Exemptions for government companies alter meeting location, director provisions and tribunal role, subject to timely statutory filings.
The amendment prescribes exceptions for Government companies: it confines permissible alternate meeting places to within the city, town or village of the registered office; exempts certain director-related provisions for unlisted Government companies majority-owned by governments and their subsidiaries; substitutes the Central Government for the Tribunal in scheme and reconstruction provisions; and makes these exceptions applicable only where the Government company has not defaulted in filing financial statements or annual returns with the Registrar.

Subcontracting limits for gems and jewellery cap outsourced production relative to prior-year clearances and require prompt return.
Amendments require goods taken out of a Special Economic Zone for subcontracting to be returned within twenty-eight days and cap the consolidated value of subcontracted production by reference to a unit's total value of goods cleared in the immediately preceding financial year; gems and jewellery units are subject to a lower subcontracting ceiling and a special first-year cap, and "sub-contracting" is defined as outsourcing all conversion processes.

Anti-dumping correction narrows notification scope by removing a specified phrase, altering applicability under customs regulation provision.
Corrigendum directs omission of the phrase "and replacement market (or for on road vehicles)" from the note to a previously published customs notification on anti dumping duty, effecting a textual correction of the notification's scope without introducing new substantive measures.

Provisional anti-dumping duty on ceramic tableware and kitchenware from China to counteract dumped imports and domestic injury.
Provisional anti-dumping duty is imposed on imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware, excluding knives and toilet items, originating in or exported from China PR (headings 6911 and 6912) following preliminary findings of dumping, material injury to the Domestic Industry, and causation by dumped imports; the duty is charged per unit, payable in Indian currency, and will be levied for a period not exceeding six months from publication, with exchange rate application and relevant date for determination tied to Government notifications and the date of presentation of the bill of entry.

Tariff amendment: specified steel inputs receive concessional duty when imported for manufacture of cold rolled grain oriented steel.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 12/2012 Customs by inserting serial 333F to list specified steel inputs-hot rolled coils; cold rolled MgO coated and annealed steel; hot rolled annealed and pickled coils; and cold rolled full hard-which are granted concessional tariff treatment when imported for the manufacture of cold rolled grain oriented steel (CRGO) under tariff item 7225 11 00, with the duty columns for each input specified in the inserted table row.

Unavailed CENVAT credit may be fully availed for government or assigned natural resource use services on the appointed day.
Amendment to the CENVAT Credit Rules allows unavailed CENVAT credit in respect of services by the Government, local authority or any other person by way of assignment of the right to use any natural resource that remained unavailed on the day immediately preceding the appointed day to be availed in full on that day; adds definitions of "unavailed CENVAT credit" as entitlement minus already availed credit and "appointed day" as the date the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 comes into force.

Increment timing on promotion: pre max promotions follow prior increment date; post max promotions get next increment one year after promotion.
Regulation 25A prescribes that if an employee is promoted before reaching the maximum of the pre promotional incremental scale, the next increment in the higher grade falls on the pre promotional increment date; if promotion occurs after reaching that maximum, the next increment is one year from promotion, except where a post scale benefit is due within one year of promotion, in which case the increment in the promotional grade is the date of accrual of that benefit.

Electronic verification: Rule 114B permits paper or electronic submission using an electronic verification code under prescribed systems standards.
The amendment to Rule 114B permits furnishing particulars either in paper form or electronically under the electronic verification code, to be carried out in accordance with procedures, data structures, and standards specified by the income-tax systems authority, thereby providing an additional mode of compliance with the obligation to give particulars under the rule.

Arm's length price: small permitted variation lets actual transaction price be treated as arm's length for notified assessment periods.
Notification deems the actual transaction price to be the arm's length price for notified assessment periods where the variation between the arm's length price determined under the transfer pricing provisions and the actual price falls within prescribed small thresholds; a distinct, tighter threshold applies to wholesale trading, which is defined by high purchase-cost dominance in total cost and low average monthly closing inventory relative to sales.

Jurisdictional allocation for Income-tax investigation redefines offices and district coverage, altering regional investigative jurisdictions effective on publication.
Substitution of Schedule serial eleven redefines investigative jurisdictions by designating the Director General of Income-tax (Investigation), Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with principal offices at Lucknow and Kanpur, and by listing the specific revenue districts falling under the Principal Director/Director (Investigation) at Lucknow and at Kanpur; the amendment takes effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Delegation of adjudication powers: senior commissioners may assign show cause notice adjudication to subordinate officers.
The Central Board's power under rule 3 to assign adjudication of show cause notices issued under the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act may be exercised by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax or the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, enabling those commissioners to assign adjudication to their subordinate Central Excise officers; the notification supersedes earlier notifications on the subject and provides for a commencement date to be notified in the Official Gazette.

