Appeal Initiation Procedures: Commissioners must promptly prepare comprehensive proposals and documents to pursue Supreme Court appeals within prescribed limitation periods.
Commissioners must examine every CESTAT order for their jurisdiction and, where Supreme Court appeal is warranted on non-law points like rate or valuation, submit a detailed proposal in the prescribed proforma to the Board within ten days of receipt of the certified CESTAT order; proposals must include show cause notices, relied documents, orders, certified CESTAT order with appeal paperbook, Board instructions, relied decisions and other relevant papers.

Service tax scope: labour costs and statutory contributions remain taxable under gross consideration rule in security agency services.
Service tax on security agency services is levied on the gross amount received as consideration, which includes total labour cost and the employer's contributions to ESI and EPF; CENVAT credit on inputs and input services remains available but does not alter that these labour-related costs form part of the taxable value, reflecting service tax's nature as a consumption tax whose burden rests on the consumer.

DEPB schedule amendment assigns specified export entitlement rate and value cap to machine cut glass chatons.
Amendment to the DEPB schedule replaces the Sl. No. 13 entry for Product Group Miscellaneous, Product Code 90, specifying that Machine Cut Glass Chatons shall have a prescribed export entitlement rate and an associated value cap per kilogram, effected under powers of the Foreign Trade Policy and the Handbook of Procedures.

Free Sale and Commerce Certificate available for non drug medical exports, valid normally for a two year period.
DGFT will issue, on application, a Free Sale and Commerce Certificate for export of items not covered by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act and used for medical or surgical purposes, subject to exportability; such certificates are normally valid for two years. Applications must use Appendix 39 with Annexure A and a self certified export order; items under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act require application to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Withdrawal of security requirement for licensed kerosene dealers eases VAT registration obligations under the Delhi VAT Act.
Commissioner (Value Added Tax) withdraws the requirement to furnish security at registration for Kerosene Oil Dealers holding a Kerosene License from the Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs, exercising powers under sub section (2) of section 25 of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004, thereby removing the clause(a) security obligation for this class of dealers.

Advance licence record keeping: mandatory Appendix 23 submission, three year retention and licensing authority action for noncompliance.
Advance licence holders must maintain and submit records of consumption and utilization of duty free inputs in the format of Appendix 23; such records are required for licences issued on or after 13.05.2005 and for licences redeemed in the previous licensing year, to be preserved for at least three years. Licensing authorities shall act against licensees for non submission, mis representation, mis declaration or defaults detected in Appendix 23 and must endorse such action on the redemption certificate. A Chartered Accountant/Cost & Works Accountant certificate and documentary evidence are required.

Certificate of Origin Non-Preferential: additional regional agencies authorised to issue these export certificates under trade policy.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amends the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) to add specified regional agencies to Appendix 4-C as authorised issuers of Certificate of Origin-Non Preferential, expanding the entities permitted to certify non preferential origin for export documentation under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Alternative inputs under SION permitted for DFRC duty free import when usable in the exported product's manufacture.
Exporters may import alternative inputs listed in the SION on a duty free basis under the DFRC scheme so long as those alternatives are capable of being used in the manufacture of the exported product; difficulties in implementation should be reported to the DGFT.

Verification authority for iCERT Digital Signature expanded to Customs Hqrs (Preventive) for Bangalore applicants under supervisory control.
Verification for issuance of iCERT Digital Signature Certificates for ICEGATE transactions is partially modified so that officers of the Customs Headquarters (Preventive) of the Bangalore Customs Commissionerate hold concurrent powers of verification for Bangalore-based importers, exporters and Customs House Agents, to be exercised under the overall supervision of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Office of the Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore.

Leviability of service tax on software maintenance affirmed: maintenance services for software on media are taxable under service tax law.
Software transferred or embedded on a physical medium is treated as goods because the intellectual property is incorporated in the medium; therefore, services of maintenance or repair or servicing of such software are leviable to service tax under the Finance Act provisions relating to taxable services and the statutory definition of maintenance or repair.

Amendment to Companies Regulations circulated, with regional office relocation and accounting standards committee tenure extended.
Circulation of three central government notifications: amendment to the Companies Regulations, 1956; relocation of the Regional Director (Northern Region) office from Kanpur to NOIDA (Gautam Budh Nagar); and extension of the tenure of the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards under Section 210A of the Companies Act, 1956, forwarded to Regional Directors and Registrars of Companies for information, necessary action, and acknowledgement.

