IGST refund bank account validation required to match Customs EDI and GSTN to enable PFMS disbursement.
Bank account details in Customs EDI must match those in GSTN to enable PFMS crediting of IGST export refunds. Exporters or their authorized representatives should approach the Drawback Section to validate or update accounts, submitting the bank account number and bank name as declared for drawback, the GSTN-uploaded bank details, an authorization letter for agents where applicable, a request letter with valid IEC and a cancelled cheque for the GSTN-declared account and the account to be updated. EGM errors and other compliance failures can block refund migration and must be rectified with customs officials.

Carriage of undeclared goods liable to tax, penalty and seizure when transported beyond declared documents.
Vehicles carrying consignments must carry prescribed tax and transport documents and allow inspection on interception. Goods transported in excess of quantities declared in invoices, e-waybills, permits or challans are treated as unaccounted and as intended supply within the State, liable to tax, penalty and cess. Goods, conveyances and related documents moved or stored in contravention of the Act or rules are liable to detention or seizure and will be released only after realisation of tax and penalty or payment of security.

Waybill system reinstatement restores prior electronic entry requirements, reverting to pre-existing online waybill procedure for state compliance.
Reinstatement of the prior waybill system restores the online procedure for issuance of waybills for entry of taxable goods into the State by rescinding the later electronic waybill notification and placing the earlier online issuance process back in force, directing stakeholders to comply with that system until further order.

Total Expense Ratio disclosure: AMCs must publish daily TER and notify investors three working days before base TER increases.
AMCs must publish daily TER of all schemes in a downloadable spreadsheet and update the website at least three working days before any increase in the base TER; investors must be notified by email or SMS at least three working days prior, while decreases due to increased daily net assets need no prior notice but must be communicated immediately. Changes must be recorded with written rationale, intimated to the AMC Board, and placed before trustees quarterly. The circular also requires AMCs to provide the exact weblink to the TER disclosure and applies to new schemes immediately and existing schemes from the stated effective date.

Social Welfare Surcharge replaces education cess and is applied automatically; exemptions claimed through BE message fields.
Social Welfare Surcharge replaces the Education cesses and is levied on the aggregate of customs duties, applied automatically by ICES 1.5 with exemptions claimable via prescribed bill of entry message fields; Road and Infrastructure Cess replaces the earlier road cess and is levied as an additional customs duty on scheduled goods (per litre on Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel) with corresponding excise adjustments and automatic ICES application.

All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback amended to adjust rates, delete a tariff entry, and direct reporting of implementation issues.
Amendments to the All Industry Rates (AIRS) of Duty Drawback revise drawback rates and caps: enhancements for specified marine products, rubber articles (including automobile and bicycle tyres/tubes), leather articles, wool yarns/fabrics, glass handicrafts, bicycles, and certain man made textile nets; reductions for specified chemical tariff items; deletion of the polypropylene mats tariff entry from the Drawback Schedule with reclassification under the existing customs tariff entry and continuation of the existing rate/cap. Implementation difficulties are to be reported to the designated Drawback authority.

Social Welfare Surcharge introduced on imports; ICES applies default rate and allows notification-based exemptions.
A Social Welfare Surcharge replaces education cesses and is levied on the aggregate of customs duties using the same assessable base, with a default surcharge rate configured in ICES and exemptions claimable via notification entries in specified Bill of Entry item fields. A new Road and Infrastructure Cess is imposed as an additional duty of customs on scheduled goods (including motor spirit and high speed diesel), applied automatically by ICES, with corresponding excise duty adjustments to keep overall duty unchanged; rate changes effective from 01.02.2018.

Customs tariff changes and Social Welfare Surcharge implemented, with duty restructurings and procedural modernisation for trade facilitation.
Tariff amendments revise Basic Customs Duty across many headings-raising duties on selected consumer goods, electronics, vehicle engines and parts, and certain textiles and footwear, while reducing or exempting duty on particular industrial inputs and solar components; the Finance Bill also imposes a Social Welfare Surcharge, abolishes the Education and SHE cesses, and creates specified exemptions from the new surcharge for certain precious metals and fuels. Concurrently, the Customs Act is amended to modernise procedures: expanded extraterritorial reach, enhanced verification and provisional assessment rules, risk-based selection and audit provisions, creation of Customs Authority for Advance Rulings and appeal routes, provision for Customs Automated System clearance, electronic cash ledger payments, controlled delivery authority, and reciprocal information-exchange arrangements.

Integration of SEZ bulk cargo delivery: extend port procedure to warehouse consignments, require Ex-bond processing and O.O.C issuance.
Integration of SEZ bulk cargo delivery via SEZ online continues the existing port-to-SEZ procedure and extends it to warehoused cargo: after filing the Ex-bond Bill of Entry follow the prescribed steps; once a transshipment reference is generated in Import Noting, forward the Ex-bond Bill of Entry to the Bonds Section for issuance of O.O.C in GAT module in ICES.

