Common Adjudicating Authority appointed to centralise adjudication of specified customs show cause notices under the Customs Act.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Additional Director General (Adjudication), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Delhi as the Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the adjudicatory powers under the Customs Act in relation to the specified show cause notices listed in the Table, expressly superseding the earlier orders and notifications identified in the Table's sixth column so that those matters are adjudicated by the DRI Additional Director General (Adjudication), Delhi in place of the previously named officers.

TDS/TCS online filing: mandatory registration, DSC signed zip upload and portal validation with accept/reject status notification
Notification prescribes e filing procedure for TDS/TCS statements requiring valid TAN, registration on the e filing portal as Tax Deductor & Collector, preparation via the Return Preparation Utility, validation with the File Validation Utility, and upload of a zipped statement accompanied by a signature file generated through the DSC Management Utility. Uploaded files are processed and validated by the portal and the statement status is shown as Uploaded and subsequently as Accepted or Rejected, with rejection reasons displayed; TIN Facilitation Centres remain an alternative submission route.

Digital signature requirement for VAT returns applies from the designated tax period and takes immediate effect.
The requirement to furnish VAT returns with digital signatures under the Information Technology Act, 2000 shall apply from the tax period commencing 1st April, 2016 and subsequent tax periods, issued under the fourth proviso to sub rule (3) of rule 28 of the Delhi Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, with immediate effect; all other provisions of the prior notification remain unchanged.

Export Obligation under EPCG: rupee term payments for specified services now count toward discharge under amended Appendix.
Paragraph 5.04(h) of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 is amended to state that payment received in rupee terms for services notified in Appendix 5D shall be counted towards discharge of export obligation under the EPCG scheme; a new Appendix 5D lists the services whose rupee receipts qualify for fulfilment of the export obligation.

Appointment of Chief Executive Officer under Companies Act to hold additional charge for a limited government-designated tenure.
Central Government has appointed Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, IAS, as Chief Executive Officer of the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority under sub-section (6) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with rule 6 of the IEPF Authority Rules, 2016, to hold the office as an Additional Charge, commencing on assumption of charge for a limited tenure or until further orders.

Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority constituted; members appointed, terms governed by applicable rules, reimbursement for meeting expenses.
Central Government constitutes the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority under the Companies Act, appointing the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs as Chairperson ex officio, ex officio regulator representatives, and named non-official members. Membership is divided between ex officio officials and appointed members. The term of office for specified members is governed by the Authority rules and non-official members are entitled to reimbursement of actual expenditure for attending meetings as provided in those rules.

Anti-dumping duty on imported measuring tapes from specified Asian exporters applies for five years, using government exchange rate conversion.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of measuring tapes from Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam following findings of dumping and injury; duties are product- and country-specific (steel and fibre-glass tapes), stated in US dollars per kilogram but payable in Indian currency using the Government-specified exchange rate as of the bill-of-entry date, and effective for five years from Gazette publication.

Foreign exchange transaction modes: prescribed currencies and authorized instruments govern receipts and payments under FEMA rules.
The Regulations prescribe permissible modes and currencies for receipts and payments in foreign exchange, differentiating ACU members, Nepal and Bhutan, Iran, and other countries; require export receipts to be in the currency appropriate to the declared place of final destination; permit third party receipts and payments and alternative instruments (bank drafts, card receipts, debit to FCNR/NRE accounts, specified rupee receipts, precious metals for certain exporters) subject to conditions; and allow payments by international cards and rupee payments for specified visitor expenses and director remunerations, subject to compliance with the Act and foreign trade policy.

Roster authority granted to a CESTAT Member to reassign bench matters until a new President joins, ensuring tribunal functioning.
Authorization empowers the Member (Judicial) CESTAT, designated Head of Department, to prepare rosters and reassign bench matters to Members until the joining of a new President or further orders to ensure uninterrupted tribunal functioning; issued by the Department of Revenue with Finance Minister approval.

Delegation of powers to appoint inspectors enables regional directors to inspect company books after central government orders such inspections.
The Central Government, being satisfied that circumstances warrant, delegates the powers to appoint Inspectors for inspection of a company's books and papers (where such inspection is ordered by the Central Government) to the Regional Directors, thereby vesting appointment authority in regional officials to operationalise centrally ordered inspections.

Tariff value fixation: revised customs valuation set for edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nut, gold and silver.
Fixes tariff values under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act by substituting TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 in Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), prescribing US dollar per metric tonne values for specified edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds and areca nuts, and separate unit values for gold and silver where benefits of specified notification entries are availed.

