Knowledge Portal by Mihir Hindocha

SEBI Board Meeting

2012-06-27T12:03:00.000+05:30

SEBI Board Meeting

The SEBI Board met today in Mumbai and took the following decisions:

Platform for E-Voting by Shareholders of Listed Entities

In line with the budget proposal of Hon’ble Finance Minister, to make it mandatory for top listed companies to provide for electronic voting facilities, it has been decided to implement the said proposal by making electronic voting mandatory for all listed companies in respect of those businesses to be transacted through postal ballot. The same would be implemented in a phased manner. To begin with, it would be mandated for top 500 listed companies at BSE and NSE based on market capitalization. Listed companies may choose any one of the agency which is currently providing the e-voting platform.

Manner of dealing with Audit Reports filed by listed entities

In order to enhance the quality of financial reporting done by listed entities, it has been decided to put in place, a mechanism to process qualified annual audit reports filed by the listed entities with stock exchanges and Annual Audit Reports where accounting irregularities have been pointed out by Financial Reporting Review Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI-FRRB). It has been, inter-alia, decided that:

Deficiencies in the present process would be examined and rectified.
SEBI would create Qualified Audit Report review Committee (QARC) represented by ICAI, Stock Exchanges, etc. to guide SEBI in processing audit reports where auditors have given qualified audit reports.
Listed entities would be required to file annual audit reports to the stock exchanges alongwith the applicable Forms (Form A: 'Unqualified' / 'Matter of Emphasis Report'; Form B: 'Qualified' / 'Subject To' / 'Except For Audit Report').
After preliminary scrutiny and based on materiality, exchanges would refer these reports to SEBI/QARC.
Cases wherein the qualifications are significant and explanation given by Company is unsatisfactory would be referred to the ICAI-FRRB. If ICAI-FRRB opines that the qualification is justified, SEBI may mandate a restatement of the accounts of the entity and require the entity to inform the same to the shareholders by making the announcement to stock exchanges.

Amendment to certain provisions in SEBI (ICDR) Regulations relating to Infrastructure Sector

In order to harmonize the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations relating to Infrastructure Sector with the amended Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957, it has been decided to carry out consequential amendments to SEBI (ICDR) Regulations pertaining to minimum public shareholding and minimum subscription requirements. It has also been decided to modify the minimum subscription requirements for companies coming out with IPOs to state that the minimum subscription shall not be less than 90% of the offer, subject to allotment of minimum 25% or 10%, as the case may be, of the securities offered to the public.

Review of Offer for Sale (OFS) through stock exchange mechanism

1. The Board has approved the following changes in the OFS mechanism through stock exchange:

i. Within the cooling off period of +12 weeks, the promoter(s)/promoter group entities can offer their shares only through OFS or Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) while maintaining a gap of 2 weeks between two successive OFS or IPP. This would also be applicable on promoters who have already offloaded their shares through OFS or IPP. Board also approved these changes in the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations for OFS through IPP route.

ii. Modification / cancellation of bids shall not be allowed during the last 60 minutes from the close of bidding session instead of last 30 minutes.

2. The Board also took note of the following changes in the OFS mechanism:

a. Indicative price shall be displayed during the last 60 minutes of the close of bidding session irrespective of the book being built.

b. The dissemination of floor price shall not be a part of the notice. If the seller intends to disclose the floor price, the price shall be disclosed after the close of business hours on (T-1) day (T day being the day of OFS).

c. The minimum size of the offer shall be Rs.25 crore. However, the size of offer can be less than Rs.25 crore so as to achieve minimum public shareholding in a single tranche.

d. The issuer shall have the option to upsize the offer subject to appropriate disclosure in the notice and advance pay-in of shares.

e. Institutional investors shall have the option of applying with 100% upfront margin in cash or with an adhoc margin of certain lower percentage to be determined by the Exchanges. In the latter case the bids shall not be permitted to be modified.

f. Additional time shall be provided to the custodians to confirm the institutional bids during post close trading hours subject to the condition that the bids and payments have been received before closure of the bidding process.

Mumbai

June 26, 2012

Depreciation restricted to 15% on wind mills installed after 31-3-2012.

2012-03-31T15:22:00.000+05:30

Income-tax (Fourth Amendment Rules, 2012 – Depreciation restricted to 15% on wind mills installed after 31-3-2012

Notification No. 15/2012 [F.No.149/21/2010-SO(TPL)] S.O.694(E), dated 30-3-2012

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely:-

1. (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax ( 4th Amendment) Rules, 2012.

(2) They shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2012.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962, in the Table, in the New Appendix I, in Part-A relating to Tangible Assets, under the heading “III. Machinery and Plant”, in item (8), in sub-item (xiii), -

(a) In clause (l), after the words, “which run on wind mills”, the words, figures and letters, “installed on or before 31st day of March, 2012”, shall be inserted ; and

(b) In clause (m), after the words, “running on wind energy”, the words figures and letters, “installed on or before 31st day of March, 2012”, shall be inserted.

Sd/-

( J. Saravanan )

Under Secretary (TPL-III)

Note.- The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section(ii), vide Notification number S.O.969(E), dated the 26th March, 1962 and last amended by Income-tax ( 3rd Amendment) Rules, 2012, vide Notification S.O. No. 626(E) dated the 28th March, 2012.

Income Tax office to remain open on March 31, 2012

2012-03-31T11:27:00.007+05:30

New Income Tax Forms Notified

2012-03-31T10:56:00.000+05:30

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

[CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES]

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 28th day of March, 2012

Income-tax

S.O. 626 (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely:-

1. (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (3rd Amendment) Rules, 2012.

(2) They shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2012.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962,-

(A) in rule 12,–

(i) in sub-rule (1),-

(a) for the figures "2011", the figures "2012" shall be substituted;

(b) after clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

" Provided that the provisions of this clause shall not apply to a person being an individual, who is a resident and has

(i) assets (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India; or

(ii) signing authority in any account located outside India.";

"Provided that the provisions of this clause shall not apply to a person being an individual or Hindu undivided family, who is a resident and has

(i) assets (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India; or

(ii) signing authority in any account located outside India."

(ii) in sub-rule(3), in the proviso, clause (a) shall be renumbered clause (aaa) and before clause (a), as so renumbered the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-

" (a) an individual or a Hindu undivided family, if his or its total income, or the total income in respect of which he is or it is assessable under the Act during the previous year, exceeds ten lakh rupees, shall furnish the return for the assessment year 2012-13 and subsequent assessment years in the manner specified in clause(ii) or clause(iii);

(aa) an individual or a Hindu undivided family, being a resident, having assets (including financial interest in any entity) located outside India or signing authority in any account located outside India and required to furnish the return in Form ITR-2 or ITR-3 or ITR-4, as the case may be, shall furnish the return for assessment year 2012-13 and subsequent assessment years in the manner specified in clause (ii) or clause (iii);"

(iii) in sub-rule (5), for the figures "2010", the figures "2011" shall be substituted;

(B) in Appendix-II, for "Forms SAHAJ (ITR-1), ITR-2, ITR-3, SUGAM (ITR-4S), ITR-4 and ITR-V", the "Forms SAHAJ (ITR-1), ITR-2, ITR-3, SUGAM (ITR-4S), ITR-4 and ITR-V" shall be substituted.

_________________________________________

[Notification No.14 /2012/ F.No.142/31/2011 -TPL]

(Ashis Chandra Mohanty)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note.-

The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) vide notification number.S.O.969(E), dated the 26th March, 1962 and last amended by Income-tax ( 2nd Amendment) Rules, 2012 vide notification S.O. No 227(E) dated 6/2/2012.

Rahul Dravid's Retirement Speech

2012-03-09T14:26:00.000+05:30

Liberalised Remittance Scheme for Resident Individuals

2012-03-07T11:25:00.002+05:30

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Foreign Exchange Department

Central Office

Mumbai - 400 001

_____________________________________________________

RBI/2011-12/430 March 06, 2012

A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 90

To,
All Category - I Authorised Dealer Banks

Madam / Sir,

Clarification - Liberalised Remittance Scheme for Resident Individuals

1.Attention of Authorised Dealer Category - I (AD Category - I) banks is invited to A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 64 dated February 4, 2004, as amended form time to time, A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 24 dated December 20, 2006, A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 9 dated September 26, 2007, A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 51 dated May 8, 2007 and A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 32 dated October 10, 2011 on the Liberalised Remittance Scheme for Resident Individuals (the Scheme).

2. In this regard, it is clarified that:

i. The facility is available to all resident individuals including minors. In case of remitter being a minor, the LRS declaration form should be countersigned by the minor’s natural guardian. Accordingly, the modified LRS application cum declaration form is enclosed;

ii. Remittances under the facility can be consolidated in respect of family members subject to individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the scheme; and

iii. Remittances under the scheme can be used for purchasing objects of art subject to the provisions of other applicable laws such as the extant Foreign Trade Policy of the Government of India.

3. All other terms and conditions mentioned in the afore-mentioned Circulars shall remain unchanged.

4. AD - Category I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

5. The directions contained in this Circular have been issued under sections 10 (4) and 11 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and is without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully,

(Meena Hemchandra)

Chief General Manager In-Charge

Annex

[Annex to A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 90

dated March 06, 2012]

Application cum Declaration for purchase of foreign exchange under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of USD 200,000 for Resident individuals

(To be completed by the applicant)

I. Details of the applicant

a. Name …………………………..

b. Address…………………………

c. Account No……………………..

d. PAN No………………………….

II. Details of the foreign exchange required

1. Amount (Specify currency)………………………………

2. Purpose ……………………………………………………

III. Source of funds: ………………………………………….

IV. Nature of instrument

Draft………………………..

Direct remittance…………

V. Details of the remittance made under the Scheme in the financial year (April- March) 20__ – 20__

Date :………………

Amount :………….

VI. Details of the Beneficiary

1. Name ……………………..

2. Address ……………………

3. Country ……………………

4*. Name and address of the bank……………………….

5*. Account No……………………………………………..

(* Required only when the remittance is to be directly credited to the bank account of the beneficiary)

This is to authorize you to debit my account and effect the foreign exchange remittance/ issue a draft as detailed above (strike out whichever is not applicable).

