GST Council approves rules, rate fitments, lottery tax split, e Way Bill approach, return extensions and operational settlement measures.
The Council adopted amendments to prior Minutes, approved draft Rules and Forms for Advance Ruling, Appeals and Revision, Assessment and Audit, e Way Bill and Anti profiteering (with officer modifications), and authorised Law/Rules and search committees to finalise appointments and drafting. It fixed fitment/threshold decisions including composition levy limits for specified Special Category States, excluded certain goods from the Composition Scheme, allowed ITC on ships, set differentiated GST rates for State run (12%) and State authorised (28%) lotteries, approved Fund Settlement Rules and provisional bank authorisations, exempted small inward supplies ( Rs. 5,000/day) from reverse charge under Section 9(4), and agreed transitional return timelines with interim Form GSTR 3B and penalty waivers.

Central Excise jurisdiction reorganisation: notifications vest officers with powers and redefine territorial ranges for legacy and post GST work.
Notification Nos. 12/2017-14/2017 vest Central Excise officers with powers under the Central Excise Act, 1944 and Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, notify the territorial jurisdiction of senior Central Excise/Service Tax authorities by commissionerate, division and range, and delegate authority to Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners to assign show cause notices to subordinate officers; Annexures I-VI set out detailed geographic boundaries and office addresses to assist taxpayer identification of jurisdiction for legacy work and post GST migration.

Health certificate requirement for dried curry leaves exports mandates analytical report and prescribed EU-format certificate for compliance.
Export consignments of dried curry leaves to the European Union must be accompanied by the spices testing authority's analytical report and a Health Certificate in the EU-prescribed format based on that analytical report; stakeholders must ensure immediate compliance with mandatory pesticide residue testing and documentation requirements.

Import of livestock products permitted through Kochi seaport and airports after amendment to central notification.
The Ministry of Agriculture's Gazette notification dated 22.03.2017 amends the earlier 2014 notification to permit the livestock products listed at serial numbers (i) to (xxxi) of the 2014 notification to be imported through the seaport or airports at Kochi, and stakeholders are directed to consult the published Gazette entry at egazette.nic.in for the full text.

RMS Facilitation Centre enables single-window out-of-charge for eligible importers, subject to eligibility checks and PRO Cell verification.
A dedicated RMS Facilitation Centre at ACC Mumbai will provide single-window out-of-charge for RMS-facilitated Bills of Entry for eligible importers, with an Appraising Officer/Superintendent verifying documents, customs payment and compliance before granting out-of-charge. Eligibility includes AEO-accredited importers or importers meeting specified tenure, filing and duty-payment criteria and undertaking to apply for AEO registration. PRO Cell verifies credentials and Competent Authority grants approval. A small percentage of RMS-facilitated entries will be opened for examination under existing valuation-control directions. The procedure is effective from 1 July 2017.

Jurisdiction of Chief Commissioner Guwahati reallocated under GST notifications covering northeastern commissionerates and combined appeals and audit jurisdictions.
The GST notification defines territorial competence for the Chief Commissioner, Central Excise & Service Tax, Guwahati by allocating specific districts and states to designated Commissionerates (Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Shillong, Itanagar, Dimapur, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala), detailing divisional and range-level coverage in Annexures I-VIII and designating combined appellate and audit jurisdictions to the Guwahati Appeals Commissionerate and Shillong Audit Commissionerate respectively; the Trade Notice takes effect on a date to be notified.

GST Facilitation Cell established as first contact for GST queries under the Foreign Trade Policy, with designated office contacts.
Constitution of a GST Facilitation Cell in the Office of the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Cochin, designated as the first point of contact for GST-related queries under the Foreign Trade Policy, staffed by named Jt.DGFT office officials with provided contact emails and telephone numbers for stakeholder assistance.

Non retrospective application of policy amendments restores export entitlements; TPS scrips issued only after zonal scrutiny and checks.
The Supreme Court held that DGFT's retrospective amendments to the Target Plus Scheme for 2005-2006 cannot be applied retrospectively; the Government accepted this and DGFT amended and rescinded earlier notifications so the measures take effect only from their issuance. DGFT has instituted Zonal Committees to scrutinise claims, and TPS scrips for 2005-2006 will be issued after such scrutiny; Customs will allow usage of those scrips subject to prescribed checks and procedures.

State code alignment with GST requires updated codes in import-export declarations to avoid electronic rejection.
Customs importers, exporters and brokers must replace RBI-derived State Codes with Census State Codes in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills to align with GST requirements; the NIC RES package has been updated and stakeholders must declare the new codes at ICEGATE to avoid rejection, reporting any difficulties to the Joint Commissioner (Systems).

