Supply of food services: valuation and input tax credit conditions revised, plus multimodal transport and e-book clarifications.
The notification amends GST classification and conditions: it redefines restaurant and institutional catering supplies, adds Indian Railways and its entities to covered supplies, conditions that input tax credit not be taken for certain restaurant supplies, substitutes "value of supply" for "declared tariff", clarifies event-based supplies, defines multimodal transportation and multimodal transporter, and separates e-book supply from other information services.

Scope expansion to Union territory and Municipality broadens notification's territorial application under U.P. GST framework with retrospective effect.
The notification amends a prior U.P. GST notification by inserting "or Union territory" after "State Government" and by inserting "or to a Municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution" after "Constitution" in the first paragraph; the amendment is issued under the U.P. Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and is deemed to have come into force with retrospective effect from 27th July, 2018.

Handicraft goods tax exemption reduces state GST rate on specified intra-state handicraft supplies under a GST notification.
Notification exempts intra-state supplies of handicraft goods from so much state tax under section 9 as exceeds specified reduced rates for listed tariff items. It defines handicraft goods as predominantly hand-made items with ornamentation or distinctive aesthetic or cultural features, and applies the exemption category-wise by referring to tariff headings and matching reduced state GST rates in the accompanying Table. The notification is deemed effective from 27th July, 2018.

E-Way bill exemption for intra-city and specified job-work movements; other intra-state movements require an E-Way bill.
Exemption provided from generation of an E-Way Bill for all intra-city movements of goods and for intra-state movement of hank, yarn, fabric and garments transported for job work; all other intra-state movements require an E-Way Bill and the procedures of rules 138, 138A, 138B, 138C and 138D apply mutatis mutandis. Where the person in charge is exempted from carrying the E-Way Bill, they must carry documents such as tax invoice, delivery challan, bill of supply or bill of entry. "City" is defined by municipal enactments and includes certain villages.

Net Foreign Exchange requirement: Units must achieve positive cumulative foreign exchange earnings over the prescribed block period or face regulatory conditions.
Amendments require National Security Clearance in approvals, channel submissions through the jurisdictional Development Commissioner, and replace certain Board functions with an Approval Committee. The rules align SEZ procedures with Central, Integrated and State GST, update Drawback and export documentation requirements, and expand domestic procurement to include goods and services. Renewal of Letters of Approval is formalised with Form F1/F2 and evaluation criteria; Net Foreign Exchange computation and gems and jewellery value addition rules are substituted. Exit requires a legal undertaking in Form L and shortfalls may be regularised by specified deposit conditions.

GST registration procedure for provisional-ID taxpayers to apply for GSTIN and map old provisional IDs to new GSTINs.
A special registration procedure allows persons with only a Provisional Identification Number (PID) who did not complete FORM GST REG-26 to obtain a GSTIN by submitting prescribed identity and contact details to the nodal officer, applying in FORM GST REG-01 on the GST portal after GSTN email, receiving ARN, new GSTIN and access token, providing those to GSTN to enable mapping to the old PID, and performing a first-time login with the old PID to generate the registration certificate.

Extension of deadline for a prior GST notification, substituting the earlier expiry date with a later one.
The State Government, under Section 11(1) of the Andhra Pradesh GST Act and on GST Council recommendation, amends G.O.Ms.No.585 (25-07-2018) by substituting the expression "30th day of September, 2018" with "30th day of September, 2019", thereby changing the notification's specified date.

Commencement of Section 37 under the Companies (Amendment) Act appointed by government notification to take effect.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017, issued a Ministry of Corporate Affairs notification appointing 19th September 2018 as the date on which Section 37 of the Amending Act shall come into force, thereby fixing the effective commencement date for that amendment provision by ministerial appointment.

Corporate Social Responsibility scope expanded to include areas or subjects, and applicability widened to all companies, clarifying schedule references.
Amendments to the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules replace references to "activities" and "purview" with the broader phrase "areas or subjects specified," adjust rule 2 wording for company CSR descriptions, substitute "a company" for narrower company-type language in rule 5, and align rule 6 and rule 7 cross-references to Schedule provisions to read as "areas or subjects specified in Schedule."

Government ownership threshold clarified for GST exemption; ownership directly or via wholly owned intermediary entity qualifies.
The State Government, under section 11(3) of the Tripura SGST Act, inserts an Explanation into Notification No. 12/2017 to clarify that, for the specified exemption, the Central Government, State Government or Union territory must have 50 per cent. or more ownership in the entity either directly or through an entity wholly owned by the Central Government, State Government or Union territory.

