UCO Bank has launched an International Financial Services Centre Banking Unit at GIFT City to provide permitted international banking services. The unit offers trade finance, external commercial borrowings, foreign-currency loans, loan syndication, treasury services and other permitted financial services. It serves Indian corporates, exporters, importers, financial institutions, overseas businesses and other eligible customers requiring cross-border financing and access to global financial markets. FCNR(B) deposits are also offered through the unit.

Registered persons within the prescribed aggregate-turnover threshold must follow a special quarterly FORM GSTR-1 procedure. Details of outward supplies for October-December 2020 are due by 13 January 2021, and those for January-March 2021 are due by 13 April 2021. The time limit for furnishing details or returns for October 2020 through March 2021 is to be specified subsequently through publication in the Official Gazette.

Banking-sector participation is emphasised through last-mile credit access for MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, rural artisans, small farmers and other underserved beneficiaries. Banks are urged to expedite government-scheme applications, maximise coverage and use technology for timely financial support. Industrial-policy assistance and incentives cover startups, SC/ST entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities and first-generation entrepreneurs. Greater coordination, expanded village banking access, and vigilance against cyber fraud and mule accounts are also prioritised.

Designation-based substitution is made in orders under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The entry naming the Chief Commissioner of Hyderabad Zone is replaced by the Chief Commissioner of Central Tax Hyderabad Zone. The entry naming the Commissioner of State Tax is replaced by the Commissioner of State Tax, Office of Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Telangana State, Hyderabad. The amendment identifies relevant positions by official designation rather than individual officeholders.

Historical-scenario stress testing for commodity derivatives now caps extreme peak historical price movements at the level corresponding to a Z-score of 5, replacing the previous Z-score threshold of 10. The cap applies to maximum percentage price rises and falls over the applicable margin period of risk, using the mean and standard deviation of returns across the preceding 15 years for Z-score calculation. Recognised clearing corporations with commodity derivatives segments must apply the revised stress-testing parameter with immediate effect.

Government departments, governmental societies and agencies engaging contractors or suppliers must obtain GST registration as tax deductors if unregistered. They must deduct GST TDS at 2% on contracts and government supplies exceeding the prescribed threshold and file Form GSTR-7 online by the 10th of the following month. For contracts below the TDS threshold, departments must submit prescribed details to the Commissioner of Taxes. Future contracts may be awarded to contractors or suppliers only upon submission of a Tax Clearance Certificate confirming payment of prior tax dues. Officers may be held personally liable for omissions or commissions causing revenue loss.

Draft SOP requires NBFC Factors to use the specified SWIFT message text when remitting foreign-currency factoring proceeds to AD-I Banks, so those banks do not create Inward Remittance Messages (IRMs) for such receipts. Where Factors discount export bills and release INR funds, customers seeking IRMs must approach the Factors rather than AD-I Banks. Factoring agencies must correctly identify factoring-related transactions when remitting funds. Exporters will be able to view NBFC Factor-related IRMs on the DGFT portal and self-certify eBRCs by matching remittances with invoices or Shipping Bills. Stakeholder comments are invited within 30 days of publication.

E-invoicing applicability under rule 48(4) of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 is expanded by reducing the aggregate-turnover threshold in the existing notification from five hundred crore rupees to one hundred crore rupees, with effect from 1 January 2021. The amendment is deemed effective from 10 November 2020.

GST registration processing is linked to Aadhaar authentication. Applicants who fail authentication or do not opt for it ordinarily require physical verification of their business premises, although document verification may be used with recorded reasons and requisite approval. Deemed approval timelines differ for successful authentication, failed authentication, non-opt-in, and clarification cases. The physical-verification framework also applies where Aadhaar authentication is not opted for.

