Appeal period for service tax orders set at two months, with a one month condonable extension after expiry.
The Finance Bill's insertion of sub section (3A) to Section 85, effective 28 May 2012, sets the appeal period for service tax orders/decisions at two months from receipt and provides a one month condonable period measured from the expiry of that two month appeal period.

Rejection of draft offer documents: framework notified, requiring merchant bankers to exercise due care before filing.
SEBI has notified a framework permitting rejection of draft offer documents filed with the Board and published the General Order on its website; registered merchant bankers are advised to take note and exercise due care before filing draft offer documents, the circular being issued under SEBI's statutory powers and available on the SEBI website.

Committee for reforming the regulatory environment expanded to include public sector bank and central public enterprise representatives.
Corrigendum amends the constitution of the committee for reforming the regulatory environment for doing business by adding representatives from a public sector bank and two central public enterprises, naming the added members and their offices, and recording that the inclusion followed the committee's first meeting.

Border haat trade rules permit local resident vendors to trade specified goods using local currency or barter under suspended foreign exchange rules.
Operation of Border Haats between India and Bangladesh permits specified goods at designated haats, with commodity classification by the Haat Management Committee. Vendors must be residents within a five-kilometre radius and transactions may be in local currency or barter for bona fide personal or family consumption. Regulations relating to foreign exchange are suspended within the designated Border Haats, aligning operational arrangements with the MOU and its addendum.

Loans against NRE/FCNR(B) deposits allowed without ceiling subject to margin; premature withdrawal of such deposits prohibited.
Banks may grant loans against NR(E)RA and FCNR(B) deposits to depositors or third parties without any ceiling, subject to usual margin requirements; 'loan' includes all fund based and non fund based facilities and FCNR(B) margins are notionally calculated in rupee terms. Premature withdrawal of such deposits is prohibited when loans are availed and must be disclosed at sanction. Existing non conforming loans may continue for their term but shall not be renewed; other conditions unchanged. Instructions are effective immediately and issued under the foreign exchange statute.

Electronic reporting compliance: test-mode FINnet uploads required; continue CD submission until go-live for Authorised Persons under PMLA.
Authorised Persons must begin submitting CTRs and STRs on the FINnet gateway in test mode to verify XML-compliant electronic uploads, while continuing to provide existing reports on CD until FIU-IND announces the go-live date; helpdesk support is available and earlier reporting instructions remain unchanged under directions issued pursuant to FEMA and PMLA.

Report submission in test mode: authorised entities must validate XML uploads on FINnet while maintaining existing report delivery.
Authorised Persons must begin submitting transaction reports on the FINnet Gateway in test mode to validate XML-compliant electronic upload capability, while continuing to submit existing reports on physical media until the authority announces the go-live; entities should use the helpdesk for assistance and ensure readiness to implement the new XML reporting format for Cash Transaction Reports and Suspicious Transaction Reports.

Certification by Cost Accountant permitted in place of Chartered Accountant for export documentation under foreign trade policy.
The Director General of Foreign Trade directs that references to Chartered Accountant include Cost Accountant, FCA include FCMA, "CA Number" be read as "Membership Number", and "Cost and Works Accountant" be read as "Cost Accountant", thereby permitting Cost Accountants to provide certifications wherever Chartered Accountant certification was required under the EXIM policy and Handbook of Procedure.

Data mismatch-based assessment review: dealers given opportunity to reconcile annexure records to avoid tax, interest, and penalty.
The Department is conducting a suo motu review of tax and penalty assessments framed for quarterly dealers based on mismatches between Annexure 2A and 2B data, providing an additional opportunity to reconcile discrepancies via the online "Mismatch Report"; revised orders and worksheets will be hosted online and dealers must reconcile records by the prescribed deadline to avoid additional tax, interest and penalty.

Service tax on AC/First Class rail travel extended to special trains, season tickets and excess fare components with refund adjustments.
Levy of service tax extended to AC and First Class rail services including special trains/coaches on FTR, film-shooting trains, season tickets, circular journey tickets, and Excess Fare Ticket components; total charges for special trains/coaches include the full security deposit in the taxable base, and proportionate service tax on refunded security deposits must be returned.

Foreign ownership thresholds in NBFCs allow high-foreign-owned firms to form step-down subsidiaries without additional capital, subject to capitalization.
NBFCs with high levels of foreign ownership and meeting the prescribed minimum capitalisation may establish step-down subsidiaries for specified NBFC activities without restriction on the number of operating subsidiaries and without bringing in additional capital; the minimum capitalisation mandate for downstream subsidiaries is therefore inapplicable to those entities.