Declaration

I, ………………. …………(Name), hereby declare that the total amount of foreign exchange purchased from or remitted through, all sources in India during the financial year as per item No. V of the Application, including utilisation of the said limit on account of loan extended or gift made in rupees credited to NRO account of non-resident close relative(s), is within the limit of USD 200,000/- (US Dollar Two hundred thousand only), which is the limit prescribed by the Reserve Bank for the purpose and certify that the source of funds for making the said remittance belongs to me and will not be used for prohibited purposes.

Signature of the applicant

(Name)

Signature of the natural guardian of the applicant @

(Name)

@ Where the applicant is minor, the application should be countersigned by minor’s natural guardian

Certificate by the Authorised Dealer

This is to certify that the remittance is not being made by/ to ineligible entities and that the remittance is in conformity with the instructions issued by the Reserve Bank from time to time under the Scheme.

Name and designation of the authorised official:

Place:

Signature:

Date:

Stamp and Seal

Announcement - Regarding Bank Branch Audit related matters. - (05-03-2012)

2012-03-06T15:03:00.000+05:30

For Information of Members

Announcement
[Regarding Bank Branch Audit related matters]

The office bearers and Council Members of the Institute have been in receipt of a representation from various members in regard to certain issues concerning the profession and in particular re: matters relating to bank branch audit, appointment procedure etc. Since numerous such communications have been received this announcement is being put up for the information of members so that individual responses to the representation may be avoided.

We may inform you that the President and the Council of the Institute are fully seized of the matter and they even before receipt of these representations have taken proactive steps to engage the government and appropriate authorities in a dialogue. The same is aimed at emphasising the contribution made by this profession in the corporate and banking sector and to avoid certain incorrect perceptions in the minds of authorities entrusted with decision-making in this regard. The representations made personally by the President along with the Vice President and certain members of the council have been well received and the favourable conclusion is awaited. In the interim, it is important as mentioned by a past President that " the profession speaks with one voice" when there is a difficult situation to be faced.

Members are therefore requested to note that their representations have been duly noted and are being acted upon. In view thereof, further circulation of personal views by emails / letters to Government and Regulatory authorities may be avoided, so that a situation wherein different views are being expressed on behalf of the profession to various authorities does not arise.

Secretary
ICAI

Registration of Companies or LLPs which have one of their objects is to carry on the profession of Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant, Architect, Company Secretary etc.

2012-03-02T14:37:00.000+05:30

General Circular No. 2/2012

F. No. 17/165/2011-CL V

Government of India

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

5th Floor, A Wing, Shastri Bhavan,

Dr. R.P. Road, New Delhi,

Dated the 1st March, 2012

To,

All Regional Director,

All Registrars of Companies

Registrar of LLPs

Subject: Registration of Companies or LLPs which have one of their objects is to carry on the profession of Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant, Architect, Company Secretary etc.

Sir,

I am directed to say that at the time of incorporation of companies where one of the objects is to carry on the business of Banking, Insurance or to practice the profession of Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accountancy & Company Secretaries, then the concerned Registrar of Companies shall incorporate the same only on production of in-principle approval / NOC from the concerned regulator/professional Institutes.

2. Further, in this connection, it is also stated that where one of the objects is to carry on the business/profession of Architecture, then the concerned Registrar of Companies /Registrar of LLP shall incorporate the same only on production of in-principle approval / NOC from the concerned regulator.

3. This issues with the approval of CAM.

Yours faithfully,

(Monika Gupta)

Assistant Director

Copy to:

1. All concerned

2. PS to CAM and PS to MOS

3. PPS to Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretaries

Release of Foreign Exchange for Imports - Further Liberalisation

2012-02-22T16:11:00.000+05:30

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Foreign Exchange Department

Central Office

Mumbai - 400 001

RBI/2011-12/404 February 21, 2012
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 82

To
All Authorised Dealers in Foreign Exchange

Madam / Sir,

Release of Foreign Exchange for Imports – Further Liberalisation

1.Attention of all the Authorised Dealers (ADs) in foreign exchange is invited to the A.P.(DIR Series) Circular No. 106 dated June 19, 2003 in terms of which applications by persons, firms and companies for making payments, exceeding USD 500 or its equivalent towards imports into India must be made in Form A-1.

2. Based on suggestions received from the various stake holders, the said limit has been reviewed and it has been decided as a measure of liberalization to raise the above limit for foreign exchange remittance towards imports without any documentation formalities, from USD 500 or its equivalent to USD 5000 or its equivalent, with immediate effect.

3. It is clarified that the ADs need not obtain any document, including Form A-1, except a simple letter from the applicant containing the basic information viz., the name and the address of the applicant, name and address of the beneficiary, amount to be remitted and the purpose of remittance, as long as the exchange being purchased is for a current account transaction (and is not included in the Schedules I and II of the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000 framed by Government of India vide Notification No. G.S.R.381 (E) dated May 3, 2000, as amended from time to time, the amount does not exceed USD 5000 or its equivalent and the payment is made by a cheque drawn on the applicant's bank account or by a Demand Draft.

4. Authorised Dealers may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

5. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully,

(Rashmi Fauzdar)

Chief General Manager

Export of Goods and Services - Receipt of advance payment for export of goods Involving shipment (manufacture and ship) beyond one year

2012-02-22T16:07:00.000+05:30

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Foreign Exchange Department

Central Office

Mumbai - 400 001

RBI/2011-12/ 403 February 21, 2012
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.81

To
All Category – I Authorised Dealer Banks

Madam / Sir,

Export of Goods and Services -

Receipt of advance payment for export of goods

Involving shipment (manufacture and ship) beyond one year

1.Attention of Authorised Dealer Category – I (AD Category I) banks is invited to the sub-regulation (2) of Regulation 16 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Export of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2000, notified vide Notification No.FEMA.23/RB-2000, dated 3rd May 2000, as amended from time to time, in terms of which prior approval of the Reserve Bank is required to be obtained by an exporter for receipt of advance where the export agreement provides for shipment of goods extending beyond the period of one year from the date of receipt of advance payment.

2. With a view to liberalizing the procedure, it has been decided to permit AD Category- I banks to allow exporters to receive advance payment for export of goods which would take more than one year to manufacture and ship and where the ‘export agreement’ provides for shipment of goods extending beyond the period of one year from the date of receipt of advance payment subject to the following conditions:-

i) the KYC and due diligence exercise has been done by the AD Category –I bank for the overseas buyer;

ii) compliance with the Anti Money Laundering standards has been ensured;

iii) the AD Category-I bank should ensure that export advance received by the exporter should be utilized to execute export and not for any other purpose i.e., the transaction is a bona-fide transaction;

iv) progress payment, if any, should be received directly from the overseas buyer strictly in terms of the contract;

v) the rate of interest, if any, payable on the advance payment shall not exceed London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) + 100 basis points;

vi) there should be no instance of refund exceeding 10% of the advance payment received in the last three years;

vii) the documents covering the shipment should be routed through the same authorised dealer bank; and

viii) in the event of the exporter's inability to make the shipment, partly or fully, no remittance towards refund of unutilized portion of advance payment or towards payment of interest should be made without the prior approval of the Reserve Bank.

3. Necessary amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Export of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2000, wherever necessary, are being issued separately.

4. AD Category - I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

Yours faithfully,

(Rashmi Fauzdar)

Chief General Manager

Exemption to specified persons from requirement of furnishing a return of income under section 139(1) for assessment year 2012-13

2012-02-21T12:22:00.000+05:30

Section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Return of Income - Exemption to specified persons from requirement of furnishing a return of income under section 139(1) for assessment year 2012-13

NOTIFICATION NO. 9/2012 [F. No.225/283/2011-ITA(II)], dated 17-2-2012

S.O........... (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (IC) of section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby exempts the following class of persons, subject to the conditions specified hereinafter, from the requirement of furnishing a return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139 for the assessment year 2012-13, namely:-

1. Class of persons. -An individual whose total income for the relevant assessment year does not exceed five lakh rupees and consists of only income chargeable to income-tax under the following head,-

(A) "Salaries";

(B) "Income from other sources", by way of interest from a saving account in a bank, not exceeding ten thousand rupees.

2. Conditions,- The individual referred to in para 1,-

(i) has reported to his employer his Permanent Account Number (PAN);

(ii) has reported to his employer, the incomes mentioned in sub-para (B) of para 1 and the employer has deducted the tax thereon;

(iii) has received a certificate of tax deduction in Form 16 from his employer which mentions the PAN, details of income and the tax deducted at source and deposited to the credit of the Central Government;

(iv) has discharged his total tax liability for the assessment year through tax deduction at source and its deposit by the employer to the Central Government;

(v) has no claim of refund of taxes due to him for the income of the assessment year, and

(vi) has received salary from only one employer for the assessment year.

3. The exemption from the requirement of furnishing a return of income tax shall not be available where a notice under section 142(1) or section 148 or section 153A or section 153C of the Income-tax Act has been issued for filing a return of income for the relevant assessment year.

4. This notification shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

■■

Notified Bonds and debentures of public sector companies under section 10 (15) (iv) (h)

2012-02-18T11:21:00.000+05:30

Section 10(15), item (h) of sub-clause (iv) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Exemptions - Interest on bonds/debentures - Notified bonds/debentures of Public Sector Companies

Notification No. 7/2012 [F.No.178/56/2011-(ITA.I)], dated 14-2-2012

S.O. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by item (h) of sub-clause (iv) of clause (15) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby authorises the Rural Electrification Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the entity), to issue, through a public issue, during the financial year 2011-12, tax free, secured, redeemable, non-convertible bonds of rupees 1,000 each, aggregating to rupees three thousand crores subject to the conditions specified namely:-

(a) Tenure of Bonds: The tenure of the bonds shall be ten years or fifteen years;

(b) Permanent Account Number (PAN): It shall be mandatory for the subscribers to furnish their PAN to the issuer;

(c) Rate of Interest: The interest on the bonds shall be not less than fifty basis points lower than the yield on the Government Securities of equivalent residual maturity as reported by the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivative Association of India, as on the last working day of the month immediately preceding the month of the issue of the bonds:

Provided that a higher coupon rate of up to 20 basis points may be offered to Retail Individual Investor vis-a-vis the rate offered to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), corporate and High Networth Individuals (HNIs):

Provided further that higher rate of interest shall not be available in case the bonds are transferred, except in case of transfer to legal heir in the event of death of the original investor:

(d) Commission on sale.- (i) the commission on sale shall be capped at a maximum of a flat fee of 1.25% of the issue size;

(ii) The flat fee shall include the total expense for the issue of bonds, including the expenses for advertisement, brokerage, printing, collection, canvassing charges, road shows and all other charges spent for this process.

