IGST refund guidance released: exporters instructed to follow FAQs to claim refunds under CGST rules.
Administrative guidance issues FAQs clarifying the IGST refund mechanism for exported goods under the CGST Rules and prior public notices; exporters, customs brokers, airlines and trade members are directed to follow the FAQs for claiming refunds and to report implementation difficulties to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the Air Cargo Complex, Kolkata.

IGST refund procedure using officer interface to resolve invoice mismatches and sanction pending export refund claims.
An alternative procedure allows customs officers to manually verify and reconcile GSTN and Customs EDI data via an officer interface to resolve invoice-number, taxable-value and tax-paid mismatches and sanction IGST refunds for export Shipping Bills filed up to the specified cut-off; exporters with pending claims must follow the Circular's concordance format and contact designated nodal officers in Commissionerates for assistance.

Reward column error: exporters must submit shipping bill details proving affirmative intent to DGFT by the prescribed deadline.
Exporters who inadvertently recorded "N" instead of "Y" in the Reward column of EDI shipping bills but declared affirmative intent in words must submit an Excel with Name of Firm, IEC, Shipping Bill Number, Let Export date, Port of Export and FOB value to the designated email; include only shipping bills within the specified Let Export date window and exclude bills where customs later allowed the declaration by manual amendment or otherwise.

Online submission of Letter of Undertaking: file FORM GST RFD-11 on GST portal, attach LUT, provide witnesses, sign with DSC/EVC.
Registered persons making zero-rated supplies may file a Letter of Undertaking online in FORM GST RFD-11 via the GSTN portal: select financial year, accept prescribed conditions, attach prior LUT if any (PDF/JPEG, max 2 MB), provide two independent witnesses, and sign and submit with DSC or EVC. Once submitted the form is valid for the financial year and cannot be edited; compliance with the time limit in sub rule (1) of rule 96A remains required.

Time bound refund disposal requires proper officers to email scanned GST refund forms and ARNs immediately after issuance.
Requires Proper Officers to email, on the day of issuance of refund orders, scanned FORM GST RFD-04 or RFD-06, the refund application FORM GST RFD-01A and the Acknowledgment Receipt Number to [email protected]; where Central-initiated refunds are routed via the state Nodal Officer, Proper Officers must promptly issue FORM GST RFD-05 and email a scanned copy. The Controller of Accounts must send weekly reports on RFD-05 and RFD-04 receipts and payments cleared by the PAO.

Invoice mis-match relief for IGST refunds enables officer-led verification to approve refund where GST and shipping bill invoices align.
An alternative officer interface on the Customs EDI system allows Customs officers to verify and sanction IGST export refunds in cases of invoice mis match where GSTN and shipping bill details diverge. Exporters must submit a certified concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices; officers will compare GSTN and EDI data, verify taxable value and IGST proportionate to exports, amend IGST for short shipments if required, approve the refund amount in EDI, and disable invoices to prevent duplicate refunds. Refunds continue to be credited electronically through PFMS and this mechanism applies to shipping bills filed up to 31 December 2017.

Discharge of bonds streamlined: electronic submission, 24-hour acknowledgement, deficiency timelines and prompt bond discharge.
Nominated agencies/banks must electronically submit prescribed export proof (EP copy of shipping bill, Customs-attested invoice, bank certificate/eBRC) to the designated Customs e-mail. The Assistant/Deputy Commissioner must acknowledge within 24 hours, issue a deficiency memo within five days if needed, and require prior approval for additional requisitions. Deficient/additional documents must be furnished within seven days; the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (Bonds) will verify export via ICES and confirm within seven days of receiving required documents, and discharge the bond within seven days of confirmation.

Valuation of second hand machinery: additional notified chartered engineers and agencies authorised for inspection and certification.
Additional chartered engineers and inspection and certification agencies are notified and authorised to perform valuation, examination and certification of imported second hand machinery under the existing customs valuation framework, supplementing the previously published list of approved agencies; trade bodies are requested to disseminate the notice and report implementation difficulties to the issuing office.

Paperless processing under SWIFT: mandatory digital upload of supporting documents for specified appraising groups, others voluntary.
Mandatory use of e SANCHIT requires upload of digitally signed supporting documents for bills of entry for a specified Appraising Group, while use for other groups remains voluntary to aid speedy clearance; certain supporting documents may still be required in hardcopy if queried by an assessment group and other provisions of the earlier public notice remain unchanged.

Brand rate of drawback: Visakhapatnam Customs establishes dedicated cell to process fixation applications and related claims.
Visakhapatnam Custom House has established a dedicated Brand Rate Cell to process applications for fixation of Brand rate of drawback and related drawback claims, headed by the Assistant Commissioner (DBK) Shri T. Ravi Varma; enquiries and submissions are to be sent to [email protected].

IGST refund invoice mismatch: officer interface allows customs to reconcile invoices and enable electronic refund processing.
An alternative Customs EDI officer interface permits authorised officers to reconcile invoice data between GSTN and Customs and sanction IGST refunds where GSTR-1/Table 6A invoice details are correct despite shipping bill variance. Exporters must submit a certified concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices; officers will verify invoice mapping, IGST taxable values and amounts, adjust for short shipment if needed, and approve scroll amounts after drawback deduction. All refunds will be credited electronically through PFMS; manual payments are prohibited. The procedure applies only to shipping bills filed up to 31 December 2017.

