Proviso to section 65 ceases to apply, effective 1 July 2012, changing temporal scope of service tax applicability.
The Proviso to section 65 of the Finance Act, 1994 ceases to apply with effect from 1 July 2012; the notification appoints that date as the commencement of non-application while preserving a savings provision for actions or omissions occurring before that date.

Effective date for specified Finance Act provisions set; named clauses of the Act commence on the appointed date.
The Central Government, under clauses (C), (F), (G) and (I) of section 143 of the Finance Act, 2012, appoints the 1st day of July, 2012 as the date from which those specified clauses shall come into force, thereby commencing the Finance Act, 2012 amendments concerning the negative list in service tax.

Foreign Trade Policy update: revised FTP incorporated and made operative, reflecting notified amendments and Annual Supplement.
Notification updates and consolidates the Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-2014 by incorporating amendments and the Annual Supplement, and declares the revised edition operative from the stated commencement under statutory powers conferred by the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act.

Provisional anti-dumping duty on digital offset printing plates imposed, calculated as the difference between specified value and landed value.
Provisional anti-dumping duty is imposed on Digital Offset Printing Plates from China PR and Japan, calculated as the difference between specified reference amounts per unit (by product type and listed producer-exporter combinations) and the landed value of the imports. Conversion factors for kg to sqm are provided; duty is payable in Indian Rupees, the applicable exchange rate is as notified under the Customs Act with the relevant date being bill-of-entry presentation, and "landed value" means assessable value under the Customs Act excluding specified duties. The duty is effective for up to six months.

Power to withdraw the positive list under service tax now effective, enabling administrative withdrawal of listed services.
The Finance Act, 2012 amendments create statutory power to withdraw entries from the service tax positive list; the government has appointed 1 June 2012 as the commencement date for the enabling clauses by official notification so that the authority to remove listed services is operational from that date.

Substitution of company form: Form 23AB replaced, amending Companies General Rules with commencement upon Gazette publication.
The Central Government, exercising rulemaking power under section 642(1) of the Companies Act, amends the Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms, 1956 by substituting a new Form 23AB in Annexure 'A'. The Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms (Amendment) Rules, 2012 take effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Fixation of tariff values: updated unit valuations for specified imported oils, scrap and precious metals under customs notification.
Substitution of TABLE-1 and TABLE-2 in Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) fixes tariff values for specified imported goods, listing unit values in US dollars for crude palm oil, RBD and other palm oil/palmolein grades, crude soybean oil, brass scrap (all grades), poppy seeds, and specified gold and silver entries where certain notification benefits are claimed; several palm oil entries remain unchanged and the amendment updates the tariff valuation schedule for customs assessment.

Adjudicating authority appointments under FEMA assign Enforcement Directorate officers specified monetary-threshold jurisdiction for section 13 adjudications.
The Central Government appoints specified officers of the Directorate of Enforcement as adjudicating authorities under section 13 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, superseding the earlier G.S.R. 535(E) dated 1-6-2000 except as regards prior actions; the notification allocates jurisdiction by designation according to defined monetary thresholds, assigning different tiers of cases to Director, Special Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director and Assistant Director.

Officers of enforcement expanded to include Joint Director of Enforcement under FEMA amendment, renumbering clauses and commencing on publication.
The amendment to the enforcement notification under the Foreign Exchange Management Act inserts Joint Director of Enforcement as a designated officer, renumbers existing clauses so former (d)-(g) become (e)-(h), and provides that the notification takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Rescission of Central Excise notifications: specified notifications revoked under section 5A(1), subject to prior actions preserved.
The Central Government, exercising powers under section 5A(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, rescinds specified notifications published in the Gazette, withdrawing their operative force prospectively while preserving effects of actions already done or omitted before such rescission; five notifications are identified by number and publication particulars.

Borrowing in foreign exchange: amended limits and maturity conditions for NGOs and MFIs, subject to compliance and no investigations.
Amendments to the FEMA borrowing regulations permit non government organisations and micro finance institutions to borrow in foreign exchange under Reserve Bank specified terms if they have not violated the regulations and face no pending investigations; they impose an annual ceiling on such borrowings, set minimum average maturities for different borrowing categories, and allow call/put options for smaller borrowings only where the minimum average maturity requirement is complied with before exercise.

