Notifications & Circulars
Ministry of Finance
29.11.2022
Commercial
Amendment in Section 2(zm) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016
MANU/REVU/0113/2022
In exercise of the powers conferred under sub-clause (iii) of clause (sa) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003), the Central Government hereby notifies that 'real estate agents' as defined under clause (zm) of section 2 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (16 of 2016) and as a person engaged in providing services in relation to sale or purchase of real estate and having annual turnover of Rupees twenty lakhs and above, as a "person carrying on designated business or profession".
Tags : Amendment Provision Real Estate
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Securities and Exchange Board of India
29.11.2022
Capital Market
Introduction of credit risk based single issuer limit for investment by mutual fund schemes in debt and money market instruments
MANU/SMFD/0022/2022
1. As per Regulation 44(1) read with clause 1 of Seventh Schedule of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 ("MF Regulation"), a mutual fund scheme shall not invest more than 10% of its NAV in debt instruments, issued by a single issuer, comprising money market securities and non-money market securities rated investment grade or above by a Credit Rating Agency (CRA). This overall investment limit may be extended to 12% of the NAV of the scheme with the prior approval of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of the Asset Management Company.
2. Vide Circular dated May 23, 2022, on "Development of Passive Funds", SEBI introduced credit risk based single issuer limits for debt ETFs/ Index Funds in order to effectively manage the risk associated with such investments.
3. In order to avoid inconsistency in investment by mutual funds in debt instruments of an issuer, irrespective of the scheme being actively or passively managed, it has been decided to introduce a similar credit rating based single issuer limit for actively managed mutual fund schemes.
4. Accordingly, within the limits specified in the clause 1 of Seventh Schedule of the MF Regulation, following prudential limits shall be followed, for schemes other than Credit risk funds:
i. A mutual fund scheme shall not invest more than:
a. 10% of its NAV in debt and money market securities rated AAA; or
b. 8% of its NAV in debt and money market securities rated AA; or
c. 6% of its NAV in debt and money market securities rated A and below
issued by a single issuer.
The above investment limits may be extended by up to 2% of the NAV of the scheme with prior approval of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of the AMC, subject to compliance with the overall 12% limit specified in clause 1 of Seventh Schedule of MF Regulation.
5. The long term rating of issuers shall be considered for the money market instruments. However, if there is no long term rating available for the same issuer, then based on credit rating mapping of CRAs between short term and long term ratings, the most conservative long term rating shall be taken for a given short term rating. Exposure to government money market instruments such as TREPS on G-Sec/ T-bills shall be treated as exposure to government securities.
6. The circular shall be applicable for all the new schemes to be launched with effect from date of issuance of the circular. Existing schemes shall be grandfathered from these guidelines till the maturity of the underlying debt and money market securities.
7. This circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, read with the provisions of Regulation 77 of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.
Tags : Introduction Credit risk Investment
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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
29.11.2022
Media and Communication
TRAI releases recommendations on 'Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG)'
MANU/TRAI/0085/2022
1. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released recommendations on 'Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG)'.
2. Earlier, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), through their letter dated 10.09.2021 had sought the TRAI's Recommendations on licensing framework for establishment of satellite gateway.
3. In this regard, a Consultation Paper on 'Licensing Framework for Establishing Satellite Earth Station Gateway' was issued on 15.11.2021. Comments from 23 stakeholders and counter comments from 7 stakeholders were received. An Open House Discussions (OHD) with stakeholders was held on 25.02.2022.
4. Based on the comments/inputs received from the stakeholders and on its own analysis, TRAI has finalized its Recommendations on 'Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG)' to the Government.