(iii) Provided that the brokerage shall not exceed 0.15 per cent in the case of Qualified Institutional Buyers and corporate and 0.35 per cent in the case of High Networth Individuals.

(e) The benefit under the said section shall be admissible only if the holder of such bonds registers his, her or its name and the holding with the entity.

(f) The entity shall issue the bonds only by way of public issue, and not by way of private placement.

■■

Notified Bonds and debentures of public sector companies under section 10 (15) (iv) (h)

2012-02-18T11:17:00.000+05:30

Section 10(15), item (h) of sub-clause (iv) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Exemptions - Interest on bonds/debentures - Notified bonds/debentures of Public Sector Companies

Notification No.6/2012 [F.No. 178/56/2011-(ITA.I)], dated 14-2-2012

S.O. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by item (h) of sub-clause (iv) of clause (15) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes following amendment to the notification of the Government of India, Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O. 2210(E), dated the 23rd September, 2011, namely :-

In the said notification, in the Table, for serial number 2 and the entries relating thereto, the following serial number and entries shall be substituted, namely:-

S. No. (1)	Entities (2)	Aggregate Amount of Bonds (3)
"2.	Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd.	Rs. 7,000 crores"

Clarification - Purchase of Immovable Property in India – Reporting requirement

2012-02-17T12:23:00.001+05:30

RBI/2011/12/399
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 79

February 15, 2012

All
Authorised Dealers in Foreign Exchange

Madam /Sir,

Clarification - Purchase of Immovable Property in India –
Reporting requirement

1.Attention of Authorised Dealer Category-I banks is invited to Regulation 5 of Notification No. FEMA 21/2000-RB viz. Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India), Regulations, 2000 dated May 3, 2000, as amended from time to time. In terms of the above Regulation, when a person resident outside India, who has established in India in accordance with the Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of Branch or Office or other Place of Business) Regulations, 2000, a branch, office or other place of business, excluding a liaison office, acquires any immovable property in India in accordance with the provision of said regulation, the said person has to file with the Reserve Bank a declaration in the form IPI annexed to those regulations, not later than ninety days from the date of such acquisition. As the form is required to be submitted by such persons only, the form is suitably amended to reflect the position.

2. It is clarified that the extant regulations do not prescribe any reporting requirements for transactions where a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) as defined in Regulation 2(c) of Notification No. FEMA 21/2000-RB, ibid, acquire/s immovable property in India in accordance with the said provisions of the aforesaid Notification. Form IPI has been, accordingly, amended for greater clarity.

3. Authorised Dealer Category-I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

4. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully,

(Meena Hemchandra)

Chief General Manager-in-Charge

Annex

[Annex to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 79
dated February 15, 2012]

Form IPI

( See Regulation 5 )

Declaration of immovable property acquired in Indiaby a person resident outside India who has established in India a branch, office or other place of business, excluding a liaison office

Instructions:

The declaration should be completed in duplicate and submitted directly to the Chief General Manager, Foreign Exchange Department, (Foreign Investment Division), Reserve Bank of India , Central Office , Mumbai – 400001 within 90 days from the date of acquisition of the immovable property.
This form is not to be submitted by a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) acquiring immovable property in India under General Permission in accordance with Regulations 3 and 4 of Notification No. FEMA 21/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000.

Documentation:

Certified copies of letter of approval from Reserve Bank obtained under section 6(6) of FEMA, 1999 (42 of 1999).

1		Full name and address of the acquirer who has acquired the immovable property
2	(a)	Description of immovable property	(a)
	(b)	Details of its exact location stating the name of the state, town and municipal/survey number, etc	(b)
3	(a)	Purpose for which the immovable property has been acquired	(a)
	(b)	Number and date of Reserve Bank’s permission , if any	(b)
4		Date of aquisition of the immovable property
5	(a)	How the immovable property was acquired i.e. whether by way of purchase or lease	(a)
	(b)	Name , citizenship and address of the seller/lessor	(b)
	(c)	Amount of purchase price and sources of funds	(c)

I/ We
hereby declare that-

(a) the particulars given above are true and correct to the best of my/our knowledge and belief;

(b) no portion of the said property has been leased /rented to, or is otherwise being allowed to be used by, any other party.

-------------------------------------

(Signature of Authorised official)

Name:------------------------------

Designation:---------------------

Encls:

Stamp

Place: -------

Date:--------

Export of Goods and Services-Simplification and Revision of Softex Procedure

2012-02-17T11:50:00.000+05:30

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Foreign Exchange Department

Central Office

Mumbai - 400 001

_________________________________________________

RBI/2011/12/400 February 15, 2012
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 80

To
All Authorised Dealers in Foreign Exchange

Madam / Sir,

Export of Goods and Services-

Simplification and Revision of Softex Procedure

1.Attention of the Authorised Dealers is invited to Regulation 6 of the Notification No.FEMA 23/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 viz. Foreign Exchange Management (Export of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2000, as amended by the Notification No.FEMA 36/2001-RB dated February 2, 2001, in terms of which designated officials of the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPIs) or at Free Trade Zones (FTZs) or Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or Special Economic Zones(SEZs), had been authorised to certify exports declared through SOFTEX Forms.

2. Considering the spurt in the volume of software exports from India in recent times, the complexity of work contracts involved, the voluminous nature of contract agreements and the duration involved in execution of each contract as well as the time-consuming process involved in the certification of SOFTEX forms, the matter was revisited and a revised procedure, given herein below, has now been finalised in consultation with the stakeholders involved.

3. As per the revised procedure, a software exporter, whose annual turnover is at least Rs. 1000 crore or who files at least 600 SOFTEX forms annually, will be eligible to submit a statement in excel format as per Annexure A, giving all particulars alongwith quadruplicate set of SOFTEX form to the nearest STPI. STPI will then verify the details and decide on a percentage sample check of the documents in details. Software companies will submit all the documents on demand to STPI within 30 days of their advice or any reasonable/extended time at the discretion of the Director, STPI, at the request from the exporter. STPI will thus certify the statement and SOFTEX forms in bulk on the “Top Sheet” regarding the values etc. and will thereafter forward the first copy of the revised SOFTEX format to the concerned Regional Office of RBI, the duplicate copy alongwith bulk statement in excel format to Authorised Dealers for negotiation / collection / settlement, the third copy to the exporter and the last copy will be retained by STPI for its own record. Under the revised procedure, the exporters, however, will have to provide information about all the invoices including the ones lesser than US$25000, in the bulk statement in excel format. [The revised procedure for submission of the Softex form and other relevant documents are detailed in the Annex.]

4. The new procedure will be effective initially in STPI Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Mumbai with effect from April 01, 2012. Based on the success in these centers, it would be adopted by all the STPIs and SEZ/ EPZ/ 100% EOU/ EHTP/ DTA units by June 2012.

5. Authorised Dealers may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents concerned.

6. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10(4) and Section 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully,

(Rashmi Fauzdar)

Chief General Manager

___________________________________________

ANNEX

[Annex to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 80

dated February 15, 2012]

1. Revised Procedure : Reporting of Software exports to STPI

A. Periodicity – Monthly

B. Time period – Not later than 30 days from the close of the month in which the invoice is raised

C. Applicability – Software exporters with annual turnover in excess of Rs. 1,000 crore or submitting at least 600 Softex forms annually.

D. Softex Number – Softex number shall be allocated/issued centrally by RBI once a year based on the requirements of exporter which can be about 200,000 numbers to be used by large exporters for the year for all locations. If the softex numbers are exhausted, the exporter can apply again to RBI for allotment of number. Exporters can use the allocated Softex number either for each invoice or for a group of invoices with same currency of a particular customer. Softex number would be the control number for identifying any of the export transaction.

E. Details of information – As per the template in Annexure A, which will broadly cover information as under

i. Name and Address of the Exporter

ii. Letter of permission number and date

iii. Name of authorized data com service provider

iv. Import Export Code number

v. Software Export Declaration

vi. Details of Export of Software during the period

a) Period of submission i.e. Month name

b) SOFTEX Number

c) Name of Client

d) Address of Client

e) Country of Export

f) Invoice Number

g) Invoice Date

h) Project Code or Contract or Agreement or PO & Date

i) Type of Software Exported

j) Invoice Currency

k) Offshore Invoice value

vii. Details of billings on account of Royalty on Software Packages/products exported as per Annexure B

a) Period of submission i.e., Month name

b) SOFTEX Number

c) Name of Client

d) Address of Client

e) Country of Export

f) Invoice Number

g) Invoice Date

h) Unique internal Project Code or Contract/Agreement/PO Date

i) Invoice Currency

j) Offshore Invoice value

k) Details of Software Package(s)/product(s) exported

l) Royalty agreement details

1. % age and amount of royalty

2. Period of Royalty agreement

3. Mode of realisation of Royalty value

4. Calculation of Royalty amount

viii. The Authorized dealer’s name should be given in Section A of individual bulk statement itself along with email id (Annexure A & B). If there are multiple ADs, then exporter may provide full details - i.e., Details such as bank name, address and Authorized Dealer code plus

a) Details of Letter of Credit(L/C) facilty availed by the exporter

b) Details of Bank Guarantee taken by the exporter

c) Details of the Bank Accounts into which the transfer/remittance are received

ix. Email id of the Exporter shall be specified to which the attested Bulk Softex statement will be sent

F. Soft copy Submission – Software Exports Declaration in summary excel sheet with above details.

G. Hard copy submission – Covering letter along with summary sheet declarations and Annexure copies in quadruplicate. Copies of Softex forms, Invoices, SoW, MSA or any other document are not required to be submitted along with summary.

H. Additional Information – At the request of STPI, software exporter need to submit additional details about selected sample invoices within 30 days of the request or any reasonable extended time at the discretion of the Director , STPI at the request from the exporter.

I. Time Period for additional Information – STPI would do sample audit periodically but not during the period beyond six months, to make the records concurrent with the filing of the Softex. This however, doesn’t stop the regulator from asking old records as per FEMA.

