Mutual fund regulatory references to the Fifth Schedule are replaced with references to Chapter IIID of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008. The amendment updates regulation 28 and regulation 81(l) and omits the Fifth Schedule from the Mutual Funds Regulations, 2026. These changes take effect 180 days after publication in the Official Gazette, consolidating the relevant requirements under the Intermediaries Regulations framework.

Research analyst regulations now define "institutional investor" by adopting the meaning used in the capital-issue and disclosure framework. Research analysts are no longer mandatorily required to maintain recordings of calls with clients that are institutional investors. The exemption is confined to call-recording obligations for communications with such clients. These amendments take effect on the thirtieth day following publication in the Official Gazette.

The National Assessment Centre Portal provides importers, customs brokers, stakeholders and Customs officers with a central, searchable repository of NAC decisions, legal precedents, advance rulings, audit objections, advisories, alerts, circulars, public notices and meeting records. It covers classification, valuation and other assessment-related issues, including matters resolved by NACs and those requiring policy intervention. Centralised access is intended to promote consistent Customs assessment across formations, improve transparency and certainty, support informed compliance, reduce divergent interpretations and avoidable disputes, and strengthen trade facilitation.

Silver classified under ITC(HS) 71069221 is a restricted import and may be imported against a valid Import Authorisation, subject to its endorsed conditions and applicable exemptions. The authorisation identifies the holder, item, quantity and value, allowing the holder to import directly in its own name. Nominated Agency, IFSCA Qualified Jeweller or EOU status is not an additional eligibility requirement unless expressly imposed by the authorisation. The IIBX import requirement applies only to IFSCA-notified Qualified Jewellers for goods covered by a separate policy amendment and does not apply to silver under ITC(HS) 71069221. Customs clearance must follow these conditions and extant procedure.

Authorised Dealers must maintain a Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve for INR-related foreign exchange derivatives entered into with users. The reserve applies where the notional value exceeds USD two million equivalent and the derivative hedges a current account transaction in which the user purchases foreign currency against INR. It must equal 20 per cent of each contract's INR-equivalent notional amount, be deposited in cash in India with RBI daily, and remain maintained until contract termination. Splitting transactions among one or more Authorised Dealers to avoid the threshold is a violation. Daily FERR details must be reported through CIMS. Requirements apply to contracts undertaken after issuance.

Employee stock option expenditure and principal payments under finance leases are treated as allowable revenue expenditure, notwithstanding book capitalisation of leased assets. Unearned income shown as a current liability is not taxable in the relevant year. Overseas termination, interconnect, bandwidth, legal and professional payments to non-residents are not subject to withholding where the payments are not royalty or otherwise chargeable in India, including where services are performed outside India and recipients lack an Indian permanent establishment. Computer software falls within the computers depreciation block. Unabsorbed depreciation from earlier years remains eligible for carry-forward without time restriction.

Section 271(1)(c) contains distinct charges for concealment of income particulars and furnishing inaccurate income particulars. The taxpayer must receive clear notice of the specific charge, and penalty may be imposed only on the ground on which proceedings were initiated. Acceptance of a quantum addition without appeal does not itself establish concealment or inaccurate particulars. Imposing penalty for furnishing inaccurate particulars where proceedings began for concealment breaches natural justice and renders the penalty unsustainable.

Electrical engineering is added alongside telecommunication as an accepted educational discipline for appointment to Scientist 'F', Scientist 'E', Scientist 'D', Scientist 'C' and Scientist 'B' posts. The amendment applies to item (a) of the educational-qualification requirement in each relevant recruitment-schedule entry, extending discipline-based eligibility across those grades while retaining telecommunication as an eligible qualification. It takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Penalty under Section 271(1)(c) requires the recorded satisfaction, statutory notice and final levy to identify and correspond to one definite statutory limb. Proceedings initiated for concealment of income cannot sustain a penalty imposed without clearly specifying whether the charge is concealment or furnishing inaccurate particulars. Consistency and judicial discipline required adherence to an earlier coordinate-bench ruling on the same issue where no distinguishing facts or contrary material existed. The penalty orders were therefore set aside as unsustainable.