Exchange rate revision for South African Rand updates import and export conversion rates effective from specified date.
Amendment to the customs exchange rate schedule substitutes the South African Rand entry in Schedule I, specifying distinct rupee equivalents for imported and exported goods under the authority of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, and fixing the revised rates to take effect from the stated operative date for use in customs valuation and related statutory calculations.

Extension of TRAN-1 filing deadline permits subsequent TRAN-2 submission following council recommendation and commissioner approval.
The amendment authorises the Commissioner, on Council recommendation, to extend the electronic filing date for FORM GST TRAN-1 for registrants impeded by technical difficulties on the common portal, subject to a specified outer limit; registrants using that extension may submit FORM GST TRAN-2 by a prescribed later date. The amendment also inserts a reference to section 125 into rule 142(5) after the existing reference to section 76, expanding the provision's scope.

GSTR-3B filing obligation: affected taxpayers must submit returns electronically through the common portal by the specified deadline.
Taxpayers who obtained a GSTIN under Notification No. 31/2018 must furnish FORM GSTR-3B for the specified return period electronically through the common portal, in accordance with the inserted proviso to Notification No. 34/2018-State Tax, by the prescribed final date.

Extension of GSTR-3B filing deadline for specified GSTIN holders; affected period returns must be filed by revised deadline.
The notification inserts a proviso into earlier state notifications extending the filing timeline: taxpayers who obtained GSTIN under the referenced state notification must furnish their FORM GSTR-3B returns for the specified earlier periods electronically through the common portal by the prescribed extended date.

Extension of GSTR-1 filing deadlines for small taxpayers, with staggered schedules and special electronic filing rules.
Extends and prescribes a special procedure for furnishing outward supply details in FORM GSTR-1 by registered persons with aggregate turnover up to 1.5 crore, superseding earlier notifications. A table sets consolidated and staggered deadlines for quarterly filing of GSTR 1 for specified quarters. Provides that certain taxpayers (by territory or newly issued GSTINs under a prior notification) must file electronically through the common portal by specified dates. States that related monthly time limits under the Act will be notified subsequently in the Official Gazette.

Input tax credit restriction on specified goods: unutilised credit lapses after payment for inward supplies up to July.
Amendment renumbers serials and inserts a proviso excluding application of the notification to input tax credit accumulated on supplies received on or after the 1st day of August, 2018, for specified goods; it further provides that any unutilised input tax credit remaining after payment of tax for and up to the month of July, 2018, on inward supplies received up to 31st July 2018 shall lapse. The amendment is effective from 27th July, 2018.

Business definition clarified: government activities undertaken as public authorities excluded from the notification's GST coverage.
Adds an Explanation to Notification No. S.O.17/P.A.5/2017 clarifying that, for the relevant item, the term "business" shall not include any activity or transaction undertaken by the Central Government, a State Government or any local authority when they are engaged as public authorities; the insertion is effective from 27th July, 2018.

Territorial scope expanded to include Union territories and constitutional municipalities under GST notification, with retrospective effect.
The notification is amended to insert "or Union territory" after "State Government" and to add "or to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution" after "Constitution" in the first paragraph; the amendment is declared to be operative retrospectively from 27th July, 2018, thereby expanding the notification's scope to include Union territories and constitutional municipalities.

Services by individual Direct Selling Agents clarified as supply to banks and NBFCs under amended notification.
Amendment inserts a new table entry recognising services supplied by individual Direct Selling Agents who are not bodies corporate, partnerships or limited liability partnerships when provided to banking companies or non-banking financial companies in the taxable territory, and adds an Explanation defining renting of immovable property to include permitting access, occupation or use, with or without transfer of possession, including letting, leasing and licensing; the amendment is issued by the executive authority and made effective from the instrument's stated commencement date.

GST exemption expanded for specified services, adding new exempt categories and adjusting valuation and transitional provisions.
The notification amends the Punjab GST exemption schedule by inserting numerous new exempt service entries, omitting specified supplier references in certain entries, substituting "value of supply" for "declared tariff", extending transitional dates, and adding a clarification that Central and State Educational Boards are treated as educational institutions for examination services; notable insertions include exemptions for old age home services to senior residents subject to a monthly cap, electricity distribution infrastructure to farmers, warehousing of minor forest produce, provident fund and NPS administrative services to members, government loan guarantees to PSUs, FSSAI testing services to food business operators, artificial insemination of livestock, assignment of royalty collection rights with a reconciliation condition, and membership fee exemptions for certain non profit bodies.