FII investment limits in long term infrastructure debt revised with bifurcated lock in, residual maturity and bidding allocation rules.
Revises FII investment framework for corporate long term infrastructure debt by creating two categories with distinct residual maturity and lock in requirements: a one year residual/one year lock in category permitting FII inter trading but no sales to domestic investors during lock in, and a three year residual/three year lock in category that includes Infrastructure Debt Fund investments. FIIs may access the three year category without prior approval until a utilisation threshold, after which allocations proceed by competitive bidding; the shorter lock category is to be allocated via a time limited exchange bidding process with per entity caps, minimum bid sizes, and fee remittance deadlines. Embedded put/call dates are treated as maturity for residual maturity reckoning.

Foreign Direct Investment policy sets entry routes, sectoral caps and reporting obligations shaping cross border equity participation.
The Consolidated FDI Policy (effective 1 October 2011) sets out definitions, eligible investors and instruments, and the dual entry framework of the Automatic Route and Government Route. It prescribes sectoral caps, entry and conditionalities for permitted sectors, pricing and valuation norms for equity and convertible instruments, rules for ADR/GDR/FCCB and ECB conversions into equity, and detailed reporting and filing obligations (Forms FC GPR, FC TRS, advance reports and annual returns). Calculation rules for direct and indirect foreign investment, downstream investment limits, and FEMA enforcement and penalties are also detailed.

Foreign direct investment rules define entry routes, sector conditions, instrument types, reporting obligations and compliance mechanisms.
The Circular sets out a comprehensive framework for Foreign Direct Investment, distinguishing the Automatic Route and Government Route, specifying eligible instruments (equity and fully mandatorily convertible instruments), pricing and valuation norms, conditions for issuance and conversion of foreign borrowings and ADRs/GDRs, and timelines for issuance against inward remittances. It prescribes transfer, escrow and pledge procedures, KYC and Form-based reporting to RBI (including FC-GPR and FC-TRS), rules for calculating direct and indirect foreign investment across multilayered structures, and sectoral entry conditions and caps with associated compliance obligations.

Extension of tax filing deadline for assessees in Sikkim: income tax returns and tax audit reports now due October thirty-first.
Administrative relief extends the due date for filing income-tax returns and the specified date for furnishing tax audit reports for assessees in Sikkim from the end of September to the end of October, enacted under the Income-tax law as a temporary deadline adjustment in response to earthquake-related disruption.

Abolition of DEPB scheme ends EDI acceptance of DEPB shipping bills and shifts exporters to Drawback Scheme.
Abolition of the DEPB scheme requires ICES 1.5 to stop accepting and processing DEPB shipping bills and DEPB combined claims; pending DEPB bills without LEO must be cancelled and refiled under the Drawback Scheme. ICEGATE will transmit only DEPB shipping bills with valid LEO dates up to the cut-off. Imports under valid DEPB scrips will continue until scrip expiry. Drawback claims continue to be filed via the EDI shipping bill, and payments are disbursed to registered bank accounts (with IFSC and account certification) or via NEFT/RTGS.

Mandatory ACES usage requires all users to file excise and service tax processes electronically, with helpdesk and facilitation support.
Mandatory implementation of ACES requires all departmental users and assessees to use online ACES modules for Registration, statutory returns, Refunds, Provisional Assessment, Exports, Dispute Resolution and Audit, with Service Desk support, Certified Facilitation Centers to act on behalf of assessees for digitalization and filing, and an LMS and help resources available on the ACES website.

Offer document filing requirements reduced to fewer physical copies with electronic disclosure; applies to filings after the circular.
Filing requirements for offer documents under the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 are streamlined to reduce the number of physical copies submitted to the Board and rely on electronic availability on SEBI and merchant banker websites; the reduction applies to all draft and final offer documents filed with SEBI on or after the date of the circular and is issued under SEBI's statutory authority.

Structured products disclosure requirement: enhanced risk, valuation and distribution safeguards mandated for market linked debentures issuers
Regulation requires enhanced issuer obligations and investor protections for listing of structured products/market linked debentures: ineligible treatment of non principal protected instruments; issuer eligibility, minimum ticket size; expanded offer document disclosures including standardized rating prefix, scenario analyses, prominent model and issuer credit risk warnings, valuation publication and commission disclosure; mandatory third party valuation by a registered rating agency with at least weekly public values; and distributor suitability and investor guidance requirements.

ACES mandates electronic registration, e filing of specified excise and service tax returns and electronic payment procedures for taxpayers.
The circular mandates use of the centralized ACES system for electronic registration, return filing and electronic payment of Central Excise duty and Service Tax, prescribes registration procedures for new, existing, non assessees and LTU assessees, specifies validation, XML/template upload and CFC facilitation options, details e payment via authorized net banking and EASIEST with challan generation, and defines filing status, rejection/acceptance rules and taxpayer responsibilities including maintenance of contact details and use of PAN for statutory registration.

Prior Informed Consent requirement mandates MoEF permission for imports of specified e waste and used electronic assemblies; noncompliance triggers re export requirement.
Imports of specified electrical and electronic wastes require Prior Informed Consent for A1180 items and prior permission for B1110 items under the Hazardous Waste Rules; importers must produce MoEF clearance at arrival, and contravening imports are treated as illegal traffic requiring the importer to re export the wastes at their cost under Rule 17.

