Concessionaires operating under Toll-Operate-Transfer concession agreements must pay integrated tax on operation and maintenance services supplied to the concessioning authority based on amounts charged or debited from the designated escrow account towards operation and maintenance expenses. Tax becomes payable in the tax period in which the relevant expenditure is charged or debited to that account. The procedure applies where the concessionaire has exclusive toll collection rights, must operate and maintain the road or highway during the concession period, and pays the concession fee upfront. It takes effect from 1 November 2026.

Registered concessionaires under Toll-Operate-Transfer concession agreements must pay Union Territory tax on operation and maintenance services supplied to concessioning authorities during the concession period. Tax is payable in the tax period when operation and maintenance expenditure is charged or debited to the escrow account maintained under the agreement. The arrangement covers agreements granting exclusive toll collection and appropriation rights for a road or highway, requiring upfront concession fees and operation and maintenance obligations. It takes effect on 1 November 2026.

Tonnage tax business comprises the operation of qualifying ships that produces relevant shipping income. Qualifying-ship operations yielding such income are treated as a separate business of the company, distinct from its other activities or businesses.

Electronic commerce operators must pay GST on intra-State supplies of delivery services other than postal and courier services, subject to a revised exclusion. The operator is not liable where the delivery-service supplier using the electronic commerce operator is required to register under the CGST Act's regular registration provision. This substitution of clause (v) in Notification No. 17/2017-Central Tax (Rate) takes effect from 1 November 2026.

Inter-State delivery services, excluding postal and courier services, are included among services for which an electronic commerce operator must pay tax. This treatment does not apply where the supplier providing delivery services through the operator is liable for registration under the specified IGST and CGST registration provisions. The substituted clause takes effect on 1 November 2026.

Reverse charge mechanism coverage under GST is amended by substituting the figure "6" with "9" in column (3) against serial number 15 of Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate). The amendment changes the specified table reference governing services subject to tax payment under the reverse charge mechanism. It takes effect from 1 November 2026.

The reverse charge integrated tax framework is amended by substituting the figure "18" for "12" in column (3) against serial number 17 of the relevant services table. The amendment takes effect on 1 November 2026, changing that table entry for services on which integrated tax is payable under the reverse charge mechanism accordingly.

IGST service-exemption provisions, effective 1 November 2026, add nil-rated treatment for imports without consideration by Indian establishments of foreign shipping companies from related persons or overseas establishments; Seamen's Provident Fund Organisation services; grants of toll collection rights; and coffee-curing services supplied to coffee cultivators. Covered passenger transport now includes helicopter seat-share travel embarking from or terminating at specified northeastern airports or helipads and Bagdogra. The storage and warehousing entry is recast for cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables and seeds meant for sowing. The goods transport agency exemption excludes goods supplied through electronic commerce operators, while the agency definition now requires road transport services and issuance of a consignment note. A comprehensive definition of seed is also introduced.

GST tax deduction at source applies to any registered person receiving specified goods from another registered person. The covered supplies are used cooking oil, plastic waste and scrap, tyre waste and scrap, metal scrap, and electrical and electronic waste and scrap, classified under the specified Customs Tariff headings and chapters. The substituted category of recipients under the existing TDS notification takes effect on 1 November 2026.

GST service exemptions extend to helicopter seat-share transport embarking from or terminating at airports or helipads in specified north-eastern States and Bagdogra; services to covered persons by the Seamen's Provident Fund Organisation; government grants of exclusive toll-road access and toll collection rights; and coffee curing supplied to coffee cultivators. The storage or warehousing exemption is recast for cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables and seeds intended for sowing. The goods transport agency exemption does not apply where goods are supplied through an electronic commerce operator. A goods transport agency must provide road-goods transport services and issue a consignment note, while "seed" is broadly defined to include planting and propagating material. The changes take effect on 1 November 2026.

