Principal purpose test restricts India-Mauritius treaty benefits where arrangements seek relief inconsistent with treaty object and purpose.
New Article 27B introduces an entitlement-to-benefits limitation for India-Mauritius treaty relief. A benefit for an item of income may be denied where obtaining it was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement or transaction that directly or indirectly produced the benefit, considering all relevant facts and circumstances. Relief may still be granted where it accords with the object and purpose of the relevant treaty provisions. The amendments apply from their entry into force, irrespective of the tax levy date or taxable year concerned.

Special Economic Zone designation enables IT and IT-enabled services development, establishes approval oversight, and accords inland container depot status.
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.

Attached-office status preserves continuing statutory agency functions under the Information Technology Act within ministerial administrative control.
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (ICERT) is designated to function as an Attached Office under the administrative control of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with immediate effect. ICERT remains the appointed agency for purposes of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as amended from time to time. Its continuing statutory agency role applies alongside its attached-office classification.

Rules of origin determine preferential tariff eligibility through product-specific transformation, value content, certification, and verification requirements.
Preferential tariff treatment under the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement is available only for originating goods that are wholly obtained or satisfy applicable product-specific origin requirements. Origin may be supported through bilateral cumulation, tariff-classification changes, qualifying value content, or prescribed production processes, while minimal operations do not confer origin. Importers must hold a valid Proof of Origin, comprising a Certificate of Origin or authorised Origin Declaration, and retain supporting records. Customs may verify origin through information requests and verification visits, and may deny preference where origin or compliance cannot be established.

Prepared culture media exports remain free, with shipment clearance and health certification procedures available when importing countries require them.
Prepared Culture Media exports under ITC(HS) Code 38210000 remain free, with a certification procedure available where an importing country requires shipment clearance or health certification. CAPEXIL is to issue a consignment-wise Shipment Clearance Certificate identifying the exporter, registered plant, product, quantity, invoice, loading port, and destination. After shipment, a Health Certificate is to be provided to the buyer and, where required, jointly issued by CAPEXIL and the Regional Animal Quarantine Officer.

Minimum import price requirements for Glufosinate imports continue through the extended period, while existing conditions remain unchanged.
Minimum Import Price conditions on imports of Glufosinate and its salts under Chapter 38 of Schedule I of ITC (HS), 2022 are extended until 12 April 2027. The extension covers specified HS classifications and continues the MIP restriction originally imposed on 13 April 2026. It is made under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, with all existing terms and conditions remaining unchanged.

Special Notified Zone rules expand rough-diamond import, sale and re-export access to eligible foreign diamond-market entities.
Paragraph 4.49 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 permits eligible foreign entities to import rough diamonds into a Special Notified Zone and undertake auction, sale and re-export on a consignment or outright basis. Eligible entities include foreign diamond-mining companies, their sightholders, and specified brokers, aggregators, tender entities and auction entities connected with rough-diamond sales, subject to applicable conditions. Activities remain under Customs supervision, while procedures for import, auction, sale and re-export of unsold rough diamonds are governed by specifications issued from time to time.

Mutual fund intermediary framework shifts Fifth Schedule references to Chapter IIID and removes the former Schedule.
Mutual fund regulatory requirements are realigned by replacing references to the Fifth Schedule in regulation 28 and regulation 81(l) with references to Chapter IIID of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008. The Fifth Schedule is omitted, and the amendments take effect on the one hundred eightieth day following publication in the Official Gazette.

Common Advertisement Code imposes disclosure, endorsement, and investor-protection standards on regulated entities marketing financial products and services.
Common Advertisement Code requires regulated entities to ensure advertisements are true, fair, accurate, complete, unambiguous, and comprehensible to investors. Celebrity endorsements are limited to brand or entity promotion, require prior approval, cannot include product-specific inducements or claims, and cannot be charged to clients or mutual fund schemes. Advertisements must include prescribed disclosures and disclaimers, substantiate statistical material, avoid investor inducements and dark patterns, and use only permitted ratings or rankings subject to explanatory and comparability conditions.

Institutional investor communications receive a targeted exemption from mandatory call-recording duties under research analyst compliance obligations.
Research analyst regulation introduces an institutional investor definition aligned with the capital-issue and disclosure framework. Maintaining recordings of calls with clients remains prescribed generally, but is no longer mandatory where the clients are institutional investors. This creates a targeted exemption from call-recording compliance for institutional investor communications while retaining the client-communication recording requirement for other clients.

Employee recruitment eligibility now recognises graduation, professional credentials, grade-point conversion, and foreign postgraduate equivalence for specified posts.
Educational eligibility under row 6 of the Employees' Service Schedule is revised with effect from publication in the Official Gazette. The general qualification entry accepts Graduation with prescribed minimum marks, a Master's Degree or Post Graduate Diploma, or specified professional credentials. Aggregate grade points are converted under a defined 10-point scale where no institutional conversion method exists. The desirable advocacy-experience qualification for Grade A Legal Stream officers is omitted. Foreign Master's Degrees or postgraduate qualifications supported by specified equivalence certification are treated as meeting the requisite educational qualification.