Online Rotation Number generation lets registered shipping lines self issue vessel rotations via secure ICEGATE authentication and OTP.
Shipping Lines and Agents registered on ICEGATE with digital signatures may self generate a Rotation Number by completing an online form with vessel particulars (LOCODE, IMO, voyage number, master's name, shipping line/agent codes, next port, expected arrival) and authenticating via a one time password; the system then issues the Rotation Number and permits secure status checks, while casual trade users have a separate inquiry option.

Exemption from sample drawal for AEO holders expanded to include Tier I, subject to specific intelligence exceptions.
Exemption from drawal of samples for grant of drawback is extended to exporters holding Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Tier I certification, expanding prior exemptions for higher-tier AEOs; sampling remains possible where specific information or intelligence indicates need.

Preference to Make in India: local suppliers may receive purchase preference over foreign bidders under prescribed local content rules.
The Order mandates procurement preference for suppliers meeting prescribed local content thresholds, defines local supplier, L1 and margin of purchase preference, and prescribes differentiated procedures for divisible and indivisible contracts: L1 receives award if local, otherwise quantities or contracts may be offered to local suppliers who match the L1 price within the margin of purchase preference. Default parameters set minimum local content at fifty percent and margin at twenty percent, require advance specification in tenders, self-certification and auditor verification for high-value procurements, and provide for debarment for false declarations.

Passing on GST benefit required to reduce prices; charging higher post-GST instalments may attract anti-profiteering action.
Builders must pass on the GST-related reduction in tax burden to buyers by reducing prices or instalments and must not charge higher tax on instalments payable after GST implementation; withholding such benefit or charging higher post-GST rates may be treated as anti-profiteering under Section 171 of the GST law.

GST rate reduction: specified goods categories identified as having lower tax incidence under the new GST regime after Council rates are set.
The circular states that GST rate fixation is a joint Central State responsibility subject to GST Council approval and notes that for many goods the GST incidence is lower than the present combined indirect tax rates. It supplies an itemised list of tariff headings and goods descriptions-spanning foodstuffs, edible oils, cereals, processed foods, water, cement, fuels, medical supplies, textiles, footwear, stationery, select machinery and household articles-where the GST incidence has been assessed as lower than the existing combined indirect tax burden.

Interest and dividend reporting must be on an entitlement basis for custodial accounts and cover the full calendar year.
SEBI directs depositories to add a data field for RTAs to record corporate action dividend/interest per unit and provide it to DPs; DPs must report dividend and interest on an entitlement basis for the entire calendar year for any demat account identified as reportable, ensuring reporting of total gross amounts generated with respect to assets in custodial accounts as required under the Income Tax Rules.

Non-compliance fines under ICDR Regulations prompt stock exchange enforcement and disclosure for delayed corporate issuance and listing actions.
Liability and enforcement for non compliance with specified provisions of the ICDR Regulations is prescribed by directing recognized stock exchanges to impose daily fines and additional capped penalties for delays in bonus issues, delayed allotment on conversion of convertibles, and failure to approach exchanges for listing; fines realized must be credited to the Investor Protection Fund. Exchanges must publish non compliant entities and fine details, issue notices to pay within a specified period, and may initiate enforcement including prosecution for non payment; bonus issue implementation is tied to the commencement of trading and promoter approvals may follow payment of fines.

GST Facilitation Cell established to serve as first point of contact for Foreign Trade Policy GST issues and rollout support.
Constitution of a GST Facilitation Cell in the office of the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, CLA, New Delhi as the primary contact for addressing GST-related issues under the Foreign Trade Policy; the Cell is headed by Dr. Amiya Chandra, Joint DGFT, with named Deputy DGFT members and provided contact emails to facilitate stakeholder engagement and coordination.

ICES state codes realigned to GST census codes; traders must use new codes and report EDI issues to customs.
ICES state codes will be realigned from RBI-based codes to the Census State Codes used for GSTN; the NIC RES package has been updated and the change affects BE/SB declarations including State of Origin and VAT registration codes. Trade must declare the new codes at submission to avoid ICEGATE discrepancies and report difficulties to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs (EDI).

GST Help Desk established to address GST queries under Foreign Trade Policy, offering phone and email support for traders.
A GST Help Desk has been established at DGFT Headquarters to respond to GST queries related to the Foreign Trade Policy, complementing prior Trade Notice No. 08/2018. The Help Desk provides administrative support to Regional Authorities, trade stakeholders, Export Promotion Councils and Commodity Boards, and accepts enquiries via a dedicated telephone line and an e-mail address to clarify GST application to trade procedures and policy benefits.

Alignment of ICES state codes to Census codes for GST requires traders to use new codes in BE/SB declarations.
ICES state codes have been re-mapped from the RBI list to Census codes used for GST implementation; the NIC RES package has been updated and the change is implemented from 14.06.2017. Traders must use the new codes in BE/SB declarations to avoid ICEGATE mismatches and may report difficulties to the System Manager/ADC (EDI) or the provided email.