FVCI registration reform: new eligibility, certification, compliance and renewal rules govern foreign venture capital investments.
Registration to act as a foreign venture capital investor is required and must be obtained via a designated depository participant on behalf of the Board; applications must follow the specified form, documentation and fee requirements. Eligibility links residency, regulatory cooperation through IOSCO multilateral or bilateral MoUs, AML/FATF and sanctions exclusions, and fit and proper criteria. Certificates carry conditions including appointment of a domestic custodian and banking arrangements; renewals occur in multi year blocks with prescribed fees and restrictions on investment until fees are regularised. Designated depository participants and custodians have ongoing monitoring, KYC, reporting and recordkeeping duties.

GST rate adjustment: Bihar substitutes the prior rate with a lower rate, amendment effective from July.
Amendment reduces the specified GST levy rate in the referenced Bihar notification by substituting the previous expression of the rate with a lower expressed percentage, altering the tax incidence prescribed in the original instrument. The change is made under sub section (1) of section 52 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and takes legal effect from the stated effective date, with departmental file reference provided for administrative traceability.

Exemption from annual return filing for registered persons below the prescribed aggregate turnover threshold for the specified financial year.
Exemption under the first proviso to section 44 relieves registered persons with aggregate turnover in the financial year 2023-24 up to two crore rupees from the obligation to file the annual return for that year, by notification issued by the Commissioner on Council recommendations, confining the relief to the procedural filing requirement for the specified fiscal year.

Corrigendum to Customs notification: port designations swapped, updating Mumbai and Mangalore station codes.
Corrigendum to Notification No. 57/2024 Customs (N.T.) amends the table entries by replacing line 11, column (2) "Mumbai (INBOM1)" with "Mangalore (INNML1)" and replacing line 12, column (2) "Mangalore (INNML1)" with "Mumbai (INBOM1)", leaving other provisions unchanged.

GST notification amendment reduces the applicable rate under Andhra Pradesh tax rules with effect from July 2024.
The Andhra Pradesh Government has amended the existing GST notification issued under the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 by substituting the earlier rate of "half percent" with "0.25 percent". The amendment is made in exercise of the power under section 52 of the Act on the recommendation of the GST Council and applies from 10 July 2024.

Large Taxpayer Unit jurisdiction assigned for high-liability taxpayers and suppliers of specified actionable claims under GST rules.
The State is divided into eight wards for GST administration and a separate Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) is specified with exclusive jurisdiction over taxpayers who either discharge cumulative SGST liability above the prescribed threshold in a financial year or supply services classed as Specified Actionable Claims. New registrations are assigned to ward offices; annually, within 90 days after the financial year end, qualifying taxpayers are shifted to LTU in the back-office portal, with the originating ward retaining jurisdiction until the technical transfer is effected. Taxpayers remain under LTU until a Proper Officer orders their transfer back.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment for adjudication of a show cause notice against M/s Zenlayer Inc.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, exercising powers under section 4(1) read with section 3 and sections 5(1) and 5(1A) of the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the officer named in the notification to exercise the powers and discharge duties of the adjudicating officers listed in the Table for the purpose of adjudicating Show Cause Notice No.12/2023 dated 21 November 2023 issued to M/s. Zenlayer Inc. and others; the notification takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Import policy change permits import of raw and calcined petroleum coke for aluminium and other industries.
The import eligibility for raw petroleum coke (RPC) and calcined petroleum coke (CPC) under Chapter 27 of the ITC (HS) 2022 has been amended to permit imports to cater entirely to the domestic needs of the aluminium industry and other industries for processes permitted under applicable regulations, thereby broadening authorised domestic consumers under condition 06(b)(ii).

Consent-based information sharing: Public Tech Platform designated to receive data from common portal for frictionless credit access.
Notification designates Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit as the system with which information may be shared by the common portal based on consent under Section 158A; it defines the platform as an enterprise-grade open architecture IT platform, conceptualised by the central bank and developed by its wholly owned subsidiary to enable convergence of financial and data service providers via a standard protocol-driven architecture and an open, shared API framework. The notification is deemed effective from the 22nd day of February, 2024.

Board appointment: Secretary to the corporate ministry nominated as a securities regulator member replacing predecessor.
The Central Government, invoking powers under Section 4 (sub section 4 read with sub section 1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, amends the principal notification S.O. 195(E) by nominating Ms. Deepti Gaur Mukerjee, Secretary of the corporate ministry, as Member of the securities regulator, replacing Dr. Manoj Govil.