J. STPI will send the attested Bulk Softex statement in hardcopy to software exporter and soft copy to RBI, Regional Office, Authorized Dealer and Exporter with password protection (to be provided by STPI)

K. Authorized Dealer will upload this information in their systems for further processing

L. Authorized Dealer will settle the Softex using AD internal control number based on details provided by Exporter on collections as per Annexure C

2. Reporting of Software export Realizations to Authorized Dealer (AD)

Software Exporters can have collection account overseas or get credit directly in the bank accounts maintained in India, where individual invoices raised on customers are collected. After meeting “onsite” branch expenses, as permitted by FEMA, net amount will be remitted to India. This would also include 100% realization of offsite exports.

A. Periodicity – Quarterly

B. Applicability – Software exporters with annual turnover in excess of Rs. 1,000 crore or submitting in excess of 600 Softex forms annually.

C. Details of information – As per Annexure C, which will cover information as under

i. Name and Address of the Exporter

ii. Import Export Code number

iii. Details of invoice wise collections (Attachment A)

a) SOFTEX Number

b) Name of Customer

c) Invoice Number

d) Invoice Date

e) Invoice Currency

f) Offshore Invoice value

g) Offshore Invoice value realized

h) Date of Realization of exports proceeds

i) Name of the Bank

j) Country of the Bank

iv. Details of Foreign Currency Inward Remittance in India(Attachment B). Authorized Dealers will give a control number for this Attachment B, which shall be used by them to settle all the softex forms in Attachment A

a) Inward remittance in India from overseas bank accounts

1. Name and address of the Authorized Dealer at which the amount has been received

2. Inward remittance details like FIRC number, date, amount and foreign currency

3. Name and address of the Overseas bank from which remittance has been effected

b) Direct Inward remittance in India from customers against exports of software

1. Name and address of the Authorized Dealer at which the amount has been received

2. Inward remittance details like FIRC number, date, amount and foreign currency

3. Name and address of the Customer from which remittance has been received

v. Documentation: FIRCs to be given to AD for endorsement along with above details

vi. Software exporters will furnish the credit notes to AD for invoices which have already been certified by STPI and settle the respective Softex forms.

3. Online Submission of Periodic Software Exports Declaration

STPI is in the process of computerizing the submission of Softex form. STPI would be required to ensure that the computerisation of the Softex forms and the populating of the data must be compatible to 'Softex Card Design' as detailed in Annexure E and be able to generate a report in 'ENC file format' as detailed in Annexure D

N.B. In the event of full computerisation at the STPIs, the exporters will upload their bulk statement to the STPI system which will be verified and certified by the STPI and the certified information will flow to RBI, Regional Office, Exporter as well as AD online. The data will eventually flow to DSIM, RBI for record with a copy retained at STPI.

Annexure

Amendments to the Equity Listing Agreement

2012-02-09T16:23:00.000+05:30

Securities and Exchange Board of India

CIRCULAR

CIR/CFD/DIL/1/2012 February 8, 2012

All Stock Exchanges

Dear Sir/Madam,

Sub: Amendments to the Equity Listing Agreement

1. As part of SEBI’s endeavour to review the listing conditions, certain amendments are hereby carried out to the Equity Listing Agreement. The full texts of amendments to be effected in the Listing Agreements are given at Annexure-1. The gist of the amendments

are as under:-

a. Amendment to Clause 40A

In addition to the existing methods which listed company can adopt to achieve minimum public shareholding, the listed company may also achieve the minimum level of public shareholding through Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) in terms of Chapter VIII-A of SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, as amended.

Further, sale of shares by promoters through stock exchanges shall be now carried out in terms of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP/05/2012 dated February 1, 2012.

b. Amendment to Clause 43 & 43A

In order to enhance disclosure requirements, listed entities have been mandated to disclose utilization of funds raised upon conversion/ exercise of warrants issued along with public or rights issue of specified securities.

2. This circular shall be applicable with immediate effect.

3. The above listing conditions are specified in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 11 read with Section 11A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992. The said listing conditions should form part of the existing Listing Agreement of the stock exchange.

4. All stock exchanges are advised to ensure compliance with this circular and carry out the amendments in their Listing Agreement as per the Annexure to this circular.

5. This circular is available on SEBI website at http://www.sebi.gov.in/ under the categories “Legal Framework” and “Issues and Listing”.

Yours faithfully,

Sanjay Purao

Deputy General Manager

+91-22-26449612

sanjayp@sebi.gov.in

Annexure-1

Amendments to Listing Agreement

1. Sub-clause (ii)(c) of Clause 40A, shall be substituted by

“(c) sale of shares held by promoters through the secondary market in terms of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP/05/2012 dated February 1, 2012; or”

2. After sub-clause (ii)(c) of Clause 40A, the following sub-clause shall be inserted:

“(d) Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) in terms of Chapter VIIIA of SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, as amended.”

3. ‘The proviso’ and ‘Explanation to sub-clause (ii)(c) of Clause 40A, shall be omitted.

4. In Clause 43, a new sub-clause (d) shall be inserted:

“(d) The statement referred to in clause (a) shall also be given for warrants issued along with public or rights issue of specified securities”.

5. In Clause 43A, a new sub-clause (5) shall be inserted:

“(5) The statement referred to in clause (1) shall also be given for warrants issued along with public or rights issue of specified securities”.

Press Release: Railways Extend Advance Reservation Period to 120 Days

2012-02-08T16:46:00.000+05:30

Railways Extend Advance Reservation Period to 120 Days

New Provision to be Effective from 10th March, 2012

The Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period for booking reserved train tickets from existing 90 days to 120 days on experimental basis (excluding the date of journey) w.e.f. March 10, 2012.

However, there will be no change in case of certain day-time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

AKS/HK/LK/TR

(Release ID :80178)

SEBI (Buy-back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations

2012-02-08T10:57:00.000+05:30

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA

EXTRAORDINARY

PART –III – SECTION 4

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 07, 2012

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

Mumbai, the 7th February, 2012

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (BUY-BACK OF SECURITIES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2012.

LAD-NRO/GN/2011-12/36/3187 - In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992) read with clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 77A of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) the Board hereby makes the following regulations to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998, namely:-

1. These regulations shall be called the. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2012.

2. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

3. In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998-

(i) in regulation 2, in sub-regulation (1),

(a) after clause (l), the following new clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(la) „small shareholder‟ means a shareholder of a listed company, who holds shares or other specified securities whose market value, on the basis of closing price of shares or other specified securities, on the recognised stock exchange in which highest trading volume in respect of such security, as on record date is not more than two lakh rupee;”

(b) after clause (o), the following new clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(p) 'working day' means any working day of the Board.”

(ii) In regulation 5, in sub-regulation (1) words and figures “Schedule I” shall be substituted with the words and figures “Schedule II, Part A”.

(iii) regulation 5A shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“Board resolution

5A. A company, authorized by a resolution passed by the Board of Directors at its meeting to buy back its shares or other specified securities under first proviso to clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 77A of the Companies Act, 1956, as inserted by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2001, shall file a copy of the resolution, with the Board and the stock exchanges, where the shares or other specified securities of the company are listed, within two working days of the date of the passing of the resolution.”

(iv) in regulation 6,-

(a) for the full stop, the figure “:” shall be substituted.

(b) the following shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided that fifteen percent of the number of securities which the company proposes to buy back or number of securities entitled as per their shareholding, whichever is higher, shall be reserved for small shareholders.”

(v) in regulation 7, in the opening sentence the words and figures “or the public notice under sub-regulation (1) of regulation 5A” and “or regulation 5A” shall be omitted.

(vi) in regulation 8,-

(a) sub-regulation (1), shall be substituted with the following namely:-

“(1) The company which has been authorised by a special resolution or a resolution passed by the Board of Directors at its meeting shall make a public announcement within two working days from the date of resolution in at least one English National Daily, one Hindi National Daily and a Regional language daily all with wide circulation at the place where the Registered office of the company is situated and shall contain all the material information as specified in Schedule II, Part A.”

(b) after sub-regulation (1), the following new sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:-

“(1A) A copy of the public announcement along with the soft copy, shall also be submitted to the Board simultaneously through a merchant banker.”

(d) in sub-regulation (4),

(1) the words “seven working days” shall be substituted with the words “five working days”

(2) after the words “a draft letter of offer” and before words “containing disclosures”, the sign and words “, along with soft copy,” shall be inserted.

(e) sub-regulation (6), shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“(6)The Board may give its comments on the draft letter of offer not later than seven working days of the receipt of the draft letter of offer: Provided that in the event the Board has sought clarifications or additional information from the merchant banker to the buyback offer, the period of issuance of comments shall be extended to the seventh working day from the date of receipt of satisfactory reply to the clarification or additional information sought: Provided further that in the event the Board specifies any changes, the merchant banker to the buyback offer and the company shall carryout such changes in the letter of offer before it is dispatched to the shareholders.”

(vii) regulation 9, shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“(1) A company making a buyback offer shall announce a record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of the security holders, who are eligible to participate in the proposed buyback offer.

(2) The letter of offer along with the tender form shall be dispatched to the security holders who are eligible to participate in the buyback offer, not later than five working days from the receipt of communication of comments from the Board.

(3) The date of the opening of the offer shall be not later than five working days from the date of dispatch of letter of offer.

(4) The offer for buy back shall remain open for a period of ten working days.

(5) The company shall accept shares or other specified securities from the security holders on the basis of their entitlement as on record date.

(6) The shares proposed to be bought back shall be divided in to two categories; (a) reserved category for small shareholders and (b) the general category for other shareholders, and the entitlement of a shareholder in each category shall be calculated accordingly.

(7) After accepting the shares or other specified securities tendered on the basis of entitlement, shares or other specified securities left to be bought back, if any in one category shall first be accepted, in proportion to the shares or other specified securities tendered over and above their entitlement in the offer by security holders in that category and thereafter from security holders who have tendered over and above their entitlement in other category.”

(viii) in regulation 11, sub-regulation (2), shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“(2) The company shall complete the verifications of offers received and make payment of consideration to those security holders whose offer has been accepted or return the shares or other specified securities to the security holders within seven working days of the closure of the offer.”

(ix) In regulation 15, clause (d) after the words “commencement of buyback” the words and figures “and shall contain disclosures as specified in Schedule II, Part B” shall be inserted.

