Benami property prohibition strengthened: dedicated units identify and provisionally attach suspect transactions under amended law.
The amended Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act prohibits benami transactions irrespective of acquisition method and covers movable and immovable property. Dedicated Benami Prohibition Units in the Income-tax Department gather and match information to identify suspected benami properties and support provisional attachment and other actions under the amended enforcement framework.

Banking reform EASE: FinTech-driven MSME financing and automated microloan processing to expand credit access.
The EASE reform agenda was referred to Public Sector Banks for board-approved implementation to ensure prudential and clean lending, expanded credit availability, improved governance, and enhanced customer service. It directs promotion and ongoing assessment of FinTech solutions, automated online processing and decisioning for micro enterprise loans via a dedicated platform, online application facilities, banking-from-home and mobile banking, and broader digital banking adoption to ease MSME financing.

Automatic Exchange of Information expands cross-border financial reporting, strengthening detection and taxation of undisclosed foreign assets.
India has strengthened detection and taxation of undisclosed foreign assets by activating Automatic Exchange of Information under the Common Reporting Standard and FATCA, expanding information exchange via DTAAs/TIEAs and multilateral conventions, and entering MCAA based automatic reporting with Switzerland. Domestic enforcement was reinforced by a Special Investigation Team on Black Money and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, which imposes stricter penalties and designates willful foreign asset tax evasion as a Scheduled Offence under the Prevention of Money laundering Act.

Cash availability pressures led to ATM shortages; government and central bank are monitoring currency stocks to ensure supply
Cash availability pressures caused reports of ATMs showing no-cash notices; the central bank attributes increased ATM usage to seasonal factors (agricultural demand and state disbursement schemes) and structural factors (economic growth and high currency-deposit ratios). The Government and central bank perform regular monitoring of currency stocks, ATM functionality, and positions of fresh and reissuable notes in RBI vaults and bank currency chests to ensure adequate cash supply and prevent ATMs from running dry.

Access to institutional finance under PMMY expands small business lending and records year wise, state wise sanction data.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana provides institutional finance to unfunded micro and small business units by extending term loans up to Rs. 10 lakh and includes an overdraft facility under PMJDY; Member Lending Institutions report year wise and State/UT wise sanctioned account counts and sanctioned amounts on the MUDRA portal, while certain borrower characteristics such as age profile are not maintained centrally.

Amalgamation of regional rural banks to consolidate operations, broaden capital base and boost rural credit flow.
Amalgamation of Regional Rural Banks is proposed as a regulatory roadmap to consolidate RRBs within each State, prepared in consultation with NABARD and seeking comments from State Governments and Sponsor Banks, aiming to minimise overheads, optimise technology, enhance capital base and area of operation, increase lending exposure, and improve scale-efficiency, productivity, financial health, financial inclusion and rural credit flow.

Insolvency creditor-in-saddle approach strengthens recovery under IBC; RBI authorisation and SARFAESI reforms enhance bank-led resolution.
Five-pronged framework: SME resolution with a Robust Monitoring Process, bank-led restructuring, AMC/AIF-led resolution, insolvency resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code using a creditor-in-saddle approach that removes management control and excludes wilful defaulters, and an asset trading platform; legislative amendments empower the central bank to direct insolvency initiation and SARFAESI amendments and tribunal expansion aim to accelerate recoveries.

Asset Quality Review prompted recognition of stressed loans as NPAs, leading to increased provisioning and net losses for many public sector banks.
Asset Quality Review measures from 2015 led to reclassification of stressed exposures as NPAs and required provisions for expected losses, causing Public Sector Banks to recognise higher NPAs and incur net losses largely attributable to increased provisioning and ageing provisions following transparent asset recognition.

Government securities auction: re issue of multiple dated stocks via multiple price auction with non competitive facility and electronic bidding.
Re issue of four dated Government stocks will be conducted through a price based, multiple price auction with a total notified amount and an option to accept additional subscriptions. Up to 5% of each issue is reserved under the Non-Competitive Bidding Facility. Competitive and non competitive bids must be submitted electronically on the E Kuber system within prescribed time windows. Auction results and payment follow announced dates. The stocks are eligible for When Issued trading per RBI guidelines.

Fund of Funds for Startups: support routed through AIFs requiring matched investment, with operating agency oversight.
The Fund of Funds for Startups contributes to the corpus of SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds, which must invest at least twice the FFS contribution into startups; each AIF makes investment decisions through its own investment committee. A Monitoring Committee comprising representatives of the monitoring and operating agencies and relevant departments reviews progress and implementation of Startup India measures to support the startup ecosystem.