Empanelment of chartered engineers for customs valuation of second hand machinery, with prescribed professional charges and reporting duties.
Specified Chartered Engineers/Fellows are empanelled for valuation of second hand machinery and other goods within the Commissionerate; empanelment is valid for one year, requires half yearly self appraisal reports, carries prescribed professional charges payable by the importer, and valuation reports by notified agencies or empanelled engineers must be in the annexed Form B.

SEZ approvals: Board extended formal approvals, granted co developer status and conditioned shareholding changes on compliance.
Board extended formal approvals and Letters of Permission for specified SEZ projects and units-typically by up to one year or shorter interim periods where projects were being consolidated-approved co developer statuses subject to SEZ Act and Rules and a 30 year lease cap, rejected a power SEZ proposal inconsistent with sector guidelines and lacking State recommendation, and granted conditional approvals for multiple shareholding or constitutional changes. All approvals required continuity of SEZ obligations, fulfilment of eligibility and security criteria, compliance with Revenue/Company/SEBI rules, furnishing financial and PAN details to CBDT, and recognition of Assessing Officer tax assessment rights.

Ports of entry restriction: plant and plant material imports permitted only through specified authorized entry points.
Instruction No. 01/2018 directs that imports of plants, plant materials and other regulated plant articles must be allowed only through customs stations specified in the Plant Quarantine Order (Regulation of Import into India), 2003 (as amended). It identifies Guwahati Airport and Guwahati foreign post office, and the land customs stations at Agartala, Moreh and Zokhawthar as the authorised entry points within the Commissionerate's jurisdiction and warns that non compliance with this requirement will be viewed seriously.

Waiver of late filing fees for bills of entry during system outage, with affected cases processed by customs officials.
Exemption granted from levy of amendment fee and charges for late filing of Bills of Entry for entries affected by an ICES directory update that suspended data entry operations. The Customs office determined that there will be no late fee for the period during which data entry services were interrupted. Waiver requests are to be processed by the relevant Deputy/Assistant Commissioner and put up to the Joint/Additional Commissioner of Customs; difficulties should be reported to the issuing office.

Export under LUT now permitted without Bank Guarantee; exporters must obtain LUT acceptance and return original bond.
The department will return Bank Guarantees submitted by exporters to the issuing bank only after the registered person obtains a letter of acceptance of LUT under the 04.10.2017 notification and surrenders the original letter of acceptance of Bond to the Department; Export Cell/KCS ward in charges are directed to initiate the necessary action and provide intimation to the registered person.

Ayurvedic medicine classification determines GST rate through the classical and proprietary distinction under authoritative books and labels.
Ayurvedic medicines are classified for GST based on whether they are manufactured according to the authoritative books specified in the First Schedule to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Medicines made exclusively in accordance with those books and sold under the corresponding book name are treated as classical medicines and taxed at 5 per cent. Medicines made on self-developed or experiential formulas are treated as proprietary medicines and taxed at 12 per cent, with the label showing the ingredients and quantities used.

Change in jurisdictional processing: new regional authority must amend IEC, notify original authority, and enable applicant benefits.
The amendment requires that when a Head Office or Registered Office address change in an IEC results in a shift of jurisdiction, the request must be made to the new RA, which shall amend the IEC based on submitted documents, notify the RA that originally issued the IEC of the changes, and thereafter allow the applicant to carry out functions and apply for eligible benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Removal of Minimum Export Price permits export of specified onion HS items without MEP until further orders.
Export policy amendment removes the Minimum Export Price (MEP) requirement for the item descriptions at the specified serial numbers in Chapter 7 of Schedule 2 of the ITC (HS) Classification, permitting export of those onion varieties without any MEP until further orders; departmental officers must treat this Public Notice as a standing order and exporters may report difficulties to the designated customs contacts.

KYC verification for courier consignments: individual ID and recorded delivery address suffice; GSTIN or PAN serve for entities.
KYC for courier imports/exports: for individuals Aadhaar, passport, PAN or voter ID suffice when the authorised courier records the delivery address; for firms or institutions GSTIN suffices, otherwise UIN or PAN; letter/document packages are exempt from KYC but must be X rayed to confirm they contain only documents.

All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback amended, changing rates for specified goods and deleting a tariff item.
Amendments revise the All Industry Rates (AIRs) of Duty Drawback effective 25.01.2018 by enhancing AIRs/caps for specified marine products, rubber articles (including automobile and bicycle tyres/tubes), leather goods, wool yarns/fabrics, glass handicrafts, bicycles, and certain man-made textile nets, while reducing AIRs/caps for specified chemicals; tariff item 391802 (polypropylene mats) is deleted from the Drawback Schedule and polypropylene mats remain classifiable under tariff item 460101 with the existing rate/cap.

E-Way bill requirement for interstate movement of specified commodities under state GST rules affirmed; intra-state dispensation remains.
State clarification affirms the operative status of the state E-Way bill framework and confirms that the state notification requiring e-Way bills for a restricted list of commodities governs interstate movements, while the requirement for intra-state movement remains dispensed under the cited dispensation.