Foreign security transfer threshold increased under FEMA, raising regulatory limits and applying retrospectively to the specified prior date.
The amendment replaces the previously stated monetary threshold in Regulation 21 and in the specified clause of Schedule I of the principal FEMA transfer/issue regulations with a higher threshold for transfers or issues of foreign securities, and declares that these substitutions are deemed to have been effective from the earlier specified date stated in the notification.

Exemption for export of pulses to Maldives permits limited shipments through MMTC Ltd despite general prohibition.
Exemption permits limited export of pulses to the Republic of Maldives as a specific exception to an existing export prohibition under the Foreign Trade Policy, allocating quantitative volumes for two policy years and requiring export through a specified public trading agency, thereby creating a destination- and agency-specific carve-out while preserving the general ban.

Tariff amendment inserts exemption for household compression-type combined refrigerator-freezers fitted with separate external doors under customs notification.
Amendment to Notification No.85/2004-Customs adds S.No. 49A with HS code 84181090 for compression-type combined refrigerator-freezers, fitted with separate external doors, household type, by inserting the entry after S.No. 49 in the TABLE; the change is made under the Central Government's Customs Act power in the public interest and follows earlier amendments to the principal notification.

Anti-dumping duty on Aniline imports from European Union imposed, effective for a statutory period, payable in Indian currency.
Definitive anti-dumping duty is imposed on Aniline (sub-heading 292141) originating in or exported from the European Union, applying a specified duty per metric tonne for direct and indirect export scenarios, expressed in US dollars but payable in Indian currency. The measure is effective for five years unless earlier revoked and requires conversion to Indian currency using the government-specified exchange rate, with the relevant date being the presentation of the bill of entry.

Withdrawal of anti-dumping duty on Acetone imports from Chinese Taipei enacted by amendment deleting the imposing entries.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act and relevant anti-dumping rules, amends the principal notification imposing anti-dumping duty on Acetone originating in or exported from Chinese Taipei by omitting the specified serial entries in the Table of that notification, thereby withdrawing the anti-dumping duty, without affecting actions taken prior to the amendment.

Foreign investment limits: MSEs may issue securities to non residents under Entry Routes; non MSE undertakings capped at 24% without approval.
The amendment permits companies classified as Micro and Small Enterprises under the MSMED Act, 2006 (including specified export or technology park units) that are not engaged in activities listed in Annex A to issue shares or convertible debentures to persons resident outside India subject to Entry Routes, Annex B limits, and the Foreign Direct Investment Policy; it also allows industrial undertakings licensed for items reserved for MSE manufacture to issue shares to non residents up to 24% of paid up capital, with any excess requiring prior government approval.

Compounding of service tax offences enables settlement with fixed or percentage compounding amounts and conditional immunity.
The rules permit eligible applicants to apply in a prescribed form to the designated compounding authority to compound specified service tax offences; the authority may request a report from the reporting authority, fix and order payment of a compounding amount based on prescribed scales, and grant conditional immunity from prosecution upon full disclosure and cooperation. Applications may be rejected after hearing; payment and proof are required within specified timeframes, compounding amounts are generally non refundable except where a court denies immunity, and immunity may be withdrawn for non payment, non compliance, concealment or false evidence.

Settlement Procedure for Service Tax cases requires standardized application, admission of liability, prescribed payment and inventory procedures.
The rules implement a settlement mechanism for service tax disputes: applications must be filed in Form SC(ST)-1 in quintuplicate, signed by authorised persons, accompanied by a prescribed fee, and disclose show cause notice details, admitted service tax and interest with calculations and payment particulars. The Settlement Commission forwards applications to the appropriate Commissioner for report. Where provisional attachment is ordered, the Commissioner may authorise an officer to attach property, prepare an inventory, provide a copy to the applicant, and send inventories to the Commissioner and the Commission. A per page fee applies for obtaining report copies.

Safeguard duty on Phthalic anhydride imposed, applying to imports with specified exclusions for certain developing countries.
The Central Government, under section 8B and the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Duty) Rules, 1997, imposes an ad valorem safeguard duty on imports of Phthalic anhydride (tariff item 2917 35 00) following Director General (Safeguard) findings that increased imports caused and threatened to cause serious injury to domestic producers. The duty follows an earlier provisional measure, applies for a specified one year period beginning from the provisional imposition, and excludes imports from countries notified as developing countries except Pakistan, China and Thailand.