Scheme of merger: startups may merge with other startups or small companies under amended merger rules.
The amendment permits a scheme of merger or amalgamation to be entered into either between two or more start-up companies or between one or more start-up companies and one or more small companies, and defines start-up company as a private company incorporated under the Companies Act and recognised as such under the specified government notification; the rules take effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Small company definition updated to set specific paid-up capital and turnover caps; changes effective from April 1, 2021.
The Amendment Rules, 2021 add clause (t) to rule 2(1) of the Companies (Specification of Definitions Details) Rules, 2014, specifying that for sub-clauses (i) and (ii) of clause (85) of section 2 of the Act, the paid-up capital and turnover of a small company shall not exceed rupees two crores and rupees twenty crores respectively; the amendment is effective from 1 April 2021.

Companies (Incorporation) Rules amended: OPC conversion process set, required filings, and residency threshold shortened.
The substituted rule 6 prescribes conversion of a One Person Company into a Private or Public Company (other than a section 8 company) by altering MOA and AOA through a resolution under subsection (3) of section 122, increasing membership and directorship to prescribed minima, maintaining applicable minimum paid up capital, complying with section 18, and filing e Form INC 6 with fees and attachments (altered MOA/AOA, copy of resolution, lists of proposed members/directors with consents, list of creditors, and latest audited financial statements) for Registrar approval and issuance of a conversion certificate.

Input tax credit statement: auto-drafted monthly FORM GSTR-2B issued to recipients, altering ITC reconciliation and return filing obligations.
Rules require suppliers to furnish outward supply details in FORM GSTR-1 or, for eligible quarterly filers, via the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) for the first two months of a quarter; IFF submissions are excluded from quarterly FORM GSTR-1. Supplier-submitted details populate recipient-facing statements including FORM GSTR-2A and a new monthly auto-drafted ITC statement, FORM GSTR-2B, which aggregates data from GSTR-1, GSTR-5, GSTR-6 and import records to indicate ITC available and ITC to be reversed for reconciliation and claiming in FORM GSTR-3B. Registered persons must furnish FORM GSTR-3B electronically by prescribed due dates and quarterly filers must make interim deposits in FORM GST PMT-06 for the first two months.

Quarterly GST returns with monthly tax payment permitted for small taxpayers who opt in, subject to turnover and filing conditions.
The notification allows registered persons below the prescribed turnover threshold to file GST returns quarterly while paying monthly tax, subject to filing the immediately preceding month's return and continuation of the elected option unless revised; ineligibility arises if aggregate turnover exceeds the threshold in a quarter, effective from the stated operative date, with deemed options based on prior October filings and an electronic window to change the default.

Tariff classification amendment updates headings and raises applicable customs duty rates effective early February.
Amendment to the principal Customs notification substitutes additional tariff headings into specified Table entries and replaces an existing duty percentage with a higher rate for another Table entry, thereby changing the scope of covered items and the applicable duty for those entries; the amendment takes effect on the specified commencement date in February 2021.

Social Welfare Surcharge exemption extended to crude and roughly trimmed marble and travertine block imports under customs notification.
The Central Government amends an existing customs miscellaneous exemption notification to add tariff lines 2515 11 00 and 2515 12 10, thereby extending exemption from the Social Welfare Surcharge to imports of crude or roughly trimmed blocks of marble and travertine; the amendment takes effect on 2 February 2021.

Extension of adjudication period under Customs Act permits additional time for CAA to adjudicate a specified show-cause notice.
The Principal Director General, Revenue Intelligence extends, under the first proviso to section 28(9) of the Customs Act, 1962, the period for determination of duty or interest under section 28(8) by a further period of one year from the expiry of the initial SCN dated 05.03.2020 in respect of M/s. M. Tech Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. and Sh. Bhavin Bhatt (SCN No. DRI/BZU/03/2020); the extension applies where a Common Adjudicating Authority was appointed by Notification No. 35/2020-Customs (N.T./CAA/DRI).

Exemption of Social Welfare Surcharge on AIDC for imported gold and silver removes surcharge liability on those imports.
Exempts the Social Welfare Surcharge on the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess for imports of goods classified under the customs tariff headings covering gold and silver, relieving such imports from the whole of that surcharge; the notification specifies an effective commencement date and was subsequently rescinded, with a prior substitution to the cited Finance Act provision noted in the accompanying annotation.

Rescission of customs notification removes a prior exemption instrument with a commencement date and preservation of prior actions.
The Central Government rescinds the earlier miscellaneous exemption notification issued in February 2018, exercising statutory powers on public interest grounds; the rescission takes effect in February 2021 and expressly preserves actions done or omitted to be done under the rescinded notification prior to its commencement.

