Authorisation of payment service providers requires an applicant seeking authorisation to be incorporated as a company and to maintain its registered office in an International Financial Services Centre.

Persons intending to provide Payment Services in or from an IFSC must apply for authorisation as a Payment Service Provider in the specified format and manner, with the prescribed non-refundable fee. Persons listed in Schedule IV are exempt. Authorised providers may offer one or more Payment Services identified in Part A of Schedule I. A provider meeting the additional conditions in Part C of Schedule I is designated a Significant Payment Service Provider.

Authorisation for Payment Services is mandatory for any person seeking to provide Payment Services in or from an International Financial Services Centre. A certificate of authorisation under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024 is required before commencing or carrying on such activity.

Payment services comprise activities specified in Part A of Schedule I, excluding those in Part B. A payment service provider is an authorised company, and payment transactions include the placement, transfer, or withdrawal of money irrespective of an underlying obligation. Cross-border money transfer services cover outbound transmissions from IFSC and inbound receipts for transmission to persons in or outside IFSC. E-money is prepaid electronically stored foreign-currency value that creates a claim on its issuer, while deposits are excluded.

Payment services in International Financial Services Centres are governed under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024. The Authority makes the Regulations pursuant to statutory regulation-making powers under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. Commencement is conditional upon publication in the Official Gazette, and legal effect begins on the date of publication.

BATF Services in an IFSC require registration, except for specified Ancillary Service Providers subject to transitional conditions. Applicants must be established as a company or limited liability partnership in the IFSC, maintain fit-and-proper status, and serve only eligible non-resident recipients. Safeguarding conditions prohibit business splitting, reconstruction or reorganisation involving existing Indian operations, asset transfers from Indian group entities, and transfer or replacement of existing group-entity contracts. Providers must appoint qualified IFSC-based Principal and Compliance Officers, operate in specified foreign currency, undertake prescribed reporting, and obtain annual independent compliance certification.

Faceless assessment applies to imports primarily under Chapter 29 in Appraisement Group 2A across Mumbai Customs Zones I, II and III. Covered Bills of Entry are assigned through the Customs Automated System to Faceless Assessment Groups. Nodal Commissioners must monitor speedy and uniform assessments and ensure procedures for verification, speaking orders, review, demand adjudication, provisional assessment, amendments, and electronic communication are followed. The Turant Suvidha Kendra supports relevant functions, while jurisdictional Customs Appeals Commissioners may hear appeals despite the assessing officer being located elsewhere.

Faceless assessment of imported goods in Mumbai Customs Zone II is extended beyond Group 2A in phased coverage of specified import groups. Bills of Entry concerning these groups are assigned by the Customs Automated System to officers in the respective Faceless Assessment Groups. Principal Commissioners/Commissioners act as Nodal Commissioners to monitor speedy and uniform assessment, while assessment groups operate under Commissioner-level control. Jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs (Appeals) may hear appeals for imports within their jurisdiction despite assessment by an officer at another Customs station.

Prior GST clarifications concerning secondary or post-sales discounts are withdrawn ab initio under the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The withdrawal follows representations raising apprehensions about their implications and is intended to secure uniform implementation across field formations. It removes the operative effect of the earlier guidance from its original date of issue and precludes reliance on those clarifications.

Enforcement under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 targeted drug trafficking through intelligence-led interceptions of cannabis, charas/hashish, cocaine and amphetamine consignments. More than 845 kg of contraband was seized across rail, road and airport transit points, with 15 persons arrested. Operations addressed cross-border and domestic movement, including concealment in clothing, baggage, commercial cargo, consumer-product containers and textiles, and extended to a receiver and organiser linked to amphetamine trafficking.

Industrial-relations engagement addresses strike action seeking a five-day banking week and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive scheme. The scheme has been kept in abeyance, while conciliation continues on the five-day workweek demand. Employees are urged to resolve issues through dialogue and maintain uninterrupted banking services. Workforce measures include revised pay scales, welfare benefits, streamlined recruitment and promotions, improved transfers, pension-related benefits, medical insurance, disability-related allowances, and early negotiations for the next Bipartite Settlement.

The cooperative framework supports preventive drug-awareness campaigns, youth-empowerment initiatives and community outreach programmes through value-based education, awareness of harms associated with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and information on counselling, recovery and treatment avenues. Activities include seminars, workshops, exhibitions, rallies, competitions and digital awareness initiatives, with focus on educational institutions, rural communities and youth. Activities remain voluntary, educational, inclusive and non-regulatory, and participating volunteers cannot perform enforcement, investigation or policing functions.

Entry 41 covers upfront consideration for leases of at least thirty years of industrial plots or financial-business infrastructure, subject to use for industrial or financial activity. For IT/ITeS leases in a State-declared industrial IT park, relevant considerations include the State industrial-area declaration, lease restrictions to IT/ITeS use, and limited ancillary commercial facilities. The absence of a CGST definition leaves the scope of industrial activity dependent on State classification, with uncertainty about broad non-industrial uses within declared areas.

The Index of Core Industries (ICI), using base year 2022-23, records a provisional overall index of 119.2 for August 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 4.8 per cent against August 2025. The July 2026 overall index has been finalised at 120.8 in place of its provisional value of 121.2, with the associated year-on-year growth revised from 5.4 per cent to 5.0 per cent. August 2026 data remain provisional.

Payment services in or from an IFSC require authorisation of an IFSC-incorporated company, subject to eligibility, fit-and-proper, financial-soundness, infrastructure, governance and user-protection assessment. Authorised providers must maintain prescribed net worth, appoint a nodal bank, commence operations within the permitted period, and notify material changes. They must safeguard applicable funds through segregated escrow or other permitted arrangements, comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and know-your-customer requirements, protect information systems, give clear user disclosures, operate grievance mechanisms, and retain transaction and compliance records.

From 20 October 2026, the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement applies duty-free treatment to all tariff lines covering Indian exports to New Zealand, while preserving exclusions for sensitive Indian agricultural products. Market access for New Zealand apples, kiwifruit, and Manuka honey remains subject to tariff rate quotas, minimum import prices, seasonal windows, and safeguards. Services commitments, mobility routes, investment facilitation, agricultural cooperation, and recognition of specified international inspection approvals form further components.

For licences already issued with non-standard UQCs, the electronic system permits Shipping Bill filing despite a UQC mismatch until 30 October 2020. Exporters must declare standard UQCs in the Shipping Bill item table, while stating quantity in the licence table according to the UQC specified in the licence. The relaxation is limited to licence Shipping Bills filed within the specified period.

ITC claimed in GSTR-3B for February to August 2020 must be cumulatively reconciled with eligible supplier-uploaded invoices and debit notes reflected up to the September 2020 GSTR-1 due date. Aggregate ITC for those months cannot exceed 110% of the cumulative eligible uploaded credit, while remaining subject to statutory ITC eligibility conditions. Excess credit identified on reconciliation must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September 2020 GSTR-3B; non-reversal is treated as ineligible ITC in September 2020.

Relevant orders issued by the Adjudicating Authority and Appellate Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 were to be supplied to the petitioner through counsel within two weeks, without prejudice to the respondent's rights and contentions. Upon receipt, the petitioner could pursue remedies available in law. The writ petition was disposed of on that limited basis.

Eligible registered persons seeking the 3% central-tax composition option may file Form GST CMP-02, using the specified supplier category, up to 30 September 2019 rather than 31 July 2019. The revised timetable retains the obligation to furnish Form GST ITC-03 under applicable composition-rule requirements for persons opting for this composition treatment.