Capital gains exemption for gold monetisation deposit certificates and tax-free interest now follow regulatory amendment.
Deposit Certificates under the Gold Monetisation Scheme, 2015 are excluded from the definition of capital asset and thus exempt from capital gains tax; interest income on such Deposit Certificates is also exempt from income-tax. These amendments are effective from the first day of April, 2016 and apply to the assessment year commencing thereafter and subsequent years.

Ease of doing business reforms drive state competition and digitisation of tax filing, enhancing India's global competitiveness.
Increase in Indian representation among global rapid growth firms is reported, listing 26 companies. The note links corporate growth to national competitiveness gains and ongoing ease of doing business reforms, driven by an annual state-level assessment that has spurred inter-state competition and score improvements. It highlights measures to reduce tax compliance costs-online tax filing, e-payment and e-filing facilities, tax databases, advance tax provisions, and risk-based mobile check posts-and states that implementation of the Goods and Services Tax will further improve the taxation and business environment.

Education loan write off policy: no general waiver; interest subsidy and guarantee schemes support eligible borrowers.
Government policy does not provide for write off of education loans for unemployed students; however, an interest subsidy scheme covers interest during the moratorium for loans disbursed on or after 1 April 2009. A Model Educational Loan Scheme allows banks to grant additional moratoriums for under employment, and the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans supports collateral free lending and guarantees a portion of defaults to expand access to education credit.

Enforcement of security interest amendments aim to expedite recovery of defaulted loans through amended SARFAESI and RDDBFI laws.
Amendments to the SARFAESI Act and the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act were enacted by the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 2016 to accelerate resolution of defaulted loans; the Amendment Act was notified in the Gazette and announced by the Minister of State for Finance.

Cancellation and surrender of NBFC registration: registrations removed for supervisory non-compliance and voluntary surrender to preserve regulatory compliance
Termination of an NBFC's Certificate of Registration occurs either by voluntary surrender-when the entity opts to undertake non financial business or merge to pursue non financial activities-or by regulatory cancellation for failure to adhere to CoR terms. Cancellation is imposed only after the NBFC has been given adequate opportunity to remedy deficiencies. These measures ensure that registered NBFCs operate within the licensing conditions and contribute to sectoral stability and compliance.

Ex-ante trigger provisions for PPP concessions enhance contract stability; financing reforms and monitoring support stalled project resolution.
PPP concession agreements should incorporate ex-ante trigger provisions to manage long-term unforeseen risks and reduce post-award renegotiation and litigation; draft guidance for National Highway and Major Port concessions has been prepared. Complementary government measures include specialized infrastructure financing vehicles, tax pass-through for securitization trusts, extended loan tenors and take-out finance, flexible refinancing and higher lender exposure norms, and an institutional Project Monitoring Group to track and facilitate resolution of stalled critical projects.

Reservation for SC/ST in bank officer cadres: concessions in promotions to middle management; no OBC reservation in promotions.
DoPT policy provides reservation in direct recruitment for SCs/STs and OBCs at the lowest officer rung (Middle Management Grade I). Concessions allow SC/ST officers promotional preference by selection up to Middle Management Grade III, while OBCs receive no reservation in promotions. DGM and GM posts are Senior Management and filled on selection; reservation applies up to the lowest officer rung in Group A. Aggregate SC and ST representation in Group A of PSBs/FIs/PSICs meets prescribed thresholds.

Import monitoring strengthened: banks must follow RBI export/import compliance and reinforce internal controls to prevent misuse.
RBI found no evidence that Public Sector Banks deliberately engaged in forex frauds though staff collusion could not be ruled out in the Bank of Baroda case; BOB referred the matter to enforcement agencies and prosecutions are progressing. RBI issued comprehensive guidelines to Authorised Dealer banks on advance remittances, documentary evidence, monitoring and reporting, implemented an Import Data Processing and Monitoring System to track all imports, and directed AD banks to ensure adherence to export/import rules and strengthen internal security and alert protocols.

FDI liberalisation expands automatic routes and eases sectoral caps, enabling greater foreign participation in strategic industries.
The Government expanded a liberal FDI framework by enlarging automatic route access and applying sector specific calibrations: trading in domestically manufactured food products (via government approval), defence beyond prior caps subject to approval for technology access and inclusion of small arms manufacture, 100% automatic FDI in broadcasting carriage services and brownfield airports, increased automatic and approval thresholds for brownfield pharmaceuticals and air transport services, raised limits for private security agencies with split automatic/approval treatment, waiver of RBI office establishment permission where FIPB or ministerial/regulatory approval exists, and temporary relaxation of local sourcing norms for state of the art single brand retail.

Benami property prohibition strengthened, mandatory PAN quoting and cash payment limits bolster enforcement against undisclosed income and black money.
The Government has advanced a multi-pronged compliance and enforcement strategy to address black money, including prohibition on large cash receipts, enactment of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act to enable confiscation and prosecution of benami property, mandatory quoting of PAN for specified high-value transactions, initiation of technology-enabled information mining and intelligence projects, constitution of a Special Investigation Team, and continued use of searches, surveys, assessments, penalties and prosecutions under direct tax laws.