(x) In regulation 17, in sub-regulation (2) words and figures “sub-regulation (5) of regulation 9” shall be substituted with the words and figures “sub-regulation (2) of regulation 11”.

(xi) in regulation 19, in sub-regulation (1), in clause (a) the words and figures “or public notice referred to in clause (a) of sub-regulation (1) of regulation 5A” shall be omitted.

(xii) Schedule I shall be omitted.

(xiii) Schedule II shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“SCHEDULE II

CONTENTS OF THE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

1. The Public announcement shall be dated and signed on behalf of the Board of Directors of the company by its manager or secretary, if any, and by not less than two directors of the company one of whom shall be a managing director where there is one.

2. A full and complete disclosure of all material facts including the following shall be made:

Part A: Disclosures under Regulation 5(1) and 8(1)

i. Date of the Board meeting at which the proposal for buy back was approved by the Board of Directors of the company;

ii. Necessity for the buy back;

iii. Maximum amount required under the buy back and its percentage of the total paid up capital and free reserves;

iv. Maximum price at which the shares or other specified securities are proposed be bought back and the basis of arriving at the buyback price;

v. Maximum number of securities that the company proposes to buy back;

vi. Method to be adopted for buyback as referred in sub-regulation(1) of regulation 4;

vii. (a) the aggregate shareholding of the promoter and of the directors of the promoters, where the promoter is a company and of persons who are in control of the company as on the date of the notice convening the General Meeting or the Meeting of the Board of Directors;

(b) aggregate number of shares or other specified securities purchased or sold by persons including persons mentioned in (a) above from a period of six months preceding the date of the Board Meeting at which the buyback was approved till the date of notice convening the general meeting;

(c) the maximum and minimum price at which purchases and sales referred to in (b) above were made along with the relevant dates;

viii. Intention of the promoters and persons in control of the company to tender shares or other specified securities for buy-back indicating the number of shares or other specified securities ,details of acquisition with dates and price;

ix. A confirmation that there are no defaults subsisting in repayment of deposits, redemption of debentures or preference shares or repayment of term loans to any financial institutions or banks;

x. A confirmation that the Board of Directors has made a full enquiry into the affairs and prospects of the company and that they have formed the opinion-

(a) that immediately following the date on which the General Meeting or the meeting of the Board of Directors is convened there will be no grounds on which the company could be found unable to pay its debts;

(b) as regards its prospects for the year immediately following that date that, having regard to their intentions with respect to the management of the company‟s business during that year and to the amount and character of the financial resources which will in their view be available to the company during that year, the company will be able to meet its liabilities as and when they fall due and will not be rendered insolvent within a period of one year from that date; and

(c) in forming their opinion for the above purposes, the directors shall take into account the liabilities as if the company were being wound up under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 (including prospective and contingent liabilities); xi. A report addressed to the Board of Directors by the company‟s auditors stating that- (i) they have inquired into the company‟s state of affairs; (ii) the amount of the permissible capital payment for the securities in question is in their view properly determined; and (iii) the Board of Directors have formed the opinion as specified in clause (x) on reasonable grounds and that the company will not, having regard to its state of affairs, will not be rendered insolvent within a period of one year from that date.

Part B: Disclosures under Regulation 15(d)

In addition to the disclosures in Part A, the following disclosures shall be made:

i. Date of shareholders approval for buy back, if applicable;

ii. Minimum and maximum number of securities that the company proposes to buy back, sources of funds from which the buyback would be made and the cost of financing the buy back;

iii. Proposed time table from opening of offer till the extinguishment of the certificates;

iv. Process and methodology to be adopted for the buyback;

v. Brief information about the company;

vi. Audited Financial information for the last 3 years and the lead manager shall ensure that the particulars (audited statement and un-audited statement) contained therein shall not be more than more than 6 months old from the date of the pu blic announcement together with financial ratios as may be specified by the Board;

vii. Details of escrow account opened and the amount deposited therein;

viii. Listing details and stock market data:

(a) high, Low and average market prices of the securities of the company proposed to be bought back, during the preceding three years;

(b) monthly high and low prices for the six months preceding the date of the public announcement;

(c) the number of securities traded on the days when the high and low prices were recorded on the relevant stock exchanges during the period stated at (a) and (b) above;

(d) the stock market data referred to above shall be shown separately for periods marked by a change in capital structure, with such period commencing from the date the concerned stock exchange recognises the change in the capital structure.(e.g. when the securities have become ex-rights or ex-bonus) ;

(e) the market price immediately after the date of the resolution of the Board of directors approving the buy back; and

(f) the volume of securities traded in each month during the six months preceding the date of the public announcement along with high, low and average prices of securities of the company, details relating to volume of business transacted should also be stated for respective periods.

ix. Present capital structure (including the number of fully paid and partly paid securities) and shareholding pattern;

x. The capital structure including details of outstanding convertible instruments, if any post buyback;

xi. Aggregate shareholding of the promoter group and of the directors of the promoters, where the promoter is a company and of persons who are in control of the company;

xii. Aggregate number of shares or other specified securities purchased or sold by persons mentioned in clause xi above during a period of twelve months preceding the date of the public announcement; the maximum and minimum price at which purchases and sales referred to above were made along with the relevant dates;

xiii. Management discussion and analysis on the likely impact of buy back on the company‟s earnings, public holdings, holdings of NRIs/FIIs etc., promoters holdings and any change in management structure;

xiv. Details of statutory approvals obtained;

xv. Collection and bidding centres;

xvi. Name of compliance officer and details of investors service centres;

xvii. Such other disclosures as may be specified by the Board from time to time by way of guidelines.”

(xiv) Schedule III shall be substituted with the following, namely:-

“SCHEDULE III

[see regulation 8(4) ]

DISCLOSURES TO BE MADE IN THE LETTER OF OFFER

The letter of offer shall be dated and signed on behalf of the Board of Directors of the company by its manager or secretary, if any, and by not less than two directors of the company one of whom shall be a managing director where there is one.

The letter of offer shall, inter-alia, contain the following;

i. Disclosures in Schedule II;

ii. Disclaimer Clause as may be specified by the Board;

iii. Record date and ratio of buyback as per the entitlement in each category.”

U. K. SINHA

CHAIRMAN

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

Footnotes:

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-back of Securities) Regulations, 1998, the principal regulations, were published in the Gazette of India on November 14, 1998; vide S.O. No. 975 (E).

2. It was subsequently amended –

(a) on September 21, 1999 by SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 1999 vide S.O. 776 (E).

(b) on November 28, 2001 by SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2001 vide S.O. 1181(E).

(d) on August 21, 2006 by SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2006 vide S.O. No. 1331 (E).

(e) on May 28, 2007 by SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2007 vide No.11/LC/GN/2007.

(f) on March 31, 2008 by SEBI (Payment of Fees)(Amendment) Regulations, 2008 vide F. No. 11/LC/GN/2008/21669.

Processing of returns of assessment year 2011-12 - Steps to clear backlog

2012-02-04T11:09:00.000+05:30

Section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Assessment - General - Processing of returns of assessment year 2011-12 - Steps to clear backlog

Instruction No. 01/2012 [F.NO.225/34/2011-ITA.II], dated 2-2-2012

The issue of processing of returns for the Asst. Year 2011-12 and giving credit for TDS has been considered by the Board. In order to clear backlog of returns, the following decisions have been taken:

(i) In all returns (ITR-1 to ITR-6), where the difference between the TDS claim and matching TDS amount reported in AS-26 data does not exceed Rs. One lac, the TDS claim may be accepted without verification.

(ii) Where there is zero TDS matching, TDS credit shall be allowed only after due verification. However, in case of returns of ITR-1 and ITR-2, credit may be allowed in full, even if there is zero matching, if the total TDS claimed is Rs. Five thousand or lower.

(iii) Where there are TDS claims with invalid TAN, TDS credit for such claims are not to be allowed.

(iv) In all other cases, TDS credit shall be allowed after due verification.

Offer For Sale of Shares by Promoters through the Stock Exchange Mechanism

2012-02-03T10:58:00.002+05:30

Securities and Exchange Board of India

CIRCULAR

CIR/MRD/DP/ 05/2012 February 1, 2012

The Managing Director and CEO
Bombay Stock Exchange Limited

Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers

Dalal Street

Mumbai - 400001

The Managing Director
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
Exchange Plaza, Bandra Kurla Complex
Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400 051

Dear Sir,

Sub: Offer For Sale of Shares by Promoters through the Stock Exchange Mechanism

In order to facilitate promoters to dilute/offload their holding in listed companies in a transparent manner with wider participation, it has been decided to allow the offer for sale of shares by promoters of such companies through a separate window provided by the stock exchange(s). The guidelines for the same are as under:

1. Eligibility

(a) Exchanges

To begin with, the facility of offer for sale of shares shall be available on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

(b) Sellers

(i) All promoter(s)/ promoter group entities of such companies that are eligible for trading and are required to increase public shareholding to meet the minimum public shareholding requirements in terms Rule 19(2)(b) and 19A of Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957 (SCRR), read with clause 40A (ii) (c) of Listing Agreement.

(ii) All promoter(s)/ promoter group entities of top 100 companies based on average market capitalization of the last completed quarter.

For (i) and (ii) above, the promoter/promoter group entities should not have purchased and/or sold the shares of the company in the 12 weeks period prior to the offer and they should undertake not to purchase and/or sell shares of the company in the 12 weeks period after the offer.

(c) Buyers

All investors registered with the brokers of the aforementioned stock exchanges other than the promoter(s)/ promoter group entities.

2. Definitions

(a) "Single Clearing Price” is the price at which the shares are allocated to the successful bidders in a proportionate basis methodology.

(b) “Multiple Clearing Prices” are the prices at which the shares are allocated to the successful bidders in a price priority methodology.

(d) “Floor Price” is the minimum price at which the seller intends to sell the shares.

3. Size of Offer for sale of shares

The size of the offer shall be atleast 1% of the paid-up capital of the company, subject to a minimum of Rs 25 crores. However, in respect of companies, where 1% of the paid-up capital at closing price on the specified date is less than Rs 25 crores, dilution would be atleast 10% of the paid-up capital or such lesser percentage so as to achieve minimum public shareholding in a single tranche.