5. The salient features of these Recommendations are as follows:
a. There shall be a separate Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG) License under the Section 4 of Indian Telegraph Act. The SESG License will not form part of the Unified License (UL). The Service Area for the SESG License shall be at National Level.
b. The SESG Licensee may establish, maintain, and work SESGs anywhere within the territory of India for all types of satellite systems for which the Government has given the permission.
c. The SESG Licensee may provide satellite-based resources to any entity, which holds license/permission granted by DoT or Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) and is permitted to use satellite media for the provision of services under its license/permission.
d. The SESG Licensee may establish SESGs in respect of one or more Government approved satellite systems.
e. The SESG Licensee shall not be permitted to provide any kind of telecommunication service or broadcasting service directly to the consumers, for provision of which, a separate license/authorization/permission is required from the Government.
f. The SESG license shall be valid for a period of 20 years from the effective date of the license with a provision of renewal for 10 years.
g. The Licensee shall adhere to the instructions/guidelines issued by the Government in respect of connecting Trusted Products in its network.
h. The SESG Licensee shall meet the instructions/directions of the Licensor (i.e. DoT) issued from time to time in the interest of national security.
i. Only the companies registered under the Companies Act, 2013 of India shall be eligible to apply for grant of SESG License.
j. A non-refundable one-time Entry Fee of Rs. Ten lakhs (Rs. 1,000,000) shall be levied for grant of SESG License.
k. As the SESG licensees will not provide any service directly to end consumers, only a token License Fee of Re. 1 per annum shall be levied on SESG License.
l. In respect of the application for grant of SESG License, a Processing Fee of Rs. Five thousand shall be levied. Further, a Processing Fee of Rs. Five thousand shall be levied in respect of every application for grant of permission to establish an additional SESG.
m. The mandate to compulsorily establish Land Earth Station Gateway/Hub Station/Uplink Earth Station in the relevant licenses/permissions granted by DoT and MIB shall be removed.
n. The telecommunication and broadcasting service licensees/permission holders, who are eligible to provide satellite-based communication services in India, shall have the option to establish their own satellite earth station gateways, if permitted under their licenses/permissions, or use the SESGs established by the SESG licensees by connecting their baseband equipment with the SESGs at the terms and conditions offered by the SESG licensees.
o. The service licensee/permission holders, being served by the SESG Licensee, shall install their own baseband equipment at the SESG established by the SESG Licensee.
p. Frequency spectrum (gateway-side spectrum, as well as user terminal-side spectrum) should be assigned to the eligible service licensees/permission holders as per the allocation of transponder bandwidth in the concerned satellite system. No frequency spectrum shall be assigned to SESG licensees.
Tags : Recommendations Licensing SESG
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Ministry of Finance
28.12.2022
Customs
Amendment to Instruction No. 18/2022-Customs dated 12.08.2022 and 26/2022-Customs dated 06.10.2022
MANU/CUST/0098/2022
1. Reference is drawn to Board's Instruction No. 18/2022-Customs dated 12.08.2022 and 26/2022-Customs dated 06.10.2022 relating to the requirement of Health Certificate to be accompanied with the import of certain food consignments, based on a reference from FSSAI.
2. In this regard, FSSAI has further clarified vide its order dated 27.10.2022 (copy enclosed), that the implementation of the order dated 03.08.2022 (copy enclosed) and its subsequent clarification vide order dated 26.09.2022 (copy enclosed), has been extended based on the comments received from various stakeholders in respect of implementation of time. The date of implementation of said orders shall be extended by two months and the order will be now effective from 1st January, 2023.
3. It is requested that the necessary action may be taken to sensitize officers under your jurisdiction.
4. The difficulties, if any, in the implementation of this Instruction may please be brought to the notice of the Board.
Tags : Amendment Instruction Import Food consignments
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Ministry of Finance
28.11.2022
Goods and Services Tax
Manner of processing and sanction of IGST refunds
MANU/GSCU/0023/2022
1. Attention is invited to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for verification of risky exporters and their suppliers dated 23.01.2020 issued to CGST and Customs formations as well as Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) and SOP dated 20.05.2020 issued to CGST formations and DGARM vide F. No. CBEC-20/16/07/2020-GST which provided for the procedure to be followed for verification of the risky exporters and their suppliers. The said SOPs provided that DGARM would identify the exporters and their suppliers on the basis of risk parameters, approved by the Competent Authority and would forward the list of such exporters to the Risk Management Centre for Customs (RMCC) for putting alert in the system. In such cases, the Customs field formations were required to conduct the detailed examination of the export goods of such identified exporters. Further, the jurisdictional CGST formations were required to conduct detailed verification of such identified exporters and their suppliers and forward the verification report to DGARM. On receipt of verification report from CGST formations, DGARM was required to take a decision for issuance of NOC or otherwise. In cases where NOC has been issued by DGARM, the same was communicated to the Customs authorities at the port of export for release of withheld IGST refunds of such exporter. Further, DGARM was also required to review whether the exporters can be removed from the list of identified exporters.