GST exemption amendment expands railway services coverage and revises accommodation service exclusions under the Uttar Pradesh notification.
Amendment to the Uttar Pradesh GST exemption notification inserts new entries for services supplied by Ministry of Railways to individuals, services supplied by one railway zone or division to another, and services supplied by Special Purpose Vehicles to the Ministry of Railways in relation to infrastructure use and maintenance, all at nil rate. It also revises the accommodation services entry by excluding student residences, hostels, camps and paying guest accommodations, and inserts a further entry for long-duration accommodation services subject to a value threshold, with effect from 15 July 2024.

Uttar Pradesh GST rate changes revise treatment of paperboard cartons, milk cans, solar cookers, and packaged farm produce.
Revised Uttar Pradesh GST rate schedule by inserting and substituting entries for cartons and cases of paperboard, milk cans of iron, steel or aluminium, solar cookers, and parts of brooders, while adjusting exclusions for certain paperboard goods and domestic-use items. It also clarified that agricultural farm produce supplied in packages exceeding 25 kilogram or 25 litre is not treated as a supply of pre-packaged and labelled goods, notwithstanding the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.

Extension of time for export of Red Sanders heart wood granted; Odisha department must finalise modalities and complete exports within specified period.
Extension of time granted to the Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department, Government of Odisha to finalise the modalities for export of Red Sanders Heart Wood in log form and to complete the authorised exports within a further period from the date of the notification; all other provisions of the earlier notifications remain unchanged.

Pay revision for Competition Commission members sets consolidated salaries and removes house and car entitlements effective from publication.
The amendment substitutes rule 3 of the 2003 Rules to prescribe consolidated monthly salaries for the Chairperson and Members of the Competition Commission of India, removes entitlement to house and car, declares the pay provision effective from the 1st day of January, 2024, is made under section 63(2)(d) read with section 14(1) of the Competition Act, and states retrospectivity will not adversely affect any person, with the rules coming into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

SCOMET updates 2024: Amendment to export control list; export authorisation required; effective after 30 days.
Notification No.25/2024 amends Appendix 3 (SCOMET) to Schedule 2 of the ITC (HS) Classification, publishing the revised SCOMET list on the DGFT portal and making the amendments effective after 30 days. Export of SCOMET items continues to require export authorisation unless exempted; supplies from DTA to SEZ/EOU are exempt from authorisation but require supplier reporting to the SEZ Development Commissioner and annual reporting to DGFT. Prior DGFT permission is mandated for arrangements enabling foreign site visits or access to records.

Export exemption of petrol and diesel to Bhutan removes RIC charge and updates Central Excise tariff entries.
Amends Notification No. 10/2022 to exempt motor spirit (petrol) and high speed diesel exported to Bhutan from the road infrastructure cess by substituting entries for existing S. Nos. 1 and 2 to apply to exports to countries other than Bhutan, inserting new tariff table entries under heading 2710 for petrol (S. No. 1A) and diesel (S. No. 3) that specify nil per litre treatment, and omitting paragraph 2. The amendment is effective from 3rd September, 2024.

Exemption of fuel exports to Bhutan: Special Additional Excise Duty waived for petrol and diesel exports.
Inserts specific table entries exempting Motor spirit (petrol) and High speed diesel oil when cleared for export to Bhutan by prescribing a nil per litre rate for those exports, substitutes the prior entries for exports to countries other than Bhutan, and omits paragraph 2 of the principal notification; the amendment takes effect on the stated commencement date.

Excise exemption for aviation turbine fuel exports to Bhutan extends nil additional duty to such shipments.
Amends the excise exemption framework to treat exports of Aviation Turbine Fuel to Bhutan as exempt from the Special Additional Excise Duty by substituting the prior entry and inserting a new serial entry specifying that Aviation Turbine Fuel cleared for export to Bhutan is chargeable at nil per litre, thereby extending the scope of the exemption to include Bhutanian-bound exports; the amendment takes effect the day after notification.

Machine registration and reporting: manufacturers must register packing machines, update capacities, upload engineer certificates, and file monthly production statements.
Notification requires manufacturers of specified pan masala and tobacco products to register packing/filling machines in FORM GST SRM-I, report installations, disposals and capacity changes within prescribed timelines, obtain system-generated machine registration numbers, and upload any prior declarations to other agencies. A monthly FORM GST SRM-II must be filed reporting inputs, machine-wise brand production, package counts, MRP totals and detailed power consumption. FORM GST SRM-III requires a Chartered Engineer certificate for declared or amended machines. The measures are effective from 1 April 2024 and apply to listed tariff items.

Commencement of Karnataka GST Amendment: staggered enforcement of sections with different effective dates for implementation.
Appoints commencement dates for provisions of the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2024: the provisions of section 4 commence on the 1st day of October, 2024, and the provisions of sections 2 and 3 commence on the 1st day of April, 2025, by notification under sub section (2) of section 1 of the Amendment Act.