E auction disposal of confiscated and unclaimed goods mandated, requiring adoption of Chennai software and regular monthly auctions.
The Board directs all Customs disposal units to adopt the Chennai Custom House e auction software immediately and hold regular monthly e auctions to dispose of confiscated goods, time expired warehoused goods and uncleared/unclaimed cargo subject to Section 48; Commissioners may depute officers to Chennai for on site study and training, must issue public notice, coordinate with designated Chennai officials for assistance, and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Foreign exchange broking: money changers are liable for service tax as providers of banking and financial services in foreign currency transactions.
Money changers qualify as authorized dealers and thereby as foreign exchange brokers, making services they provide in buying, selling or broking of foreign currency taxable as banking and financial services rather than as sales of goods; RBI licensing and conditions confirm their status as authorised agents and the statutory service tax framework applies uniformly to such foreign exchange broking activities.

One time exemption for exporters; unshipped goods must be surrendered to state Chief Wildlife Wardens after expiry.
Amendment to Public Notice No. 58 (RE-2004) revises paragraph 1(ii)(iv) to provide a one time exemption that is time limited; after the exemption period ends, exporters must surrender any unshipped quantity to the Chief Wildlife Warden of the relevant State under powers conferred by paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy.

Electronic DEPB registration removes pre-import shipping bill verification for exports transmitted electronically from EDI ports.
Paragraph 4.49 requires licensing authorities to endorse Shipping Bill numbers and dates, FOB value in Indian rupees and export description on DEPBs for non-electronic records, with Customs verification before imports. For EDI shipping bills transmitted electronically from EDI ports to DGFT, DEPBs will be sent to Customs at the Port of Registration via electronic messaging and registered electronically, and no verification of the underlying Shipping Bills will be required before allowing imports against such electronically registered DEPBs.

ITC(HS) classification clarifications: Exim Codes and import compliance obligations confirmed for specified goods.
Directive assigning ITC(HS) Exim Codes to specified goods with remarks on item-specific regulatory conditions (e.g., RBI rules for certain coins, SEZ versus DTA treatment for worn shoes, and non-coverage of certain batteries under Hazardous Waste Rules). The circular also mandates compliance with standards and licensing regimes: BIS conformity for packaged natural mineral water, DGFT licences for import of solid plastic wastes for reprocessing or reuse, accredited test clearances for specified food imports, MRP labelling for packaged commodities, and quarantine and health certification for limited pet imports.

Electronic exchange of EDI shipping bill data enables online DEPB applications with digital signatures and EFT payment, eliminating manual submissions.
Mandate electronic data exchange for DEPB-related EDI Shipping Bills from designated Customs EDI ports; require online DEPB applications with digital signature and EFT payment; prohibit manual applications for such EDI-based claims; DGFT server will segregate EDI Shipping Bill data IEC-wise for linkage in the DEPB ECOM module; scanned digitally signed Bank Realisation Certificates may be uploaded or originals submitted to the jurisdictional RLA within the specified short period; DEPB licences and amendments will be transmitted electronically to the Customs Port of Registration while paper licences continue to be issued for transfer and presentation.

Nexus with product group clarified: DFCE imports allowed only for capital goods, office equipment and listed SION inputs.
Clarifies the scope of nexus with product group for DFCE: capital goods capable of producing product-group goods and office equipment are covered; for product groups corresponding to Appendix 17D entries any input listed in the relevant SION Book category is permissible; Gems and Jewellery follow Chapter 4A sectoral rules. Where export products do not fall under SION categories, ITC HS may guide classification but import lists must conform to SION Book categories; Zonal Offices decide remaining doubts and may endorse import lists on the certificate; fuel imports remain limited per SION general note.

Cenvat credit entitlement denied where a non-provider pays service tax as a deemed provider solely to discharge liability.
A person who pays service tax as a deemed provider solely for the limited purpose of discharging service tax liability is not an actual provider of an output service or a manufacturer, and therefore is not eligible under the CENVAT Credit Rules to claim Cenvat credit of service tax paid because Cenvat credit is available only to manufacturers or providers of taxable services for services used as input service.

Import restriction on metal scrap: only shredded consignments allowed from specified ports; noncompliance triggers full examination and penalties.
Imported metal scrap from ports listed in Annexure-II to Appendix-V is permitted only in shredded form; import in unshredded, compressed or loose form from those ports is prohibited and treated as a violation of the Foreign Trade Policy. Such consignments must undergo 100% examination and stringent penal action should be initiated for noncompliance.