Penal charges imposed by regulated banks and non-banking financial companies for breach of material loan terms are not consideration for tolerating an act and attract no GST. RBI-regulated Payment Aggregators qualify as acquiring banks for the limited card-payment settlement exemption, but Payment Gateway services are excluded. GST payments for specified past periods are regularized on an as is where is basis for Government-grant-funded research services, eligible skilling services, reverse-charge commercial renting involving composition taxpayers, and listed ancillary electricity transmission or distribution utility services.

Kerala State GST rate schedules are amended by substituting specified tariff classifications for entries concerning goods under heading 2202. The amendments revise classification codes in Schedule I, subject to 2.5% tax, and Schedule III, subject to 20% tax. The substitutions are made under the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax framework and are deemed effective from the notified effective date.

Digital banking transformation through a cloud-native software-as-a-service platform entails migration from legacy systems to integrated deposits, lending, virtual account management and liquidity-management capabilities. Real-time data, artificial intelligence foundations, open APIs and event-driven architecture are intended to support digital banking products, corporate cash management and operational agility. Liquidity tools are designed to provide visibility and control over cash positions and working capital. The implementation is intended to deliver scalability, resilience, security and high availability while assisting regulatory compliance; projected benefits remain subject to risks and uncertainties.

Kerala State GST rate schedules are amended to place biris in the 9% schedule. Pan masala, specified tobacco and tobacco-substitute products, and specified non-combustible inhalation products containing tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, or nicotine substitutes are placed in the 20% schedule. The 14% schedule and related entries are omitted. The amendments are deemed effective from 1 February 2026.

Workplace culture recognition was awarded to Kotak Securities through Great Place to Work Certification for a second consecutive year and inclusion among India's Best Workplaces in Investments 2026. The recognition followed assessment of employee feedback, workplace practices and organisational culture, reflecting employee trust, engagement and belonging. The company states that it will continue initiatives supporting employee wellbeing, learning and development, inclusion, collaboration and growth.

Pepper of the genus Piper is classified under HS 0904 and attracts 5% GST, while agriculturists supplying dried pepper or raisins from cultivation are exempt where not liable for registration. Salted and spiced ready-to-eat popcorn is treated as namkeen, with GST dependent on pre-packaged and labelled supply; sugar-mixed popcorn is sugar confectionery. AAC blocks containing more than 50% fly ash fall under HS 6815 and attract 12% GST. The amended compensation cess criteria for specified utility vehicles apply from 26 July 2023.

Merchant bankers must use the SEBI Intermediary Portal for registration-related applications and periodic reporting, maintain prescribed capital adequacy and liquid net worth, and obtain required professional certifications. They must submit board-reviewed, compliance-certified half-yearly reports, disclose public-issue track records, Investor Charters and complaint data, and follow investor grievance procedures. Core merchant-banking activities and compliance functions cannot be outsourced; permitted outsourcing remains subject to board oversight, due diligence, written controls, confidentiality and continuing merchant banker accountability. Non-regulated activities require arm's-length separate business units, information barriers and stakeholder disclosures.

Jurisdiction-wise proper officer and authorised officer functions under the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 are assigned with immediate effect, subject to territorial jurisdiction, specified State-wide authority, prior approvals and pecuniary limits. The assignments cover registration, cancellation and revocation, assessment, audit, inspection, search, seizure, tax determination, recovery, penalties, detention, confiscation, information collection and e-way bill interception. Tax-determination cases above the prescribed monetary threshold must be transferred to the concerned Additional Commissioner, while enforcement-investigated cases are transferred to jurisdictional officers for notices, adjudication and further proceedings.

Common directorship or an associate relationship does not by itself establish a related-person transaction for central excise valuation. Related-person status requires evidence of mutuality of interest in each other's business, while rejection of declared transaction value also requires proof of flow back or additional consideration affecting price. In the absence of shareholding, subsidiary, professional or other qualifying relationship, and without evidence of extra-commercial consideration in the sale of semi-finished pipes, the Department could not displace valuation under Section 4(1)(a) or invoke Section 4(1)(b) read with Rule 6(b)(ii). The declared sale basis therefore remained applicable.