Place of effective management is the location where the board of directors or executive directors make decisions. Where the board routinely approves commercial and strategic decisions made by executive directors or officers, it is the place where those executives or officers perform their functions. It also means the place where key management and commercial decisions necessary for conduct of an entity's business as a whole are, in substance, made.

IGST rate conditions now permit limited input tax credit for same-line services in specified hotel accommodation, restaurant, railway catering, and outdoor catering supplies, while credit on other inputs and input services remains restricted. For hotel accommodation and outdoor catering supplied at 5%, credit on same-line input services is capped at tax payable at 5% where the supplier charges a higher rate. Passenger transport and renting of electrically operated vehicles, including goods transport rentals, may be taxed at 5% subject to comparable credit restrictions or at 18%. Delivery services supplied through electronic commerce operators in specified circumstances attract 5% tax without input tax credit. "Electrically operated vehicle" includes e-bicycles. The amendments take effect on 1 November 2026.

Registration exemption for persons exclusively making taxable supplies on which tax is payable under reverse charge will not apply to persons engaged in supplying used cooking oil, plastic waste and scrap, tyre waste and scrap, metal scrap, or electrical and electronic waste and scrap. The excluded goods are identified by specified Customs Tariff headings or chapters. The substituted proviso to Notification No. 5/2017-Central Tax takes effect from 1 November 2026, placing suppliers of these goods outside the notification's exemption.

Input tax credit conditions for specified service rates are revised to allow restricted credit for same-line business supplies while generally denying credit on other inputs and input services. Hotel accommodation and outdoor catering suppliers may claim same-line input-service credit only up to central tax payable at 2.5% where their supplier charges a higher rate; stated same-line credit exceptions also apply to restaurant and railway food supplies. Passenger transport and rental of electrically operated vehicles, including goods-transport rentals, are inserted at 2.5% central tax where battery charging is included, subject to comparable ITC limits. Specified delivery services in e-commerce arrangements receive the 2.5% rate subject to no-ITC conditions. Definitions of goods transport agency and electrically operated vehicle are revised, effective 1 November 2026.

The central-tax exemption for supplies of gold, silver or platinum by nominated agencies to registered persons will use a revised definition of "Nominated Agency". The term now covers entities listed in Appendix 4B of the Handbook of Procedures, as amended by DGFT from time to time. The amendment takes effect on 1 November 2026, aligning exemption eligibility with the current Appendix 4B list.

"Nominated Agency" for the integrated tax exemption on supplies of gold, silver or platinum to registered persons is redefined as entities listed in Appendix 4B of the Handbook of Procedures, as amended from time to time by the DGFT. This replaces the previous definition in the exemption framework and aligns eligibility for the exemption with the current Appendix 4B listing. The revised definition takes effect on 1 November 2026.

Reverse-charge liability under section 9(3) of the CGST Act is extended to supplies received by registered persons from unregistered persons of used cooking oil, waste and scrap of plastics, waste and scrap of tyres, and electrical and electronics waste and scrap. These goods are inserted into Notification No. 4/2017-Central Tax (Rate), requiring the registered recipient to discharge GST under reverse charge for the specified supplies. The amendment takes effect from 1 November 2026.

Reverse-charge liability under the IGST regime will apply to supplies of used cooking oil, plastic waste and scrap, tyre waste and scrap, and electrical and electronic waste and scrap when supplied by an unregistered person to a registered person. The amendment inserts these categories into the specified-supplies table, making the registered recipient liable to pay integrated tax under reverse charge. It takes effect on 1 November 2026.

Psyllium seeds (Isobgul/Isobgol), classified under tariff heading 1211 90 13, are inserted at serial number 87A in the schedule of exemptions for intra-State supplies of goods. The insertion exempts those supplies from the whole of central tax otherwise leviable under section 9 of the CGST Act. The exemption takes effect on 1 November 2026.

Inland Waterways Authority of India, for the purposes of the relevant Part under the Income-tax Act, 2025, carries the meaning assigned under section 3 of the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985. The definition is newly incorporated and has no direct corresponding definition under the Income-tax Act, 1961.