Disclosure of price information for past issues must accompany due diligence, using prescribed format and summary tables for recent IPOs.
Merchant bankers must attach prescribed price information disclosures in the specified Annexure and summary table to the Due Diligence certificate for prospectuses filed on or after the circular's applicability date, covering up to ten IPOs per banker across three financial years, with separate tables for each banker and detailed issue-level price and benchmark comparisons.

Standardized IPO application form mandates a single ASBA/non ASBA booklet with uniform fields, serialisation and disclosure.
SEBI mandates a single standardized Application Cum Bidding Form for ASBA and non ASBA applicants in A4 booklet format, with prescribed color coding by investor/repatriation status, mandatory eight digit serial application numbers with date/time stamping, and strict prohibition on altering spacing or data fields. The circular lists required data fields (PAN, single 16 digit depository account field, investor category/status, bid options with bid price/discount/net price, payment options including ASBA authorizations), signature and stamping rules, acknowledgement slips, and bid revision mechanics; it applies to RHPs/prospectuses filed on or after the specified effective date and is issued under SEBI's statutory powers.

External Commercial Borrowings in Renminbi allowed for infrastructure companies under approval route, subject to annual cap and conditions.
Indian infrastructure companies are permitted to raise External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) in Renminbi (RMB) under the approval route subject to an annual cap and review. Reserve Bank approvals are valid for three months; the loan agreement must be executed within that period and Form 83 filed for Loan Registration Number within seven days of signing or approval will be cancelled. Designated AD Category I banks may open RMB Nostro accounts, must monitor end use, cannot provide guarantees, and all other ECB conditions and reporting requirements remain unchanged.

Tax deduction at source conflicts: refund procedure extended where treaty rate exceeds domestic rate, enabling relief for excess withholding.
The Board extends the refund procedure in Circular No. 7/2007 to cases where tax has been deducted at a higher rate under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement than the lower rate prescribed under domestic law, recognizing the genuine hardship to the resident deductor and modifying the earlier Circular to cover such treaty-rate withholdings.

Duty drawback rate revision: revised AIR framework updates input-duty calculations and integrates DEPB items affecting export drawback claims.
Revised All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback for 2011-12 are effective from October first, incorporating input prices, SION, import shares, FOB values, applied duty rates, diesel/furnace oil duty incidence and service tax on input services; DEPB items have been integrated into the drawback schedule with transitional rate adjustments and specific classification and retrospective application clarifications for selected tariff entries.

MCA21 NEFT payments allow SRN generation, fund transfer to designated accounts, and UTN-SRN linking for fee processing.
NEFT is authorised for MCA21 fee payments: user uploads eForm, selects NEFT, generates SRN/eChallan, executes an NEFT transfer to designated MCA21 accounts and obtains a UTN; banks notify MCA21 in several hours and the user must link UTN and SRN in MCA21 by providing originating account number and amount, after which MCA21 verifies and creates work items. Separate SRNs and separate transfers/accounts are required for stamp duty; SRNs can expire and payments must be made in a single transaction.

ECB liability-equity ratio now measures proposed and outstanding ECB against broadened equity for lender eligibility under ECB rules.
The metric for assessing ECBs from foreign equity holders is revised: the ECB liability-equity ratio replaces the debt-equity concept, counting proposed plus outstanding ECB from the same foreign equity lender as liabilities, and treating equity as paid-up capital together with free reserves and foreign currency share premium per the latest audited balance sheet (with lender-specific share premium considered where multiple foreign equity holders exist). Approval-route permissions are extended to additional service sector units, indirect equity holders meeting a controlling threshold, and group companies where borrower and lender share a parent, subject to aggregate ECB limits relative to equity.

External Commercial Borrowings policy now allows foreign equity holders to provide credit enhancement under the automatic route.
Direct foreign equity holders with at least 25% holding and indirect foreign equity holders holding at least 51% of paid-up capital may provide credit enhancement to Indian infrastructure companies and Infrastructure Finance Companies under the External Commercial Borrowings framework; such credit enhancement by eligible non-resident entities is permitted on the automatic route with no prior Reserve Bank approval, while all other terms and conditions of the earlier circular remain unchanged and the amendment is effective immediately.

Service tax on cross-border services arises from enactment-based commencement, making liability effective from the statute's commencement.
Service tax on taxable services provided by non-residents or persons located outside India to recipients in India is chargeable under the reverse charge mechanism only from the date when the statutory provision bringing such services within tax came into force; the Board accepts this position and has rescinded the earlier instruction that directed defence of levy from an earlier date, directing appropriate action in pending disputes.

Mandatory e filing of service tax returns via ACES requires online registration, validated uploads, and interim non-requirement of digital signatures.
Mandatory electronic filing of half-yearly service tax returns is required through the ACES platform. Users must complete online "Registration with ACES" to obtain a permanent User ID and system credentials; existing assessees receive activation details and non-assessee registrations are available for specified transaction purposes. Returns may be filed online or via an offline utility uploaded to ACES, where returns undergo validation and receive statuses such as "uploaded," "filed," or "rejected." Digital signature support exists but will not be activated initially; Customer Facilitation Centres and a service desk are available for assistance.