2. However, rule 96 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as 'CGST Rules') has been amended retrospectively w.e.f. 01.07.2017 to provide for withholding of IGST refund in cases where the verification of credentials of the exporter, identified on the basis of data analytic including the availment of ITC by the exporter is considered essential before grant of refund. Clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 96 is reproduced below:
(c) the Commissioner in the Board or an officer authorised by the Board, on the basis of data analysis and risk parameters, is of the opinion that verification of credentials of the exporter, including the availment of ITC by the exporter, is considered essential before grant of refund, in order to safeguard the interest of revenue.
2.1 Accordingly. Principal Director General/Director General of Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), CBIC, New Delhi has been authorised by the Board to exercise the functions under clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 96 of the CGST Rules vide Order No. 01/2022-GST dated 21.07.2022 issued vide CBIC-20023/04/2021-GST.
2.2 Further, sub-rule (5A) has been inserted in rule 96 to provide for transmission of IGST refunds, withheld in terms of provisions of clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 96 of the CGST Rules, as system generated refund in Form GST RFD-01 and to provide that the said system generated form shall be deemed to be the application for refund in such cases and such application for refund shall be deemed to have been filed on the date of such transmission on the portal. In addition, sub-rule (5C) has also been inserted in rule 96 to provide that such system generated refund in FORM GST RFD-01 have to be dealt with in accordance with rule 89 i.e. in a manner similar to other GST RFD-01 refund claims.
3. In view of the aforesaid amendments, certain changes have been made in the alert module on ICES for which an Advisory No. 14 dated 29/09/2022 has been issued by DO Systems to all the system managers. In the said advisory, it has been inler-alia informed that a new role for putting an all-India suspension, either on IEC or GSTIN of the exporter as the case may be, to withhold IGST refunds has been developed for officers of DGARM. An option to revoke the said alert has also been made available to DGARM officers. Further, instructions have also been issued by DG Systems vide F. No. DGSYS/APP/ICES/GEN/41/2022 dated 29.09.2022 to the Customs field formations regarding the procedure to be followed by them in respect of IGST refunds withheld due to DGARM alerts on risky exporters.
4. DGARM on the basis of data analysis and risk parameters, would identify the exporters where verification of credentials of the exporter, including the availment of ITC by the exporter, is considered essential before grant of refund. DGARM would then place an all-India alert on such exporter on Indian Customs EDI system along with the reasons for putting the said alert. Once an alert is placed on an exporter, the IGST refunds of such exporters would be withheld and the data in respect of Shipping Bills filed by such exporter, for which IGST Scroll could not be generated due to DGARM alert, along with the reasons thereof would be transmitted to GSTN through ICEGATE for generation of refund claims in FORM GST RFD-01 in terms of provisions of sub-rule (5A) of rule 96. Besides, the past cases where the exporter was identified as risky, which could not be processed due to pending verification or due to receipt of negative report, would also be transmitted to GSTN through ICEGATE for generation of refund claims in FORM GST RFD-01 in terms of provisions of sub-rule (5 A) of rule 96.
5. Such refund claims will be made available to the jurisdictional proper officer on back-office system under the category "Any other (GST paid on export of goods)" with the remarks "Refund of IGST paid on export of goods (Refund not processed by ICEGATE)". Further, the risk parameters, on basis of which the exporter has been identified as risky by DGARM, would be shared with the jurisdictional tax officers along with the system generated refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01. In cases where the verification report in respect of the exporter has already been submitted to DGARM by the jurisdictional CGST authorities, the details of the same would also be shared with the jurisdictional proper officer, along with the said system generated refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01. Transmission of such IGST refunds to the jurisdictional proper officers, withheld on account of identification of exporter as risky by DGARM, is being initiated on the portal.