Total Expense Ratio adjustments expand mutual fund outreach by allowing additional TER on inflows from non-top cities.
Regulatory measures tied to the Total Expense Ratio have promoted investor education and SIP uptake: AMCs must set aside a portion of daily net assets within TER for investor awareness, use regional language campaigns and district outreach, and expand distribution via a simplified certified distributor cadre. In addition, AMCs are permitted to charge an additional TER on inflows from cities outside the top fifteen by AUM, which has been used to extend mutual fund reach into smaller towns, with SIP counts from those locations rising substantially.

Banknote design approval requires statutory procedure, enabling inclusion of multiple regional languages on currency notes.
The design, form and material of banknotes are subject to approval by the Central Government after consideration of recommendations by the Central Board under Section 25 of the RBI Act, 1934, and inclusion of multiple regional languages on the language panel is a matter of design and convention within that approval framework.

Foreign investment limits in defence sector: minority stakes get automatic clearance; larger holdings require government approval and technology scrutiny.
The regulatory framework distinguishes automatic approval for minority foreign holdings from a government approval route for larger foreign participation, with industrial licensing under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, remaining applicable. Proposals exceeding the automatic threshold are examined for technology access by the defence ministry with stakeholder consultation and pass through an inter-ministerial foreign investment clearance process coordinated by the finance ministry.

Digital payments conversion drives government citizen transactions toward a cashless, user friendly nationwide digital platform with implementation, training and stakeholder engagement.
A high level inter ministerial Committee led by NITI Aayog will identify sector appropriate digital payment systems, diagnose infrastructural and access bottlenecks, estimate implementation costs, design measures to make digital transactions cheaper than cash, and establish and monitor an implementation framework with strict timelines while coordinating with central and state authorities, regulators, industry associations and stakeholders to promote adoption and provide advocacy, training and capacity building.

Deposit exclusion for Post Office Savings Accounts allows acceptance of old demonetized notes despite Small Savings bar.
Deposits of old demonetized notes into Post Office Savings Accounts are excluded from the bar in the Ministry's OM dated 22.11.2016 on deposits in Small Savings Schemes. The Department of Economic Affairs issued the clarification with the approval of the Secretary (Economic Affairs) for the Reserve Bank department, Department of Posts, and National Savings Institute.

Advance Pricing Agreements provide pre-agreed transfer pricing certainty across pharma, IT and construction sectors and include rollback provisions.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has executed four additional unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements covering pharmaceuticals, Information Technology and construction, specifying transfer pricing methods and pre determined prices for international transactions such as software development, IT enabled services, engineering design, contract R&D and marketing support; some agreements include a rollback provision. The APA scheme, introduced in the Income tax Act with rollback added later, aims to provide certainty to taxpayers in transfer pricing and to foster a non adversarial tax regime, and has seen substantial applicant interest.

Non-performing assets rise in banks due to export slowdown and legacy aggressive lending; no bad bank proposal advanced.
Rise in non-performing assets is shown by increasing Gross NPA plus restructured advances ratios for scheduled commercial banks over three years, indicating deterioration in asset quality. Contributing factors include slowing global demand and uncertainty causing reduced exports across several sectors and legacy stress from earlier aggressive lending by public sector banks. The central planning body has not proposed creation of a bad bank to hold stressed assets, according to a ministerial written reply.

Cybersecurity framework enforcement strengthens bank incident reporting and forensic audit requirements for fraud response and recovery.
An independent forensic audit under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard framework has been instituted to investigate card-related breaches. The central bank has issued a comprehensive cyber-security policy framework requiring baseline controls, gap assessments, monitoring of cyber risk indicators, and specified timelines for incident reporting, while conducting IT examinations, preparedness testing, and convening a Cyber Crisis Management Group to guide response and recovery.

Undisclosed foreign income enforcement: stricter penalties and PMLA scheduling enable attachment and recovery of overseas assets.
Investigative and enforcement action against undisclosed foreign income and assets includes enquiries, assessments, penalties and prosecutions based on information such as HSBC Switzerland disclosures. The Black Money Act, 2015 imposes stricter penalties and classifies wilful tax evasion of undisclosed foreign assets as a Scheduled Offence under the PMLA, enabling attachment and confiscation; complementary amendments and measures, including Benami law reform, enhanced international information exchange and IT driven initiatives, further strengthen detection and recovery.

Declaration of undisclosed income: scheme imposes phased tax payments and strengthens information exchange and asset recovery.
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 requires declarants to disclose undisclosed income and to pay tax, surcharge and penalty in three instalments, with the first instalment due on the notified date; provisional participation and disclosed quantum are reported but final revenue realisation depends on instalment payments. The Scheme is accompanied by statutory and administrative measures including stronger concealment penalties for undisclosed foreign assets, attachment and confiscation powers via money-laundering amendments, Benami property confiscation and prosecution, expanded information-exchange arrangements and IT-driven compliance initiatives.