Note: Specified date shall be the last trading day of the last completed quarter

4. Advertisement and offer expenses

(a) Advertisements about the offer for sale of shares through stock exchange(s) shall be made after the announcement/ notice of the offer for sale of shares has been made to the stock exchanges in accordance with para 5 (b) below;

(b) All expenses relating to offer for sale of shares through stock exchange(s) shall be borne by the seller(s).

5. Operational Requirements

(a) Appointment of Broker

The Seller(s) would have to appoint Sellers‟ broker(s) for this purpose. The Seller‟s broker(s) may also undertake transactions on behalf of eligible buyers.

(b) Announcement/ Notice of the Offer for sale of shares

Seller(s) shall announce the intention of sale of shares at least one clear trading day prior to the opening of offer, along with the following information:

(i) Name of the seller(s) (promoter/ promoter group) and the name of the company whose shares are proposed to be sold.

(ii) Name of the Exchange(s) where the orders shall be placed. In case orders are to be placed on both BSE and NSE, one of them shall be declared as the Designated Stock Exchange (“DSE”).

(iii) Date and time of the opening and closing of the offer.

(iv) Allocation methodology i.e. either on a price priority (multiple clearing prices) basis or on a proportionate basis at a single clearing price.

(v) Number of shares being offered for sale.

(vi) The name of the broker(s) on behalf of the seller(s).

(vii) Floor price, if the seller(s) chooses to announce it to the market or a declaration to the effect that the floor price will be submitted to the stock exchange(s) in a sealed envelope which shall be declared post closure of the offer.

(viii) Conditions, if any, for withdrawal or cancellation of the offer.

(c) Floor price

(i) Seller(s) may declare a floor price in the announcement/ notice

(ii) In case the seller(s) chooses not to publicly disclose the floor price, the seller(s) shall give the floor price in a sealed envelope to DSE before the opening of the offer.

(iii) The floor price if not declared to the market, shall not be disclosed to anybody, including the selling broker(s).

(iv) Sealed envelope shall be opened by the DSE after the closure of the offer for sale and the floor price suitably disseminated to the market.

(d) Timelines

(i) The duration of the offer for sale shall not exceed one trading day.

(ii) The placing of orders by trading members shall take place during trading hours.

(e) Order Placement

(i) A separate window for the purpose of offer for sale of shares shall be created by stock exchanges. Modification/ Cancellation of orders/ bids will be allowed during the period of the offer. However, modification/ cancellation of orders/ bids shall not be allowed during the last 30 minutes of the duration of the offer..

(ii) Indicative Price and Cumulative orders/ bid quantity information shall be made available online by the exchanges at specific time intervals.

(iii) No price bands shall be applicable for the orders/ bids placed in the offer for sale. Stock specific tick size as per the extant practice in normal trading session shall be made applicable for this window.

(iv) In case of shares under offer for sale, the trading in the normal market shall also continue. However, in case of market closure due to the incidence of breach of „Market wide index based circuit filter‟, the offer for sale shall be halted.

(v) Only limit orders/ bids shall be permitted.

(vi) Multiple orders from a single buyer shall be permitted.

(vii) In case floor price is disclosed, orders/ bids below floor price shall not be accepted.

6. Risk Management

(a) Stock Exchange shall collect 100% of the order value in cash, at the order level for every buy order/ bid. Such funds shall neither be utilized against any other obligation of the trading member nor co-mingled with other segments. Such upfront collection shall also be applicable for all institutional orders.

(b) In case of order/bid modification/cancellation, such funds shall be released/collected on a real time basis by the stock exchange.

(c) The seller(s) shall deposit the entire quantity of shares offered for sale as payin with the clearing corporation/clearing house or DSE prior to the commencement of the offer. No other margin shall be charged on the seller(s).

7. Allocation

(a) Minimum of 25% of the shares offered shall be reserved for mutual funds and insurance companies, subject to allocation methodology. Any unsubscribed portion thereof shall be available to the other bidders.

(b) The orders shall be cumulated by the DSE immediately on close of the offer. Based on the methodology for allocation to be followed as disclosed in the notice, the DSE shall draw up the allocation. i.e. either on a price priority (multiple prices) basis or on a proportionate basis at a single clearing price.

(d) No single bidder other than mutual funds and insurance companies shall be allocated more than 25% of the size of offer for sale.

8. Settlement

(a) The settlement shall take place similar to trade for trade basis.and shall be completed latest by T + 2 day (where T is the date of the closure of the offer). The allocation and the obligations resulting thereof shall be intimated to the brokers not later than T+1 day.

(b) There shall be no netting of settlement at broker‟s end.

(c) The clearing house of DSE shall transfer the shares received as payin to the clearing corporation/clearing house of the other stock exchange, to the extent of their obligations.

(d) Funds collected from the bidders who have not been allocated shares shall be released after the download of the obligation.

(e) The direct credit of shares shall be given to the demat account of the successful bidder provided it is indicated by the broker/bidder.

9. Issuance of Contract Notes

The brokers shall be required to issue contract note to the client based on the allotment price and quantity in terms of conditions specified by the exchange.

10. Withdrawal of offer

The offer for sale may be withdrawn prior to its proposed opening. In such a case there will be a cooling off period of 10 trading days from the date of withdrawal before an offer is made once again. The stock exchange(s) shall suitably disseminate details of such withdrawal.

11. Cancellation of offer

Cancellation of offer shall not be permitted during the bidding period. If the seller(s) fails to get sufficient demand at or above the floor price, he may choose to either conclude the offer or cancel it in full.

12. Stock Exchanges are advised to:

a. take necessary steps and put in place necessary systems for implementation of the above.

b. make necessary amendments to the relevant bye-laws, rules and regulations for the implementation of the above decision.

c. bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of the member brokers

of the stock exchange and also to disseminate the same on the website.

d. communicate to SEBI, the status of implementation of the provisions of this circular in the Monthly Development Report.

13. This circular is being issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.

Yours faithfully,

Harini Balaji

Deputy General Manager

022-26449372

harinib@sebi.gov.in

Liberalization of the policy in Single-Brand Retail Trading

2012-01-12T12:08:00.002+05:30

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion

(FC-I Section)

Press Note No.1 (2012 Series)

Subject: Review of the policy on Foreign Direct Investment- liberalization of the policy in Single-Brand Retail Trading.

1.0 Present Position:

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), in retail trade, is prohibited except in single brand product retail trading, in which FDI, up to 51% is permitted, subject to conditions specified under paragraph 6.2.16.4 of 'Circular 2 of 2011- Consolidated FDI Policy'.

2.0 Revised Position:

The Government of India has reviewed the extant policy on FDI and decided that FDI, up to 100%, under the government approval route, would be permitted in Single-Brand Product Retail Trading, subject to specified conditions, as indicated in paragraph 3.0 below.

3.0 Accordingly, the following amendment is made in 'Circular 2 of 2011- Consolidated FDI Policy', dated 30.09.2011, issued by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion:

3.1 Paragraph 6.2.16.4 is substituted with the following:

6.2.16.4	Single Brand product retail trading	100%	Government
	(1) Foreign Investment in Single Brand product retail trading is aimed at attracting investments in production and marketing, improving the availability of such goods for the consumer, encouraging increased sourcing of goods from India, and enhancing competitiveness of Indian enterprises through access to global designs, technologies and management practices. (2) FDI in Single Brand product retail trading would be subject to the following conditions: (a) Products to be sold should be of a 'Single Brand' only. (b) Products should be sold under the same brand internationally i.e.products should be sold under the same brand in one or more countries other than India. (c) 'Single Brand' product-retail trading would cover only products which are branded during manufacturing. (d) The foreign investor should be the owner ofthe brand. (e) In respect of proposals involving FDI beyond 51%, mandatory sourcing of at least 30% of the value of products sold would have to be done from Indian 'small industries/ village and cottage industries, artisans and craftsmen'. 'Small industries' would be defined as industries which have a total investment in plant & machinery not exceeding US $ 1.00 million. This valuation refers to the value at the time of installation, without providing for depreciation. Further, if at any point in time, this valuation is exceeded, the industry shall not qualify as a 'small industry' for this purpose. The compliance of this condition will be ensured through self-certification by the company, to be subsequently checked, by statutory auditors, from the duly certified accounts, which the company will be required to maintain. (3) Application seeking permission of the Government for FDI in retail trade of 'Single Brand' products would be made to the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance (SIA) in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion. The application would specifically indicate the product/ product categories which are proposed to be sold under a 'Single Brand'. Any addition to the product/ product categories to be sold under 'Single Brand' would require a fresh approval of the Government. (4) Applications would be processed in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, to determine whether the products proposed to be sold satisfy the notified guidelines, before being considered by the FIPB for Government approval.

4.0 The above decision will take immediate effect.

5.0 The above provisions will be incorporated in the next Circular on Consolidated FDI Policy to be issued on 31.3.2012.

(Anjali Prasad)

Joint Secretary to the Government of India

________________________________________________________

D/o IPP File No.: 5/12/2010-FC-l dated: 10th January, 2012

Copy forwarded to:

1. Press Information Officer, Press Information Bureau- for giving wide publicity to the above Press Note.

2. BE Section in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion- for uploading the Press Note on DIPP's website.

Specified provisions of the Act which shall apply to Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011

2012-01-10T14:27:00.000+05:30

Section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Assessment - General - Specified provisions of the Act which shall apply to Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011

Notification No. 3/2012 [F. No. 142/27/2011-SO (TPL)] SO 17(E), dated 4-1-2012

In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1B) of section 143 of Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), for the purpose of giving effect to the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 made under sub-section (IA) of section 143 of the said Act, the Central Government hereby directs that, the following provisions of the Act relating to processing of returns shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as specified hereunder, namely: -

1. This notification shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. The provisions of section 139 of the Act shall apply to returns received under Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 subject to the following, namely :-

A. (i) All ITR-V (acknowledgement) forms duly verified shall be sent to the Centralised Processing Centre, either through ordinary or speed post, within such period of uploading the electronically filed return as may be specified by the Director General in this behalf.

(ii) The date of transmitting the data electronically shall be the date of furnishing the return if the Form ITR-V is furnished in the prescribed manner and within the specified period.

(iii) In case Form ITR-V furnished after the prescribed time is rejected on account of it being unsigned, illegible, mutilated, bad quality or not as per specification, it shall be deemed that the return in respect of which the Form ITR-V has been filed was never furnished and it shall be incumbent on the person to electronically file the return of income again and follow it up by submitting the new Form ITR-V.