Officer interface for IGST refund: exporters must submit invoice concordance to enable corrections and expedite refund processing.
An officer interface mechanism requires exporters with IGST refunds pending due to invoice mismatch in shipping bills filed up to 31st December, 2017 to submit a CONCORDANCE TABLE mapping GST invoices to corresponding shipping bill invoices to the designated Customs officer at the port, and to email a scanned copy to the specified address to enable corrections and expedite refund processing under CBEC Circular No. 05/2018.

IGST refund invoice mismatch: officer interface enables customs verification of GST and shipping bill records to process refunds.
An officer interface on the Customs EDI System addresses SB005 invoice mis match cases by allowing a Customs officer to verify GSTN and Shipping Bill data against a concordance table submitted by the exporter, confirm IGST taxable value and IGST amounts and proportionality to exported goods, amend IGST details for short shipment or miscalculation, and then accept, amend or reject entries so the system can compute the scroll amount (after drawback adjustments), disable sanctioned invoices against future refunds, and permit normal scroll generation. This procedure applies to Shipping Bills filed up to 31 December 2017 and refunds continue to be credited electronically through PFMS.

IGST refunds on exports: officer interface permits rectification of invoice mismatches via concordance table to enable electronic refund approval.
An officer interface on the Customs EDI system allows Customs officers to verify and, where appropriate, amend IGST refund claims flagged with error code SB005 when exporters supply a Concordance Table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices. The officer will verify submitted mappings, IGST taxable values and proportionality to exported goods, may edit IGST details for short shipment or calculation errors, accept/reject/amend entries, and approve the refund amount after drawback adjustments; approved invoices are disabled to prevent duplicate refunds and disbursal remains electronic via PFMS.

IGST refund process: officer interface permits verification of invoice mismatches and conditional sanction after concordance submission.
Invoice mismatches between GST returns and Customs shipping bills obstruct IGST refund processing. An officer interface on the Customs EDI system allows verification and sanction of refunds for cases flagged SB005 where exporters submit a certified concordance table mapping GST invoices to Shipping Bill invoices; officers may verify, amend IGST details for short shipments, and approve refunds which are then electronically credited via PFMS and disabled against future claims.

Invoice mismatch in export filings: officer-interface permits verification and correction to enable IGST refund sanction electronically.
Customs will permit correction of export refund claims where refund hold-up is due to invoice mis-match by requiring exporters to amend GSTR-1 via Table 9, monitor errors on ICEGATE, and submit a certified concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices to the designated Customs officer for verification; cases with the specific error code SB005 may be considered under an officer-interface in the Customs EDI to verify, adjust and sanction electronic refunds through PFMS after officer validation.

Mandatory electronic submission of supporting import documents via e-SANCHIT required; noncompliance affects customs processing.
The e-SANCHIT facility has been extended to Appraising Group 5B and all supporting documents for Bills of Entry filed through ICEGATE must be uploaded on the ICEGATE portal from the effective date stated in the notice; implementation difficulties are to be reported to the Additional Commissioner (Technical), ACC (Import).

IGST refund invoice mismatch: officer-interface permits Customs reconciliation and corrective sanctioning of electronic export refunds.
An officer-interface on the Customs EDI system allows Customs officers to reconcile GSTN and Customs invoice data for SB005 invoice-mismatch cases (shipping bills filed till 31 December 2017), upon submission of a certified concordance table mapping GST invoices to Shipping Bill invoices; the officer may verify, amend IGST details, determine the correct refund amount, and sanction electronic refunds via PFMS after system computation and disabling of invoices to prevent duplicate claims.

IGST refund on exports: officer-interface allows customs to verify and correct invoices using a concordance table for refunds.
An alternative mechanism permits a Customs EDI officer-interface to verify, amend, accept or reject IGST refund claims where GSTR 1/Table 6A invoice details transmitted by GSTN are correct but differ from Shipping Bill entries. Exporters must submit a concordance table mapping GST invoices to Shipping Bill invoices; officers will validate IGST taxable value, adjust for short shipment or calculation errors, enter the verified refund amount into Customs EDI, disable sanctioned invoices to prevent duplicate refunds, and refunds continue to be credited electronically via PFMS. The mechanism applies only to Shipping Bills filed up to 31 December 2017.

e-SANCHIT extended to all EDI locations; ICEGATE users must enable PDF uploads with digital signatures and IRN mapping.
Extension of e-SANCHIT to all EDI locations on a voluntary basis requires all Customs brokers and ICEGATE users to develop capability to use the application; only registered ICEGATE users may access e-SANCHIT. Documents must be PDF format, 1 MB, maximum five per upload, with unique names and validated digital signatures (DSC); the same DSC used for BE/SB may be used. Submitted batches receive DRN and IRN identifiers; once IRN/DRN are generated documents cannot be removed. IRN mapping into RES supportingdocs field is available.