Speculative loss on commodity transactions cannot be disallowed as bogus merely because an FMC report identifies artificial trading practices by other members or clients. The report may warrant further investigation, but disallowance requires assessee-specific evidence that trades were non-genuine. The Revenue neither verified contract notes and trading data with the exchange nor investigated counterparties, and the remand report found no bogus or accommodation entries involving the assessee or its broker. A broker's penalty for an unrelated trade was not probative. The speculative loss was therefore allowable and the disallowance unsustainable.

Bills of Entry cannot be filed in ICES during the temporary system-update period following the Union Budget presentation, and related approvals are also suspended. Other ICEGATE services and Shipping Bill filing and assessment continue normally. Export-related levies introduced through Budget changes are to be monitored and, where applicable, collected manually until directory updates are made online. Prior Bills of Entry must be checked for changed duty liability before Out of Charge, and Bill of Entry filing resumes once ICES updates are completed.

Penalty cannot survive once deletion of the corresponding quantum addition is confirmed. As the quantum addition formed the basis for the penalty, its confirmed deletion removes the foundation for imposing penalty. The penalty is therefore not sustainable in favour of the assessee.

Right to information administration within the Customs Audit Commissionerate is implemented through the appointment of a Central Public Information Officer and a Central Assistant Public Information Officer under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The appointments establish designated channels for handling RTI-related functions within the Commissionerate.

Late fee under section 234E could not be computed while processing quarterly TDS statements under section 200A for periods before 1 June 2015. The amendment authorising such computation took effect only from that date, so decisions applicable to pre-amendment assessment years governed the issue. A decision concerning later assessment years did not apply. Consequently, an intimation under section 200A could not validly levy the late fee for the stated pre-amendment periods.

SWIFT 2.0 expands the Single Window interface for EXIM clearances by integrating CDSCO, WCCB, MeitY and the Textile Committee alongside existing pilot PGAs. PGA licences, permits, certificates, other documents and no-objection certificates are harmonised through designated document codes. CDSCO, WCCB and AQCS officers will process no-objection certificates on the Customs IT infrastructure without separate physical document submission. MeitY certificates will be digitally linked with Bills of Entry, while Textile Committee test reports and prescribed fee payments will be available through the SWIFT dashboard.

The GARUDA mechanism permits regular AIF schemes to launch after 10 working days from PPM filing, subject to a SEBI-registered merchant banker's independent due diligence and prescribed filings. AI-only funds, LVFs and Angel Funds are exempt from merchant banker filing and SEBI-comment requirements, with AI-only funds and LVFs able to launch upon PPM filing and Angel Funds able to circulate PPMs after registration. Managers, merchant bankers where applicable, and designated officers remain responsible for accurate, complete and compliant PPM disclosures.

Importers must make an item-level hazardous cargo declaration in Bills of Entry for goods falling under Chapters 28, 29 and 38. Hazardous goods require disclosure of their nature through the prescribed Single Window information, while non-hazardous goods are separately identified. The system flags declared hazardous cargo for verification, assessment, examination and out-of-charge processing. Where a revised classification during assessment falls within the specified chapters, the assessing officer must record hazardous-cargo details through the prescribed mechanism.

Structural and pro-competitive reforms between 2010 and 2023 are assessed as reducing market distortions and strengthening competitiveness. The assessment covers property-rights protection, domestic competition and international competition, including the Goods and Services Tax, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, regulatory improvements and trade-facilitation modernisation. Further priorities include evidence-based competition policy, consumer-welfare review of sector-specific investment restrictions, and cooperation to address international regulatory barriers.

Rajasthan GST adjudication authority is specified for tax determinations involving unpaid or short-paid tax, erroneous refunds, and wrongly availed or utilised input tax credit. For periods up to financial year 2023-24, separate entries apply to matters without fraud and matters involving fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression of facts. For financial year 2024-25 onward, tax determinations for any reason are assigned to an officer not below the rank of Deputy Director and Revenue Intelligence Officer. The amendment takes immediate effect.

Aadhaar enrolment in Manipur has reached approximately 87-88 per cent, with comparatively lower coverage among children aged 0-5 years. The first Aadhaar Seva Kendra in Imphal has been inaugurated to expand access to enrolment and Aadhaar-related services. The State Government is coordinating with welfare and health departments, hospitals and UIDAI to improve young children's enrolment, alongside services available through Deputy Commissioners' offices and authorised enrolment centres.