Status holder recognition period extended to include three financial years for most exporters, gems and jewellery unchanged.
Amendment extends the export performance measurement for status holder recognition from the current and previous two financial years to the current and previous three financial years for all exporters with an IEC, while preserving the two-year measurement period for the Gems and Jewellery sector; export performance is counted on the basis of FOB export earnings in free foreign exchange.

Evidence of employee tax deduction claims: Form 12BB required; electronic submission and verification mandated for withholding statements.
Employees claiming deductions for TDS must furnish evidence or particulars in Form No.12BB to the person responsible for payment, including landlord and lender identification where required. Amendments require electronic submission and verification of monthly and collection statements in Form No.24G to the agency authorised by the Principal Director General of Income tax (Systems), impose specific due dates (March-related filings by 30 April; other months within 15 days), mandate communication of the Book Identification Number, and prescribe quarterly filing deadlines and corresponding updates to Forms 24G, 24Q, 26Q and 27Q.

Export control of SCOMET items tightened by amendments expanding nuclear, dual use, machine tool and laser controls.
The notification substitutes and expands SCOMET Categories 0, 3 and 4: Category 0 is redefined to list nuclear related prescribed substances and prescribed equipment with licensing by the Department of Atomic Energy and specified thresholds and exclusions; Category 3 revises metal, alloy and explosive entries and adds technology controls; Category 4 is rewritten to control a broad range of precision machinery, test equipment, furnaces, lasers, isotope separation and handling equipment, and associated technology and software, thereby tightening export licensing controls under the Foreign Trade Act.

Filing deadline for Form CR-II set under Delhi VAT directive; taxpayers must comply with the prescribed May filing schedule.
Directive issued under section 27 of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004 requires filing of returns in Form CR-II for the 2015-16 financial year by 16th May 2016, as a partial modification of the notification dated 15 March 2016; all other provisions of that notification remain unchanged and the directive takes immediate effect.

Foreign Venture Capital Investor investment rules expanded to include startups and Cat I AIF units under amended FEMA regulations.
The amendment inserts a Cat I AIF definition and a detailed startup definition, and revises FVCI rules: SEBI registered Foreign Venture Capital Investors may invest in unlisted Indian companies in specified sectors and in any startup, acquire units of VCFs or Cat I AIFs, and make purchases from issuers, holders or on recognised exchanges without prior RBI approval. Consideration must come via inward remittance or proceeds/income from prior investments; designated foreign currency/rupee accounts may be maintained solely for Schedule transactions; transfers may be made to residents or nonresidents at mutually agreed prices; and reporting to RBI or SEBI is required.

In-house research and development reporting: electronic submissions and expanded income-tax authority oversight required for approvals and audits.
The amendment revises authority designations and mandates electronic furnishing of approval, audit and annual reports for in house research and development facilities eligible for weighted deduction. It prescribes timelines for submission of authority reports and audit certificates, assigns the Principal Director General (Systems) to set secure data capture and transmission standards, and substitutes Forms 3CL and 3CLA plus Annexures to require company identification, project progress, patents, and detailed capital and revenue expenditure reporting, along with cooperation, asset use restrictions and disclosure in audited financial statements.

De-notification of Special Economic Zone: central government rescinds prior SEZ notification after state no-objection and developer request.
The promoter sought full de-notification of the sector-specific mineral Special Economic Zone originally notified over 101.21 hectares. The State Government gave a no-objection and the Development Commissioner recommended de-notification. Under the first proviso to rule 8 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, the Central Government rescinds the prior notification, except as to acts done or omitted before the rescission.

Customs notification amendment: designation of a new authorised location permitting import unloading and export loading operations.
Amendment inserts Village Sachana, Viramgam, District Ahmedabad as an authorised location in the principal customs notification, permitting unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods at that site under the statutory rule-making power exercisable for Inland Container Depots/Land Customs Stations/Ports.

Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority consolidates adjudication of specified customs show cause proceedings under the Customs Act.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under sub section (1) of section 4 and sub section (1) of section 5 of the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the Commissioner of Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax, C.R. Building, Mananchira, Calicut as the Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and discharge duties of the Commissioner of Customs, Willingdon Island, Cochin, and the Commissioner at Calicut for adjudicating matters related to the show cause notice issued to M/s Bluebell India Traders and related proceedings.