Recruitment to CERT-In Group A and Group B posts covers scientific, legal, administrative and secretarial cadres. Scientific grades may be filled by direct recruitment, deputation, absorption, re-employment or short-term contract; direct candidates require specified technical qualifications and progressively greater relevant experience for senior grades. Deputation ordinarily requires an analogous post or prescribed prior service, is normally limited to five years, and carries a maximum entry age. Common provisions preserve reservation and age-relaxation concessions, allow reasoned relaxation, and impose a marital-status disqualification subject to personal-law-based exemption.

Special Economic Zone status is notified for a 1.65-hectare area at Plot No. 7, Sector Knowledge Park-05, Greater Noida, for Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services. An Approval Committee comprising designated central, customs, tax, banking and State Government representatives is constituted, with the Developer's representative serving as a special invitee. The zone is deemed to be an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act, 1962 from 12 October 2026.

CBDT Instructions confine a limited-scrutiny assessment to its identified issue and permit conversion to complete scrutiny only with written Pr.CIT/CIT approval where possible income escapement or underassessment warrants substantial verification. These instructions bind income-tax authorities. Where scrutiny was selected solely to verify depreciation, examination and modification or disallowance of a separate exemption claim under Section 11(2), without the required approval, exceeded the permitted scope and was invalid. The revision rejecting that jurisdictional challenge could not stand.

GST treatment of supplies to Indian Railways depends on the goods' tariff classification rather than the identity of the recipient. Goods classified under Chapter 86 attract GST at 5%, with no refund of unutilised input tax credit. Goods classified under any other chapter remain subject to the general GST rate applicable to those goods, even when supplied to the Railways.

NLMC's first end-to-end e-auction monetised surplus RINL land through transparent, competitive online bidding, selling 150 plots at bids above the aggregate reserve price. The process is coordinated with the asset owner and includes bidder outreach, registration, documentation, Earnest Money Deposit requirements, and online participation. A final phase for the remaining parcels requires timely registration, review of reserve prices, eligibility conditions and participation requirements, due diligence, and completion of prescribed formalities.

TNGST on Polybutylene feedstock and Liquefied Petroleum Gas supplied through dedicated pipelines is payable by the refinery on the value of the net quantity retained by manufacturers. This applies where the materials are retained for manufacture of Poly Iso Butylene, Propylene, or Di-butyl para Cresol. Returned quantities are excluded from the taxable quantity for the initial transaction, but become taxable when subsequently supplied by the refinery to another person.

Until 27 March 2021, registered dealers may obtain online C-Forms for qualifying interstate purchases of goods within the statutory definition and listed in their registration certificates. Eligibility applies where goods were purchased for resale or for use in manufacture or processing for sale under the pre-amendment framework, irrespective of liability under Central Sales Tax law or Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax law. From 28 March 2021, C-Form issuance must follow the amended eligibility framework.

Recruitment establishes Group 'C'-equivalent Senior Secretariat Assistant and Junior Secretariat Assistant posts, with Senior vacancies filled through promotion and direct recruitment, subject to specified alternative methods, while Junior vacancies are filled by direct recruitment. Direct entrants must meet the prescribed age range, education standard, computer typing test and language requirements, followed by probation and induction training. Promotion to Senior Secretariat Assistant requires qualifying regular service as Junior Secretariat Assistant; deputation, absorption and re-employment are subject to service, qualification, tenure and age conditions.

The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme permits eligible FORM GSTR-3B filers to furnish quarterly returns while paying tax monthly. Participants may pay through the Fixed Sum Method or Self-Assessment Method and need not deposit funds where electronic ledger balances cover tax liability. Outward supplies are reported quarterly in FORM GSTR-1, with an optional Invoice Furnishing Facility for selected invoices in the first two months. Timely fixed-sum deposits and timely quarterly return filing determine interest treatment, while late fee applies to delayed quarterly returns and outward-supply details rather than delayed monthly payments.

GST on college hostel mess services depends on the supplier and the educational institution's eligibility. Food or drink supplied by a mess or canteen is taxable at 5% without input tax credit. Catering supplied by an eligible educational institution to its students, faculty and staff as part of its services is exempt. Catering supplied by another person to the educational institution is taxable at 5%, provided input tax credit on goods and services used for that supply has not been taken.

Where a GST registration is surrendered and the registered entity later merges into a successor company, refund disbursement may be blocked because bank validation requires details linked to the former entity. The refund claim is treated as vesting in the successor under the approved merger. The refund-sanctioning officer may be approached with the merger order, sanction order and successor bank details, alongside a portal ticket evidencing the validation failure, to correct the procedural issue.