(iv) The Form ITR-V shall be submitted at the address, in the mode and within the period or extended period specified in this behalf.

(v) The Commissioner Centre may, in order to avoid hardship in a case or class of cases, condone the delay in receipt of Form ITR-V.

(vi) The Centre may call for fresh Form ITR-V in special circumstances, where the Form ITR-V submitted earlier cannot be considered for technical reasons.

B. (i) If the original return of income is an electronically filed return, the revised return shall be filed through electronic mode only.

(ii) The Centre shall process only the revised return and no further action shall be taken on original return if it has not already been processed.

(iii) The Commissioner may declare-

(a) a return invalid for non-compliance of procedure for using any software not validated and approved by the Director General;

(b) a return defective under sub-section (9) of section 139 of the Act on account of incomplete or inconsistent information in the return or in the schedules or for any other reason.

C. (i) In case of a defective return, the Commissioner shall intimate this to the person through e-mail or by placing a suitable communication on the e-filing website.

(ii) A person shall comply with the notice regarding defective return by uploading the rectified return within the period of time mentioned in the notice.

(iii) The Commissioner may, in order to avoid hardship to the person, condone the delay in uploading of rectified return.

(iv) In case no response is received from the person in reply to the notice of defective return, the Commissioner may declare a return as not having been uploaded at all or process the return on the basis of information available.

D. (i) A person shall not be required to appear either personally or through authorised representative before the authorities at the Centre in connection with any proceedings.

(ii) Written or electronic communication from such person or authorised representative in the format specified by the Centre in this respect shall be sufficient compliance of the query or clarification received from the Centre.

3. The provisions of section 143 of the Act shall apply to all returns received under the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 subject to the following, namely:-

(i) the sum payable to, or the amount of refund due to, the person shall be determined after credit of such Tax collected at Source (TCS), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and tax payment claims which can be automatically validated with reference to data uploaded through TDS and TCS statements by the deductors or the collectors, as the case may be, and tax payment challans reported through authorised banks in accordance with business rules laid out by the Centre in this regard;

(ii) an intimation shall be generated electronically and sent to the person by e-mail specifying the sum determined to be payable by, or the amount of the refund due to, the person;

(iii) any intimation to the person to pay any sum determined to be payable shall be deemed to be a notice of demand as per the provisions of section 156 of the Act and all other provisions of the Act shall be accordingly applicable.

(iv) The Commissioner may,-

(a) adopt appropriate procedures for processing of returns; and

(b) decide the order of priority for processing of returns of income based on administrative requirements.

(v) Wherever a return cannot be processed in the Centre for any reason, the Commissioner shall arrange to transmit such return to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction for processing.

(vi) The Centre may call for such clarification, evidence or document as may be required for the purpose of facilitating the processing of return and all such clarification, evidence or document shall be furnished electronically.

4. The provisions of section 154 of the Act shall apply to all the returns received under the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 subject to the following, namely:-

(i) An application for rectification shall be filed electronically to the Centre in the format prescribed and shall be processed in the same manner as an Income-tax return.

(ii) In case of error in processing due to an error in data entry or a software error or otherwise, resulting in excess refund being computed or reduction in demand of tax, the same will be corrected on its own by the Centre by passing a rectification order and the excess amount shall be recovered as per the provisions of the Act.

(iii) Where a rectification has the effect of enhancing an assessment or reducing the refund or otherwise increasing the liability of the person, an intimation to this effect shall be sent to the person electronically by the Centre and reply of the person shall be furnished through electronic mode only.

(iv) Where the rectification order results in a demand of tax, the order under section 154 of the Act passed by the Centre shall be deemed to be a notice of demand under section 156 of the Income-tax Act.

5. The provisions of section 245 of the Act shall apply to the returns covered under the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 subject to the following, namely:-

The set-off of refund, if any, arising from the processing of a return, against tax remaining payable shall be done by using the details of outstanding tax demand in respect of the person as uploaded onto the system of the Centre by the Assessing Officer.

6. (i) Where a return is processed at the Centre, the appeal proceedings relating to the processing of the return shall lie with Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) having jurisdiction over the Assessing Officer and any reference to the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) in any communication from the Centre shall mean such jurisdiction of the said Commissioner.

(ii) Remand reports, giving effect to appellate order and any other reports to be furnished before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) shall be submitted by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction as regards the person.

7. The provisions of section 282 of the Act shall apply to all returns received under the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011 subject to the following, namely : -

(i) The service of a notice or order or any other communication by the Centre may be made by :

(a) sending it by post;

(b) delivering or transmitting its copy thereof, to the person's e-mail address by the Centre's e-mail;

(d) any of the modes mentioned in section 282(1) of the Income-tax Act.

(ii) The date of posting of any such communication on the website, e-mail or other electronic medium shall be deemed to be the date of service.

(iii) The intimation, orders and notices shall be computer generated and need not carry physical signature of the person signing it.

8. The Director General may specify procedures and processes from time to time for effective functioning of the Centre in an automated and mechanised environment, including specifying the procedure and processes in respect of the following :-

(a) receipt and processing of electronic rectification applications in the Centre;

(b) the address or place, the mode and the period or the extended period within which the acknowledgement in Form ITR-V shall be accepted;

(d) call centers to answer queries and provide taxpayer services which may include outbound calls to persons requesting for clarification to assist in the processing of their returns of income; and

(e) managing tax administration functions such as receipt, scanning, data entry, processing, issue of refunds, storage and retrieval of income-tax returns and documents in a centralized manner or receipt of paper documents through authorised intermediaries.

Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011

2012-01-10T14:17:00.000+05:30

Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011

Notification No.2/2012[F.No.142/27/2011-SO(TPL)] SO 16(E), dated 4-1-2012

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1A) of section 143 of Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby specifies the following scheme for processing of returns of income, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement.—

(1). This Scheme may be called the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011.

(2). It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definition. - In this scheme, unless the context otherwise requires -

(a) 'Act' means the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).

(b) 'Board' means Central Board of Direct Taxes constituted under the Central Board of Revenues Act, 1963 (54 of 1963).

(c) 'Centre' means the Centralised Processing Centre having jurisdiction over such return of income as may be specified by the Board.

(d) 'Commissioner' means the Commissioner of Income-tax, Centralised Processing Centre.

(e) 'Director General' means the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).

(f) words and expressions used herein but not defined and defined in the Act shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act.

3. Scope of the Scheme.—This scheme shall be applicable in cases where return of income has been furnished in,-

(i) electronic form; or

(ii) paper form, in case of a class or classes of persons, as notified by the Board in this behalf.

4. Receipt and Acknowledgment of Return of Income.—

(1) Where a return of income is filed electronically with digital signature, on successful transmission of the data, an acknowledgment as generated by the server of the Central Government shall be available to the person in printable format.

(2) The acknowledgment shall contain the acknowledgment number of the electronic transmission and the date of transmission as an evidence of filing of the return.

(3) A copy of the electronic transmission of filing the return of income shall be downloaded and kept by the person.

(4) Where a return of income is filed electronically without digital signature, on successful transmission of the data, an acknowledgment in Form ITR-V as provided in rule 12 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 shall be generated by the server of the Central Government and available to the person.

(5) The Form ITR-V shall also contain the acknowledgment number of the electronic transmission and the date of transmission as an evidence of filing of the return.

(6) A copy of ITR-V shall be downloaded and after taking a printout of such a form, it shall be physically verified under the signature of the person and forwarded to the Centre.

(7) The Form ITR-V duly verified shall be sent to the Centre, either through ordinary or speed post, within such period of uploading the electronically filed return as may be specified by the Director General in this behalf.

(8) The date of transmitting the data electronically shall be the date of furnishing the return if the Form ITR-V is furnished in the prescribed manner and within the period specified.

(9) In case Form ITR-V furnished after the prescribed time is rejected on account of it being unsigned, illegible, mutilated, bad quality or not as per specification, it shall be deemed that the return in respect of which the Form ITR-V has been filed was never furnished and it shall be incumbent on the person to electronically file the return of income again followed by submission of the new Form ITR-V.

(10) The Form ITR-V shall be submitted at the address, in the mode and within the period or extended period specified by the Commissioner in this behalf.

(11) The Commissioner may, in order to avoid hardship in a case or class of cases, condone the delay in receipt of Form ITR-V.

(12) The Commissioner may call for fresh Form ITR-V in special circumstances, where the Form ITR-V earlier submitted cannot be considered for technical reasons.

5. Revised return of income.—

(1) If the original return of income is an electronically filed return, the revised return shall be filed through electronic mode only.

(2) The Centre will process only the revised return and no further action will be taken on the original return if it has not already been processed.

6. Invalid or defective return.

(i) The Commissioner may declare-

(a) a return invalid for non-compliance of procedure for using any software not validated and approved by the Director General.

(b) a return defective under sub-section (9) of section 139 of the Act on account of incomplete or inconsistent information in the return or in the schedules or for any other reason.

(ii) In case of a defective return, the Centre shall intimate this to the person through e-mail or by placing a suitable communication on the e-filing website.

(iii) A person may comply with the notice regarding defective return by uploading the rectified return within the period of time mentioned in the notice.

(iv) The Commissioner may, in order to avoid hardship to the person, condone the delay in uploading of rectified return.

(v) In case no response is received from the person in reply to the notice of defective return, the Commissioner may declare a return as not having been uploaded at all or process the return on the basis of information available.

7. Centralised Processing Centres.—

(1) The Board may set up as many Centralised Processing Centres as it may deem necessary and specify their respective jurisdictions.

(2) The processing of the returns shall be undertaken at the Centralised Processing Centre.

8. Processing of Returns.—

(i) The Centre shall process a valid return of income in the following manner, namely:-

(a) the sum payable to, or the amount of refund due to, the person shall be determined after credit of such Tax collected at Source (TCS), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and tax payment claims which can be automatically validated with reference to data uploaded through TDS and TCS statements by the deductors or the collectors, as the case may be, and tax payment challans reported through authorised banks in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Centre in this regard.

(b) an intimation shall be generated electronically and sent to the person by e-mail specifying the sum determined to be payable by, or the amount of the refund due to, the person; and

(c) any intimation to the person to pay any sum determined to be payable shall be deemed to be a notice of demand as per the provisions of section 156 of the Act and all other provisions of the Act shall be applicable accordingly.