Tariff rate quota rules broaden safeguard measures to include quota allocation, carry forward, and developing country carve outs.
Rules replace "duty" with "measure" and define safeguard measure to include safeguard duty, tariff rate quota and other measures; the Director General must determine serious injury based on objective, quantifiable factors and causal link to increased imports, and recommend the extent of measures. Tariff rate quota provisions require preserving traditional trade flows, allow global or country-specific quotas with allocations for substantially interested countries and a residual quota, permit carry-forward of unused quota, include a developing-country import-share carve-out, provide refund where final measure is lower than provisional duty, and mandate WTO notification and consultations.

Provisional assessment in anti circumvention investigations allows guarantees from importers pending government decision on duty applicability.
The rules authorize provisional assessment and the requirement of a guarantee in anti circumvention investigations to secure duties pending the Central Government's decision; they replace references to Collector of Customs with Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Customs and allow the term "domestic industry" to be interpreted as referring to the rest of the producers. The amendments also mandate that specified reviews be completed at least three months prior to expiry of the duty under review and make procedural rules applicable mutatis mutandis to such reviews.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess rates are prescribed for specified imports with concessional and nil treatment for listed goods.
Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess is exempted, for the specified goods listed in the Table, from so much of the cess leviable under the Finance Act, 2021 as exceeds the prescribed rate for each tariff entry. The notification sets chapter-wise and product-wise cess rates, including nil and concessional rates for certain goods, and extends nil treatment to goods imported under specified customs exemptions, advance authorisation, and other listed notifications, subject in some cases to end-use, shipment, certification, and procedural conditions. It comes into force on 2 February 2021.

High Speed Rail Projects added to Project Imports regulations with a designated sponsoring authority effective 2 February 2021.
The Project Imports (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 insert entry 3FFF into the Project Imports Regulations, 1986 to add High Speed Rail Projects with the sponsoring authority designated as National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited; the amendment is made under the Customs Act and comes into force on 2 February 2021.

Provisional assessment in anti-circumvention investigations enabled with importer guarantees; investigation periods and review timelines tightened.
Amendments limit initiation to investigations not more than six months old and set normal inquiry duration at twelve months, permitting a recorded discretion for shorter or longer periods; they replace "Collector of Customs" with "Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs," omit an explanation in rule 22, require reviews to be completed at least three months before duty expiry and make specified rules applicable mutatis mutandis to reviews; and authorize provisional assessment of imports alleged to circumvent an antidumping duty with a power to demand importer guarantees pending final decision.

Importer compliance obligations require prior notice, detailed records, quarterly returns and controls on job work and capital goods clearance.
The amendment revises definitions and imposes procedural and record keeping obligations on importers and job workers for concessional imports used in manufacture or output services. Importers must give prior information, notify receipt within two days, maintain detailed accounts of imports, consumption, job work movements and stock linked to bills of entry, and file a prescribed quarterly return by the tenth day of the following quarter. The rules set job work procedures with challan formalities and time limits, allow clearance of capital goods on duty and interest computed on depreciated value, and provide penalty and enforcement provisions for misuse.

High Speed Rail Projects added to specified projects list under heading 9801, enabling customs concession for those projects.
The Government has amended Notification No. 42/96 Customs to insert a new serial entry expressly naming High Speed Rail Projects among the specified projects eligible for concessional customs treatment under the item associated with heading 9801; the amendment is undertaken under the powers conferred by the relevant sub-item of the First Schedule and is declared to come into force on 2nd February, 2021.

Temporary import exemption for costumes and props added, expanding exempted goods under customs notification effective immediately.
Amends Notification No. 153/94-Customs by substituting the TABLE entry against Sl. No. 4 to add "costumes and props" alongside sound-recording tapes, thereby extending temporary import exemptions to film-making costumes and props; the amendment is made under Customs Act powers on public interest grounds and specifies an operative commencement date.

Rescission of customs exemption notifications withdraws specified tariff exemptions while preserving prior acts and omissions.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Customs Act and the Customs Tariff Act, rescinds three specified miscellaneous exemption notifications-1/2011-Customs, 34/2017-Customs and 75/2017-Customs-thereby withdrawing the tariff exemptions granted by those instruments, with effect from the stated commencement date and preserving acts done or omitted before rescission.

Additional duty of excise (AIDC) incorporated into central excise notifications, aligning notification language with new cess.
Amendment incorporates the additional duty of excise (Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess) from clause 116 of the Finance Bill, 2021 into Notifications Nos. 10/2018, 11/2018, 12/2018 and 13/2018 by substituting preamble wording and adding an entry in the table of 10/2018, and substituting corresponding words in 11/2018, 12/2018 and 13/2018 so that references to special additional excise duty under section 147 of the Finance Act, 2002 expressly include the new cess; effective 2 February 2021.