Electronic Bank Realization Certificate requirement: banks must transmit full foreign exchange realization to DGFT for export benefit linkage.
Banks must transmit Bank Realization Certificate data electronically to the DGFT server and cease issuing physical BRC copies for DGFT use; banks must convert manual BRCs into XML and upload them. Transmitted BRCs must show full foreign exchange realised without deductions for commission, insurance or freight. Exporters must verify and correct Shipping Bill details before linkage, enter commission, insurance and freight values when applying for DGFT benefits, and the system will pro rata allocate realized foreign exchange across items when realization is short. DGFT will maintain an online Shipping Bill repository for scheme linkage.

All-in-cost ceiling for external commercial borrowings remains in force; AD Category I banks must notify constituents.
The circular maintains the existing all-in-cost ceiling for External Commercial Borrowings until further review; AD Category I banks must notify constituents, other ECB policy aspects remain unchanged, and the directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, without prejudice to other legal permissions.

All-in-cost ceiling for trade credits remains applicable for import finance, requiring AD Category I banks to apply and notify customers.
Continuation of the all-in-cost ceiling for trade credits for imports into India remains applicable as specified in A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 28 dated September 11, 2012 until further review; Authorized Dealer Category I banks must apply this ceiling and notify their constituents, while all other trade credit policy aspects remain unchanged and directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Freight, Insurance and Commission declarations mandated; changes entitlement calculation and integrates e BRC with foreign trade schemes.
Amendment requires applicants using ANF 3C and ANF 4G to declare Freight, Insurance and Commission values are based on actual transaction values and that commission for entitlement is included as per actual value or 12.5% of net FOB realised whichever is less. Applicants using ANF 4D, ANF 4F, ANF 4H and ANF 5B must declare those values are based on actual transaction values and that commission is excluded for entitlement. The change integrates e BRC with Foreign Trade Policy schemes under paragraph 2.4.

Data-mismatch based assessment review allows dealers an opportunity to reconcile Annexure 2A/2B discrepancies before reassessment.
Assessment of quarterly dealers based on Annexure 2A/2B mismatches for Q1 2012-13 will be reviewed suo motu to allow reconciliation; reviews will use data as of 19/10/2012 at 09:00 pm, orders and worksheets will be issued within five working days and hosted on the department website; dealers must reconcile April-June 2012 mismatches via the online Mismatch Report by 6:00 pm on 19/10/2012 to avoid additional tax, interest and penalty.

PAN transfer procedure change requiring transferor officers to confirm or reject requests to prevent PAN blocking and misuse.
Withdrawal of the auto PAN transfer facility requires transferor officers (AO/Range/CIT) to allow, confirm, or reject PAN transfer requests on the system; pendency blocks PANs and hinders e-return processing, so field formations are directed to clear pending requests using provided MIS reports and system links with RCC contact support for assistance.

Issuance schedule for Central Declaration Forms: limited to Wednesdays and Fridays; Mondays excluded; effective from mid October.
The Department of Trade & Taxes prescribes that Central Declaration Forms or Certificates shall be issued to dealers only on Wednesdays and Fridays and shall not be issued on Mondays. The arrangement is administrative and takes effect from mid-October 2012, with instructions circulated to senior departmental officers, zonal incharges, policy and VAT officers, and the Sales Tax Bar Association for implementation.

PAN migration to jurisdictional AOs: Nodal officers under CIT(CO) to transfer PANs from orphan jurisdictions for processing.
Instruction requires migration of PANs from old, orphan or defunct jurisdictions to correct territorial Assessing Officers by Nodal Officers appointed under CIT(CO), mandating creation of a Nodal jurisdiction hierarchy in AIS with AO type 'NO', assignment of restricted roles (AR_NODAL_XFER and AR_CIT_CO), and use of Push/Pull PAN transfer functionality; RCCs must define hierarchies, keep OLD flags intact, and expedite transfers while AIS/AST must restrict Nodal functions to PAN migration and return view.

Waiver of security for registration extended; applicants need not furnish security for registration under DVAT Act.
An administrative waiver of the security requirement for registration under the DVAT Act removed the deposit condition for new registrants and was initially provided for a two month period starting in late July 2012. The waiver was subsequently extended through the end of December 2012 so that dealers applying within that extended period need not furnish any security for registration.