Memorandum of Understanding expands professional recognition and cooperation between Indian chartered accountants and Tanzanian accountancy regulator.
A Memorandum of Understanding establishes a mutual co-operation framework between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors, Tanzania to coordinate on member management, professional ethics, technical research, continuing professional development, professional accountancy training, audit quality monitoring and advancement of accounting knowledge, aiming to enhance professional standards, foster working relations and expand recognition and opportunities for ICAI members in Tanzania and the African market.

Trade and investment cooperation: tariff reductions and DTAA progress to boost market access and cross border investment.
India and Oman agreed to enhance trade and diversify the trade basket, seek tariff reductions to improve market access for specified chemical and industrial products, pursue internal approvals for early finalisation of a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, and continue revision of the Bilateral Investment Treaty. They discussed extension and amendment of commercial agreements including the Urea Off Take Agreement and Gas Supply Agreement, and committed to sectoral cooperation in energy (including renewables and a proposed waste to energy joint venture), agriculture, tourism, mines, telecom and other areas to attract investment.

Tariff value adjustment for specified edible oils, metals and commodities modifies import valuation under customs rules.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, exercising powers under sub section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 of Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) to prescribe specified tariff values: per metric tonne values for edible oils (crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, palmolein variants, crude soybean oil), brass scrap, poppy seeds and areca nuts, and per unit values for gold and silver where particular notification benefits are availed, creating fixed foreign currency valuation benchmarks for import and customs purposes.

Significant Economic Presence expands tax nexus to digital transactions and user interactions, enabling source-country taxation of attributable income.
Significant Economic Presence expands "business connection" under Section 9(1)(i) to include specified transactions in goods, services or property (including data or software downloads) exceeding prescribed payment thresholds, and systematic digital solicitation or interaction with a prescribed number of users. The rule applies irrespective of contract location or physical presence, and only income attributable to those transactions or interactions is treated as arising in India. The government has sought stakeholder comments to prescribe revenue and user-number thresholds to operationalise SEP.

Refund issuance accelerated: pending appeal-effect and rectification matters cleared, refunds issued promptly to taxpayers nationwide.
Special administrative initiative enacted a special drive to expedite disposal of pending appeal-effect and rectification matters and accelerate refund issuance; the Department prioritised processing of returns with refund claims, extended the drive regionally where required, and reported large-scale processing of pending refund claims with the majority cleared by the end of the period.

Advance Pricing Agreements expand as unilateral APAs signed to provide transfer pricing certainty and support a non-adversarial tax regime.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has executed additional Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements covering cross-border transactions-including corporate guarantees, brand purchases, grading and management services, and royalties-across consumer, automobile and precious stones and metals sectors, applying agreed transfer pricing methodologies to reduce prospective disputes and enhance tax certainty.

PAN-Aadhaar linking requirement: administrative extension granted to permit compliant ITR filing through next fiscal period.
An administrative order under Section 119 extends the period for taxpayers to link PAN with Aadhaar for the purpose of filing income-tax returns, recording earlier extensions and providing a further deadline for completing the PAN-Aadhaar linkage to enable compliant ITR filing.

Tax Base Expansion through anti-black money measures and GST increases compliance and boosts direct tax collections.
A suite of measures - anti-black money steps, demonetisation, digitalisation of Income-tax processes, and GST - enlarged the taxpayer base and improved detection of undeclared income through reconciliation and online administration. These reforms increased return filings and direct tax receipts by bringing previously opaque cash and turnover into view. Enhanced international information exchange, including bilateral treaties and forthcoming real-time disclosures from Swiss authorities, changes enforcement dynamics for offshore accounts; only resident-held undisclosed funds outside legitimate categories become subject to domestic investigation and penal action.

Government debt management: issuance slowdown, liquidity operations and rising yields reshaped the fiscal debt profile.
The Quarterly Report on Debt Management for January-March 2018 records slower dated security issuance in Q4, with issued securities having a Weighted Average Maturity of 10.93 years and a Weighted Average Yield of 7.34%. Cash management avoided Ways and Means Advances while RBI provided additional variable rate repo liquidity. Total liabilities rose modestly and Outstanding Liabilities to GDP was 45.9% at end March 2018; about 26.2% of G Sec stock had residual maturity up to five years, implying low rollover risk. Government security yields hardened during the quarter and outright transactions declined.

Additional borrowing limit approval simplified to allow faster, independent processing for eligible states meeting fiscal conditions.
Approval for additional fiscal deficit limits remains conditional on specified fiscal indicators-debt-to-GSDP and interest-to-revenue ratios-and the absence of revenue deficit in the relevant and preceding year; procedurally, the Department of Expenditure will now process each complete State proposal for such additional borrowing independently on receipt rather than bundling multiple requests.