment applies even where the licence was already regularised but the exports were not counted, so long as the licence is still valid or has been revalidated by the competent authority.

Reporting obligations for ADR/GDR issuers under FEMA: mandatory filings and penalties apply for non-compliance enforced by regulators.
Issuers of ADRs/GDRs must file Annexure C within thirty days of issue closing and a quarterly Annexure D within fifteen days of quarter end; authorised dealers must advise constituents to comply, and failure to observe these reporting requirements attracts penalties under the foreign exchange law.

Dematerialised trading required: Two company scrips must be traded only in dematerialised form and removed from trade-for-trade.
Two listed scrips are required to be traded compulsorily in dematerialised form for all investors after depository connectivity was established, and those scrips are to be excluded from the stock exchanges' "trade for trade settlement" window and settled only in dematerialised form.