6. On receipt of such refunds, the jurisdictional proper officer shall immediately process such refund claims in a manner similar to other RFD-01 refunds filed under the provisions of rule 89 of the CGST Rules, 2017.
7. However, it may be noted that as these refund claims have been generated by the system on the basis of Shipping Bills/Bills of Export filed by the exporter, these claims would be auto-acknowledged by the system and no Deficiency Memo in Form GST RFD-03 can be issued against such system generated Form GST RFD-01 refund claims.
8. The proper officer shall ascertain the genuineness of the exporter & verify the correctness of availment and utilisation of ITC by the exporter and exercise due diligence in processing the said refund claims to safeguard interest of revenue. The proper officer may conduct the physical verification of places of business of the exporter, if required, to ensure that the exporter is existing at his declared place of business and is functional/active.
9. The proper officer shall pass a detailed speaking order in respect of the refund claim and shall duly upload the same along with the refund sanction order in Form GST RFD-06 on the portal in terms of Instruction No. 03/2022-GST dated 14.06.2022. The officer will also follow the timelines for processing of the refund claim in terms of provisions of sub-section (7) of section 54 of the CGST Act.
It is needless to mention that the procedure of review and post-audit as prescribed in para 2.2 of Instruction No. 03/2022-GST dated 14.06.2022 will also be applicable to such refund claims.
10. In cases where the detailed investigation of the exporter or his suppliers is required to be conducted to verify the genuineness and correctness of ITC availed by the exporter, the matter may be examined, if required, for resorting to provisions of sub-section (11) of section 54 of the CGST Act, 2017 for withholding of the refund.
11. Further, the proper officer would also be required to provide feedback on the common portal while issuing refund sanction order in FORM GST RFD-06 as with recommendation as to whether the alert against the said taxpayer need to be continued or whether the same can be removed. The functionality for the same would be available on the system in due course.
12. GSTN shall transmit the data regarding the outcome of processing of refund by the proper officer, along with the feedback received from the proper officer on the requirement of removal or continuation of alert, to DGARM for necessary action for removal or continuation of alert.
13. The Zonal Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners are requested to closely monitor the progress of disposal of such transmitted refund claims to ensure that due verification has been conducted before sanction and the refunds have been processed in a timely manner.
14. In view of the above, the SOPs dated 23.01.2020 and 20.05.2020 prescribing the procedure to be followed for verification of the risky exporters and their suppliers, are hereby superseded.
15. Difficulty, if any, in implementation of these instructions may please be brought to the notice of the Board.
Tags : Processing Sanction IGST refunds
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Ministry of Finance
28.11.2022
Customs
Improvements in SWIFT: Integration of ICEGATE with AQCS-ICS (Animal Quarantine and Certification Services-Import Clearance System) effective 01.12.2022
MANU/CUCR/0024/2022
1. Kind reference is invited to Board's Circulars 09/2015-Cus dated 31.03.2015, 03/2016-Cus dated 03.02.2016 and 10/2016-Cus dated 15.03.2016, regarding the Indian Customs' Single Window. In brief, vide the above referred Circulars-
(a) six Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) were brought on board the Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT). This platform enabled importers to lodge their clearance documents online through ICEGATE at a single point, facilitated risk-based inspection and an Online NoC from the PGAs could be obtained, without the trader having to approach these agencies.
(b) these agencies were Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Plant Quarantine (PQ), Animal Quarantine and Certification Services (AQCS), Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), and a lab module for the Textile Committee (TC) to provide its NOC for live consignments.
2. Under SWIFT, the FSSAI and PQ are connected through online message exchange with their own systems, while the remaining four PGAs use ICES for providing online NoC. Further, vide Circular No. 01/2017-Cus dated 04.01.2017, the facility for automatic routing of Bills of Entry (BOEs) of WCCB for NoC in exports in SWIFT was introduced.