Bullion vaulting oversight broadens custody, reconciliation, segregation, compliance reporting, and beneficial-owner indemnification for related instruments.
Vault Manager requirements cover bullion underlying Electronic Gold Receipts, Exchange Traded Funds on bullion, derivatives and other permitted instruments. Managers must accept deposits and deliver bullion as directed, ensure bullion remains within the vaulting system, reconcile physical holdings with relevant records, segregate bullion instrument-wise and entity-wise, and comply with delivery standards. They may not create instruments or deposit stored bullion in their own name. Each manager must appoint a compliance officer, and loss arising during vaulting services requires indemnification of the beneficial owner in the prescribed manner.

Penalty waiver applications now require prescribed disclosures, payment particulars, and a declaration foregoing appeals within the stipulated period.
Form No. 161 is prescribed for applications seeking waiver of penalty under section 440(2). Applicants must furnish assessment or reassessment order details, income and under-reported income particulars, tax and interest liability, additional income-tax payable in lieu of penalty, and payment information. The application must be verified with declarations that no appeal has been filed and none will be filed before expiry of the specified statutory period.

GST appellate filing deadlines govern appeals and applications through transitional cut-off dates and ordinary limitation periods.
Appellate Tribunal filing deadlines allow appeals concerning orders communicated before 1 May 2026 and applications concerning orders passed before 1 February 2026 to be filed up to 31 July 2026. Appeals relating to orders communicated on or after 1 May 2026 remain subject to the three-month period from communication, while applications relating to orders passed on or after 1 February 2026 remain subject to the six-month period from the order date. The framework is deemed effective from 30 June 2026.

Securities-market certification now uses specified persons, adds course-based qualification, and permits extended validity periods for certificates.
Securities-market certification requirements replace "associated person" with "specified person", covering relevant principals, employees, agents, distributors and other natural persons engaged in securities-market business, including specified foreign investor employees working in India. Certification may be obtained through a NISM-specified course or programme, in consultation with the Board. Certificate validity and renewal may extend beyond three years where specified by the Board, and related terminology is updated in the Debenture Trustees and Self Regulatory Organizations frameworks.

Portfolio manager registration requires client agreements, disclosures, fiduciary duties, investment controls, custody, reporting, and compliance oversight.
Registration as a portfolio manager requires a fit and proper body corporate with adequate infrastructure, designated personnel, minimum net worth of five crore rupees and specified unencumbered liquid assets. Registered managers must maintain client agreements and prescribed disclosures, act in a fiduciary capacity, segregate client funds and securities, observe prudential investment controls, appoint custodians where required, preserve records, provide periodic client reports and maintain independent compliance oversight. Special regimes apply to eligible fund managers, co-investment portfolio managers and the PRIM mutual fund investment route.

Customs port appointment at Dabhol Port expands authorised import, export and unloading operations for power and shipyard activities.
The revised customs port appointment for Dabhol Port covers unloading machinery and equipment for the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited Power Project, unloading liquefied natural gas and naptha, and loading imported project machinery and equipment for export. It also permits Square Port Shipyard Private Limited to unload goods for manufacturing and repairing ships, barges, similar vessels and rigs; import them for repair; and export them.

Securities-law settlement framework sets application, pricing, remedial terms, confidentiality, and fast-track mechanisms for administrative and civil proceedings.
Settlement of administrative and civil securities-law proceedings may be sought before initiation, while pending before the Board, or during an appeal. Applicants must file prescribed forms, waivers, a proposed settlement computation and fees, and ordinarily must apply within the applicable time limit. Settlement terms may include a formula-based settlement amount, disgorgement with interest, disclosures and remedial or regulatory conditions. Eligibility is restricted for specified prior rejections, pending investigations, certain defaulting persons, and matters involving serious market or investor impact. Internal and advisory committees examine proposed terms, while the Panel of Whole Time Members decides acceptance, rejection or reconsideration.

Verifiable parental and guardian consent requirements are clarified alongside data audit terminology governing Significant Data Fiduciary compliance.
Section 9(1) is corrected to clarify that a Data Fiduciary must obtain verifiable consent before processing personal data of a child or of a person with disability having a lawful guardian. Section 10(2)(c)(ii) replaces "audit" with "data audit," aligning periodic audit terminology for Significant Data Fiduciaries with the independent data auditor requirement and clarifying the intended data protection audit obligation.

Customs tariff valuation revises import values for edible oils, brass scrap, gold and silver, while retaining areca nut valuation.
Customs tariff values under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962 are revised through substitution of Tables 1, 2 and 3 in the tariff-value framework. The revised values apply from 1 October 2026 and cover specified edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts. Areca nuts retain a tariff value of US$ 11,574 per metric tonne without change.