Interest under Section 234B is mandatory and consequential, requiring recomputation when effect is given to appellate relief. Where interest-free funds exceed investments and advances, no interest disallowance arises under Rule 8D(2)(ii); where no exempt income is earned, no administrative expenditure disallowance arises under Rule 8D(2)(iii) read with Section 14A. Interest-free funds exceeding advances to associated enterprises support the presumption that those advances came from such funds, eliminating interest disallowance under Section 36(1)(iii), regardless of whether fresh advances demonstrate business purpose. Consequently, exempt-income and associated-enterprise advance disallowances are removed, while Section 234B interest remains subject to recomputation.

Arunachal Pradesh amends its State GST rate schedule by removing Serial No. 243 and related entries from Schedule II, which prescribes the 6% State tax rate. It also deletes the words "in respect of Information Technology software" from the description against Serial No. 452P in Schedule III, prescribing the 9% State tax rate. The amendments are made under the State GST Act pursuant to the Council's recommendations.

India's merchandise trade data records increased July exports to the United States and China, alongside growth in imports from both markets. Exports to Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, Australia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Italy and Vietnam showed positive growth, while July exports declined for the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Nepal. Imports also increased from Russia, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Oman, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brazil. India and the United States are negotiating a trade pact amid an additional United States tariff on India.

The filing deadline before the Appellate Tribunal is reset for specified pending GST appeals and applications, replacing the earlier deadline arrangement. Appeals against orders communicated before 1 May 2026, and applications relating to orders passed before 1 February 2026, may be filed up to 31 July 2026. Appeals and applications concerning later orders remain governed by the statutory filing periods of three months from communication and six months from the order date, respectively.

GST enforcement action led to the seizure of copper and aluminium ingots transported by freight train without valid e-way bills and invoices. The metals were found in three train wagons during inspection of parcel cargo. Further proceedings are to be undertaken under applicable GST rules concerning movement of goods without prescribed transport documentation.

Registered persons furnishing quarterly GST returns may pay tax for the first or second month of a quarter through an electronic cash ledger deposit. The prescribed deposit is 35% of the preceding quarterly cash-paid tax liability, or the cash-paid liability for the last month of the preceding quarter where that return was monthly. No deposit is required where available electronic cash or credit ledger balances adequately cover the relevant liability or where liability is nil.

Commencement of Section 7 of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2020 was fixed as 10 November 2020. The State Government exercised its power under section 1(3) of the Amendment Act to appoint the date on which Section 7 came into force.

GST rule amendments provide for deemed revocation of specified registration suspensions upon furnishing pending returns, re-credit of the electronic credit ledger after repayment of erroneous refunds through the electronic cash ledger, and UPI and IMPS payment modes. They prescribe interest calculation on delayed tax payments, revise export refund procedures including electricity exports and withheld refunds, and update GSTR-3B, annual return, reconciliation, payment and refund forms. Reporting is clarified for electronic commerce operator supplies, input tax credit reversals and reclaimed credit.

Merchandise trade in July 2026 saw exports rise 19.63 per cent and imports increase 17.52 per cent, widening the trade deficit to a six-month high. Petroleum products, electronics, engineering goods and marine goods supported export growth, while crude oil and several commodity and capital-goods categories increased imports. During April-July 2026-27, faster import growth widened the cumulative merchandise trade deficit compared with the corresponding prior-year period.

Tax-invoice reporting under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 requires registered persons supplying specified chemicals to state the applicable eight-digit HSN code on invoices. The specified class covers 49 listed chemical substances and products, including organophosphorus compounds, phosphonates, phosphites, chlorides, cyanide-related chemicals, phosphorus compounds, sulfur chlorides, and certain ethanolamines. The obligation applies with effect from 1 December 2020.

Gujarat rescinds Notification No. 45/2017-State Tax (Rate), which had granted a concessional GST rate for specified supplies. The rescission takes effect from 18 July 2022 and preserves actions already taken, or omissions occurring, before that date. The earlier concessional-rate framework therefore ceases prospectively, subject to the saving for prior transactions and acts.