3. Further, the facility of eSANCHIT, was enabled for the importers/exporters to upload all Licenses, Permits, Controls and Orders (LPCOs) issued by the PGAs and other documents on ICEGATE, via Circular no. 40/2017-Cus dated 13.10.2017 and extended to exports across the country, vide Circular No. 43/2018-Cus dated 08.11.2018. The facility of eSANCHIT was leveraged for uploading of authorisations and LPCOs issued by PGAs in PDF format, thus dispensing with the requirement of importers and exporters to separately upload these documents, in phases vide Circular nos. 44/2018-Cus dated 13.11.2018, 13/2019-Cus dated 03.06.2019, 19/2019-Cus dated 16.07.2019, 03/2020-Cus dated 15.01.2020, 11/2020-cus dated 10.02.2020 and 24/2020-Cus dated 14.05.2020.
4. To enhance transparency and better informed compliance, the Compliance Information Portal (https://cip.icegate.gov.in/CIP/#/home) was launched on 04.08.2021 on a single platform to provide all necessary information related to Customs laws, procedures along with applicable duties and taxes on each Customs Tariff Item, as also the information about necessary permissions to be obtained from any PGA for import or export of goods.
5.1 To further enhance SWIFT, the Digital Import Clearance System of AQCS-ICS has been developed by AQCS for purposes of improved functioning. This would enable migrating from Online NoC through ICES to online message exchange mode, similar to that of FSSAI and PQMS. The AQCS-ICS shall be introduced from 01.12.2022. For this, the following changes will be made in the Customs System:
5.2 Integrated Declaration:
To enhance the ambit of paperless processing and to facilitate risk-based inspection, changes in the Integrated Declaration as follows:
a. The importer must upload the Veterinary Health Certificate issued by the exporting country with Document Code 853AQ1 for the concerned Customs Tariff Items (CTIs) listed in Annexure A (Sl. No. 1) of this Circular.
b. The importer must upload the Laboratory reports/certificate of analysis (COA) with Document Code 001AQ1, for the concerned CTIs listed in Annexure A (Sl. No. 2) of this circular.
c. The Importer must quote the IRN generated in eSanchit pertaining to Sanitary Import Permit with document Code 911DF1, issued and uploaded by AQCS, for the concerned CTIs listed in Annexure A (Sl. No. 3) of this Circular to obtain the NoC.
d. The importer must give the following declaration under Statement Code AQ002 at item level for the CTIs listed in Annexure B of this Circular: "I certify that the invoice issued by Authorised officer of Manufacturer in the exporting country contains a declaration that the product has undergone the irreversible process of tanning in terms of O.M. vide F. No. L-110110/17/2017-Trade-Part(1) (E-15243) dated 17.12.2021."
5.3 Risk-based Inspection:
Based on the above additional data being received through integrated declaration, risk-based selectivity criteria shall be introduced in stages for CTIs requiring NoC from AQCS along with the integration of AQCS-ICS with ICEGATE.
5.4 Post Filing requirements for NoC by AQCS:
All documents required to be submitted to AQCS to obtain NoC, will normally be uploaded during Integrated Declaration. Under circumstances where additional documents are required by AQCS from the importer post-filing, the importer may submit the same by logging in via ICEGATE. Till the time that the integration of AQCS-ICS with ICEGATE is complete, the importer may log in to the AQCS-ICS portal to submit the additional documents.
5.5 Electronic transmission of NoC to Customs:
The Online NoC will be automatically transmitted to ICEGATE, and importers will also have complete visibility as soon as it is issued (or rejected) by PGA officers. Any further queries by PGA officers as well as real time tracking of the status of processing of applications can be accessed through ICEGATE portal and as well as the AQCS-ICS Portal.
6. With the introduction of AQCS-ICS, there is no change in the role or functioning of Customs officers. The Customs officers would be able to access the details of the BOEs referred by ICES to AQCS-ICS. The electronically received Release Order (RO) regarding the BOEs referred to AQCS-ICS shall be accepted by the Customs. The documents referred before the implementation of this Circular will continue to be processed in ICES.
7. Suitable Public Notices may please be issued to guide the trade/industry.
Tags : Improvements SWIFT ICEGATE
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