(ii) The Commissioner may, -

(a) adopt appropriate procedure for processing of returns; or

(b) decide the order of priority for processing of returns of income based on administrative requirements.

(iii) Wherever a return cannot be processed in the Centre for any reasons, the Commissioner shall arrange to transmit such return to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction for processing.

9. Rectification of mistake.—

(i) With a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the record under section 154 of the Act, the Centre, on its own or on receiving an application from the person, may amend any order or intimation passed or sent by it under the provisions of the Act.

(ii) An application for rectification shall be filed electronically to the Centre in the format prescribed and will be processed in the same manner as a return of income-tax.

(iii) Where the rectification order results in a demand of tax, the order under section 154 of the Act passed by the Centre shall be deemed to be a notice of demand under section 156 of the Income-tax Act.

(iv) In case of error in processing due to an error in data entry or a software error or otherwise, resulting in excess refund being computed or reduction in demand of tax, the same will be corrected on its own by the Centre by passing a rectification order and the excess amount shall be recovered as per the provisions of the Act.

(v) Where a rectification has the effect of enhancing an assessment or reducing the refund or otherwise increasing the liability of the person, an intimation to this effect shall be sent to the person electronically by the Centre and the reply of the person has to be furnished through electronic mode only.

10. Adjustment against outstanding tax demand.—The set-off of refund, if any, arising from the processing of a return, against tax remaining payable will be done by using the details of outstanding tax demand lying against the person as uploaded onto the system of the Centre by the Assessing Officer.

11. Appellate Proceedings.—

(i) Where a return is processed at the Centre, the appeal proceedings relating to the processing of the return shall lie with Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] having jurisdiction over the jurisdictional Assessing Officer and any reference to Commissioner (Appeals) in any communication from the Centre shall mean such jurisdictional CIT (Appeals).

(ii) Remand reports, giving effect to appellate order and any other reports to be furnished before the CIT (Appeals) shall be submitted by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction as regards the person.

12. No personal appearance in the Centre.—

(i) A person shall not be required to appear either personally or through authorised representative before the authorities at the Centre in connection with any proceedings.

(ii) Written or electronic communication from such person or authorized representative in the format specified by the Centre in this respect shall be sufficient compliance of the query or clarification received from the Centre.

(iii) The Centre may call for such clarification, evidence or document as may be required for the purpose of facilitating the processing of return and all such clarification, evidence or document shall be furnished electronically.

13. Service of notice or communication.—

(i) The service of a notice or order or any other communication by the Centre may be made by-

a. sending it by post;

b. delivering or transmitting its copy thereof, electronically to the person sent by the Centre's e-mail;

c. placing its copy in the registered electronic account of the person on the official website ; or

d. any of the modes mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 282 of the Act.

(ii) The date of posting of any such communication on official website, e-mail or other electronic medium shall be deemed to be the date of service.

(iii) The intimation, orders and notices shall be computer generated and need not carry physical signature of the person signing it.

14. Power to specify procedure and processes.—The Director General may specify procedures and processes from time to time for effective functioning of the Centre in an automated and mechanised environment, including specifying the procedure and processes in respect of the following :-

(i) receipt and processing of electronic rectification applications in the Centre.

(ii) the address or place, the mode and the period or the extended period within which the acknowledgment in Form ITR-V shall be accepted.

(iii) validating any software used for e-filing the return.

(iv) call centres to answer queries and provide taxpayer services which may include outbound calls to persons requesting for clarification to assist in the processing of their returns of income.

(v) managing tax administration functions such as receipt, scanning, data entry, processing, issue of refunds, storage and retrieval of income-tax returns and documents in a centralised manner or receipt of paper documents through authorized intermediaries.

Notification on AS 11- The effects of changes in Foreign Exchange Rates

2012-01-04T17:03:00.000+05:30

The Companies (Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules,2011

The Companies (Accounting Standards) (Second Amendment) Rules,2011

Service Tax Refund to exporters through the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES)

2011-12-20T13:35:00.001+05:30

Circular No. 149/18/2011-ST

F.No.354/66/2011-TRU

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise & Customs

(Tax Research Unit)

146-F, North Block,

New Delhi, 16th December, 2011

To
Chief Commissioners of Customs (All)
Chief Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise (All)
Chief Commissioners of Central Excise & Service Tax (All)
Director General of Export Promotion
Director General of Service Tax
Commissioners of Customs (All)
Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise (All)
Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All)
Commissioners of Service Tax (All)

Madam/Sir,

Subject: Service Tax Refund to exporters through the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES) — regarding.

1.So far Service Tax Refund (STR) was made available to exporters (other than SEZ Units/Developers) on specified services used for export of goods covered in Notification 17/2009-ST dated 07.07.2009 (as amended) subject to certain conditions. In this connection, Honourable Finance Minister, had stated in his Budget Speech that

“There have been considerable difficulties in the sanction of refunds, relating to tax paid on services used for export of goods. I propose to shortly introduce a scheme for the refund of these taxes on the lines of drawback of duties in a far more simplified and expeditious manner”.

2. Accordingly, Government has proposed to introduce a simplified scheme for electronic refund of service tax to exporters, on the lines of duty drawback. With the introduction of this new scheme, exporters now have a choice: either they can opt for electronic refund through ICES system, which is based on the ‘schedule of rates’ or they can opt for refund on the basis of documents, by approaching the Central Excise/Service Tax formations.

3. To obtain benefit under the new electronic STR scheme, which is based on the ‘schedule of rates’, an exporter: (i) should have a bank account and also a central excise registration or service tax code number and the same should be registered with Customs ICES 1.5 using ‘Annexure –A’ Form;(ii) should declare his option to avail STR on the electronic shipping bill while presenting the same to the proper officer of Customs.

4. In the ‘schedule of rates’, to be notified shortly, rates are specified for goods of a class or description. An exporter, who wishes to obtain electronic STR, should express his option by mentioning in the shipping bill, chapter/subheading number at the first two digits or four digit levels specified in the schedule of rates, as applicable to the export goods declared in the shipping bill. This chapter/sub heading number should tally with RITC code mentioned in the Shipping Bill against the export goods. Eligible refund amount of service tax paid on the specified services used for export of goods declared in the shipping bill will be calculated electronically by the ICES system, by applying the rate specified in the schedule against the said goods, as a percentage of the FOB value.

5. Exporters who do not like to obtain electronic STR on the basis of ‘schedule of rates’, but wish to opt for claiming STR on the basis of documents, through the Central Excise/Service Tax field formations should declare chapter/subheading number as 9801 in the electronic Shipping Bill. Minimum STR will be Rupees Fifty for an electronic shipping bill. An exporter who wants to get the chapter/sub heading number amended, for any reason, can get the same carried out through the ICES service centre by filing an amendment request; amendment request can also be filed through ICEGATE using Remote EDI System(RES) software. Exporters can track the status of their refund claim and details of refund amount through ICEGATE Document Tracking and Touch Screen Enquiry.

6. STR amount processed under the ICES will be disbursed through the branch of the authorized bank at each customs location. The STR amount in respect of individual exporters will be credited directly to the bank account of the exporter, in the authorized bank branch at a Custom location or to any core banking enabled banking account of the exporter, in any branch/bank anywhere in the country (through the NEFT/RTGS). For this purpose, the exporters are required to register with Customs, the Indian Financial Service Code (IFSC) of the bank branch in which s/he wishes to receive the STR amount, the core banking enabled account number, bank name and address, using ‘Annexure-A’. The procedure for registration of bank account is the same as existing procedure for registration of bank account for receiving drawback amount. Form for registration of bank account, namely, ‘Annexure-A’ is enclosed to this Circular, for the convenience of the exporters.

7. Duly filled in ‘Annexure–A’ form enclosed in this Circular (along with self-certified photocopy of central excise registration or service tax code number), should be submitted to the Designated Superintendent in the Customs Houses/Customs formations, as soon as possible, to get benefit of the electronic refund scheme. (Merchant Exporters, who require a service tax code, can use Form A-2 provided in the Notification 17/2009-ST and obtain the same from jurisdictional central excise or service tax by following the procedure prescribed in the notification). In respect of exporters who already have their bank accounts registered for receiving drawback amount, no new/separate account will be necessary for receiving service tax refund; but they should register their central excise registration or service tax code number with Customs ICES using Annexure-A Form, if they wish to opt for electronic STR. An exporter availing drawback scheme cannot have separate bank accounts for drawback and service tax refund.

8. A new head of accounts under Major Head “0044- Service Tax” has been opened, namely 00441082 for booking of consolidated electronic refunds.

9. Chief Commissioners/ Commissioners are requested to cause wide publicity to the new electronic STR scheme among exporters. Necessary steps may be taken to disseminate information regarding the salient features of the new electronic STR scheme to the Industry and Trade Bodies/ Chambers / Exporters / CHA Associations. In major Custom Houses, special arrangements may be made to receive the duly filled in ‘Annexure-A’ forms from the exporters. Systems Managers may make necessary arrangements to verify the Annexure –A forms and upload the details in the ICES. This circular is also being posted on the CBEC website, http://www.cbec.gov.in/ and http://www.icegate.gov.in/ for the information of all stakeholders.

10. Trade Notices/Facility Circulars may be issued by the service tax/central excise and service tax/customs commissionerates. Hindi version will follow.

Enclosed: Annexure - A Form

(J. M. Kennedy)

Director (TRU)

Tel/Fax: 011-23092634

email: jm.kennedy@nic.in

Annexure A

PART- A

BANK ACCOUNT REGISTRATION FOR E-STR

I.E.C. Number : ………………………………………………..

IFS Code : ………………………………………………..

Bank Account Number : ………………………………………………..

Bank Name & Address : …………………………………………………

-----------------------------------------

…………………………………………………

Certificate from the bank

Certified that the above particulars are correct.

Signature

(Bank Branch Manager along with official seal)

PART-B

Central Excise Registration/Service Tax Code Number

In case, Service Tax Refund (STR) is to be claimed electronically through ICES 1.5, on the basis of ‘schedule of rates’, please provide following details:

Central Excise Registration Number:......................................................................

OR

Service Tax Code Number:.................................................................

Declaration

I declare that the above particulars mentioned in Part A and B are correct.

Signature

Exporter/ Authorized Representative