Delivery of bullion to the beneficial owner of a bullion depository receipt is conditional upon payment of all charges due to the vault manager and surrender of the receipt for cancellation. The vault manager must not release the bullion until both requirements are satisfied.

Withdrawal of bullion represented by a bullion depository receipt requires depository approval and intimation to the vault manager. The vault manager must deliver the bullion upon production of required documents and written acknowledgment by the beneficial owner. Where delivery is refused or not made, the vault manager bears the burden of proving a sufficient reason. The vault manager must also notify the bullion depository when bullion is withdrawn from the vault.

Bullion depository receipts are documents of title to bullion and must contain prescribed receipt, vault, depositor, delivery, bullion-description, and authentication particulars, together with any additional particulars specified by the bullion exchange or the Authority. A vault manager is liable for damages caused by wilful omission of required particulars. Such omission alone does not invalidate the receipt for settlement of disputes or claims.

Specified amendments under the Arunachal Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 take effect from 1 October 2025. The appointed commencement covers clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 2, sections 3 to 5, and sections 7 to 15, giving operative effect to the expressly identified amendment provisions from that date.

Every depositor and beneficial owner must maintain an account with the bullion depository. Upon receiving bullion from a depositor and execution of all requisite documents, the bullion depository must create and manage a bullion depository receipt in the depositor's name in dematerialised form, following the manner specified by the Authority.

Depositing bullion into an empanelled vault requires the depositor to submit a deposit request to a vault empanelled with a bullion depository. The vault manager or its authorised person must ensure execution of requisite documentation before deposit. The vault manager must also ensure that the bullion meets the Authority-specified good delivery standard and, when directed, engage an assayer at the time of deposit to test that standard.

Bullion depository receipts may be issued only in accordance with the applicable regulatory requirements governing such instruments. Issuance outside the prescribed framework is prohibited.

Vault managers must keep complete and accurate electronically retrievable records and accounts of vaulting transactions, including bullion received and withdrawn and bullion depository receipts issued. Vault-business records must be maintained in numerical sequence, separately from other business records, in the form, manner, and retention period specified by the Authority or relevant bullion depository. They must be available for inspection when required by the Authority, bullion exchange, or bullion depository.

Vault manager liability applies to loss of or injury to stored bullion. Damage or loss despite reasonable care requires compensation based on the bullion's value at deposit, while negligence requires compensation based on its value on the date of damage or loss. No responsibility arises for loss, destruction, damage or deterioration caused by a force-majeure event. Vault managers must maintain adequate insurance for risks specified by the bullion depository or the Authority.

Registration of vault managers requires an application in the prescribed form and manner, accompanied by an undertaking accepting applicable liabilities. Eligibility requirements may include prescribed net worth and infrastructure for operating bullion-storage vaults. Registration may be granted upon satisfaction of the applicable requirements, and an applicant must receive an opportunity of being heard before rejection.

A bullion depository must indemnify a beneficial owner for loss arising from the wrongful act, negligence or default of the depository or a participant. Where the depository indemnifies loss attributable to a participant's negligence, it may recover the indemnified amount from that participant.

Regulation 50 requires bullion depositories to furnish vault managers with details of bullion transfers in the names of beneficial owners, in accordance with their bye-laws. Vault managers must provide bullion depositories with specified relevant records relating to bullion held by them. A bullion depository may empanel only a vault manager registered with the Authority.

Pledge or hypothecation of a Bullion Depository Receipt by a beneficial owner requires previous approval of the bullion depository. Every beneficial owner must intimate the bullion depository of the pledge or hypothecation, following which the bullion depository must make corresponding entries in its records. Such record entries are treated as evidence of the pledge or hypothecation.

Every bullion depository must maintain a register and an index of beneficial owners in the manner specified by the Authority. The requirement operates within the framework governing the rights and obligations of bullion depositories, participants and beneficial owners.

Bullion depositories may transfer ownership of bullion depository receipts for beneficial owners but have no other rights over the underlying bullion. Beneficial owners retain all rights and benefits, and bear all liabilities, relating to their bullion depository receipts.

Every bullion depository must register a transfer of a Bullion Depository Receipt in the transferee's name upon receiving intimation. The intimation may be received directly or through a participant, and the obligation ensures that notified transfers are reflected in the depository's records.

Access to bullion depository services is available to any person directly or through a participant, subject to entering into an agreement with a bullion depository. The agreement must be in the form specified by the applicable bye-laws.

A bullion depository may, where the Authority so desires, enter into an agreement appointing one or more participants as its agents. The agreement must be in the form specified in the bullion depository's bye-laws.

Registration of a bullion depository requires additional safeguards, including bye-laws and legal documentation aligned with its objectives and consumer protection. The depository must have an agreement with a vault manager possessing the infrastructure and standards necessary for safe bullion storage. Before approving commencement of operations, the Authority physically verifies the infrastructure facilities and systems established by the bullion depository.

Recognition, commencement of business, net worth, ownership and governance requirements applicable to depositories under the IFSCA (Market Infrastructure Institutions) Regulations, 2021 apply, mutatis mutandis, to bullion depositories. Those established depository standards are thereby adapted to regulate bullion depositories' recognition, operational commencement, financial strength, ownership structure and governance arrangements within the bullion market framework.