Territorial jurisdiction of Central Excise officers allocated across supervisory, appellate and audit functions by tabulated schedules.
Vests territorial jurisdiction in specified Central Excise officers by allocating supervisory and functional territorial responsibilities in four tabulated schedules. Table I assigns Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners supervisory jurisdiction over named Principal Commissioners/Commissioners and the corresponding Commissioners (Appeals) and (Audit). Table II defines precise territorial boundaries for Principal Commissioners/Commissioners; Table III specifies the appellate Commissioners' territorial remit; and Table IV specifies audit Commissioners' territorial remit. The notification establishes administrative territorial allocation under the Central Excise Act and Rules, with commencement as notified in the Official Gazette.

Appointment of Central Excise Officers: departmental officers vested with statutory excise and Chapter V finance powers across specified jurisdictions.
Specified senior and subordinate officers of the Central Excise Department are appointed as Central Excise Officers and vested with all powers under the Central Excise Act and under Chapter V of the Finance Act, and the rules made thereunder, for jurisdictions specified under rule 3 of the Central Excise Rules; the notification is issued under the stated statutory and rule-making provisions and supersedes earlier notifications to the extent specified, with commencement to be notified in the Official Gazette.

International Securities Identification Number requirement imposed for privately placed debt securities, mandating compliance as specified by the board.
Regulation 20A is amended to require that consolidation and re-issuance of debt securities be undertaken "in the manner as may be specified by the Board from time to time," and clause (a) is substituted to require that the articles of association of the issuer contain no provision, express or implied, contrary to such consolidation and re-issuance. A new Regulation 20B mandates that issuers of debt securities on a private placement basis comply with conditions relating to the issue of the International Securities Identification Number as specified by the Board.

Import regulation of poultry and poultry products now governed by S.O. 2337(E), replacing broad avian influenza import prohibitions.
Amendment removes the prior prohibition list tied to notifiable avian influenza for various live birds and avian products and stipulates that imports of poultry and poultry products will be regulated under S.O. 2337(E) issued under the Livestock Importation Act, 1898, as amended, thereby revising the import policy for those items.

Rent withholding tax must be deposited electronically within 30 days and Form 16C furnished after filing Form 26QC.
Deductors must deposit tax withheld on rent to the Central Government within thirty days from month-end with Form No.26QC and remit electronically to specified banks; furnish Form No.16C to the payee within fifteen days after the due date for Form No.26QC; and submit Form No.26QC electronically to the designated Income-tax Systems authority within thirty days, with prescribed procedures, formats and form contents inserted into the rules.

Long-term specified asset designation: bonds of Power Finance Corporation redeemable after three years qualify under section 54EC from mid June 2017.
The Central Government notifies that bonds issued by Power Finance Corporation Limited and redeemable after three years, when issued on or after the 15th day of June, 2017, are to be treated as long-term specified asset for the purposes of section 54EC of the Income tax Act, 1961, thereby specifying issuer, minimum redemption period and effective issuance date as the operative eligibility conditions under that section.

Safe harbour transfer pricing revised to define employee cost and include low value-adding intra-group services with certification requirements.
Amendments refine the transfer pricing safe harbour framework by redefining accountant for certification, codifying an inclusive employee cost definition with an eighty percent deeming rule for unascertainable outsourcing employee cost, and introducing low value-adding intra-group services with functional criteria and specified exclusions. The rules set operating margin and employee-cost thresholds for specified services, prescribe interest and commission floors for intra-group loans and guarantees linked to reference rates and credit ratings, and require accountant certification of cost pooling and allocation for low value-adding services.

Anti-dumping duty extended on imports of Plain Gypsum Plaster Boards from China PR, Indonesia, Thailand and UAE.
The Central Government amended the principal notification imposing anti-dumping duty on imports of Plain Gypsum Plaster Boards from China PR, Indonesia, Thailand and UAE by inserting Note 2(a) to provide that, notwithstanding existing provisions, the anti-dumping duty shall remain in force up to and inclusive of the extended date, thereby effecting a temporal continuation of the duty following a review and recommendation by the designated authority under the Customs Tariff Act and applicable anti-dumping rules.

Electronic verification permitted alongside digital signature, and Form 26B updated for refunds linked to Form 26QB filings.
The amendment inserts or verified through an electronic process into rule 31A(3A) to allow electronic verification in addition to digital signatures, and adds notes to Form No. 26B for refunds linked to deductions reported via Form No. 26QB permitting PAN in place of TAN, leaving the 'period' field blank, and requiring the Form No. 26QB acknowledgement number in the receipt number column.