Rule change
60stories
October 2026
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LabourESIC revises constitution and functioning of Medical Boards under section 37 of the Code on Social Security, 2020: Fixed Medical Board to meet at least once a month
Board at least once every monthRule changeESIC has issued revised arrangements, with immediate effect, for the Medical Boards that examine and assess Insured Persons under section 37 of the Code on Social Security, 2020. A Fixed Medical Board is ordinarily to meet at least once every month, a Rotational Peripatetic Medical Board will sit at different ESIC/ESIS Hospitals as required, and the Special Medical Board for occupational disease cases continues at designated centres.
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SEBISEBI sets the ISIN cap for privately placed debt at seventeen maturing in a financial year, with extra ISINs above ₹15,000 crore: Circular HO/17/11/24(8)2026-DDHS-POD1/I/23125/2026
17 ISINs a financial yearRule changeSEBI has replaced paras 1.1 to 1.3 of the ISIN provisions of its NCS Master Circular to increase the maximum number of ISINs maturing in a financial year for debt securities issued on private placement basis. An issuer is now allowed seventeen ISINs maturing in any financial year: twelve for plain vanilla debt and five for structured, market linked, floating rate, zero coupon and Tier II instruments, plus six more for section 54EC capital gains bonds. The change took effect immediately on 7 October 2026.
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FEMA & RBIRBI issues Credit Valuation Adjustment Framework Directions, 2026 for commercial banks, effective 1 April 2027; six amendment directions issued the same day
From 1 April 2027Rule changeRBI has issued the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Valuation Adjustment Framework) Directions, 2026, which set out how commercial banks must compute the capital charge for CVA risk on derivatives. The Directions come into effect from 1 April 2027. Six amendment directions were issued the same day: two take effect from 1 April 2027 and four, on exposures to qualifying central counterparties, from the date of issue.
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FEMA & RBIRBI raises repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50%, changes stance to calibrated tightening; SDF 5.25%, MSF and Bank Rate 5.75% with immediate effect
Repo rate 5.50%Rule changeThe Monetary Policy Committee, at its 63rd meeting on 5–7 October 2026, voted unanimously to increase the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent and changed the stance to calibrated tightening. The SDF rate stands at 5.25 per cent and the MSF rate and Bank Rate at 5.75 per cent, all with immediate effect. RBI projects real GDP growth of 7.1 per cent and CPI inflation of 5.2 per cent for 2026-27.
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LabourCode on Social Security section 1(4) notification now covers the whole area of 31 Gujarat districts from 1 October 2026: ESIC circular on S.O. 5310(E)
31 Gujarat districts, 1 Oct 2026Rule changeESIC has circulated Gazette notification S.O. 5310(E) dated 25 September 2026 of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, issued under section 1(4) of the Code on Social Security. It applies to the entire areas of 15 districts of Gujarat that were non-implemented and 16 that were partially implemented, with effect from 1 October 2026.
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CustomsNon-EDI Customs locations to authenticate Export Declaration Forms and forward them to the Authorised Dealer, preferably by official e-mail: CBIC Instruction 19/2026-Customs
EDF mechanism from 1 Oct 2026Rule changeCBIC has directed Commissioners of Customs to make sure that Export Declaration Forms (EDFs) furnished at Non-EDI Customs locations are authenticated and forwarded to the Authorised Dealer named in the form. The instruction follows the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, in effect from 1 October 2026, and asks that the mechanism be operational from the same date.
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LicencesSugar stock limits: dealers capped at 1,000 quintals and 15 days from 15 October to 30 November 2026; bulk consumers may hold 30 days’ stock using imported sugar
Sugar dealers: 1,000 qtl, 15 daysRule changeThe Government has fixed the sugar dealers’ stock limit at 1,000 quintals and the holding period at 15 days from 15 October to 30 November 2026, with 2,000 quintals for Kolkata and its extended metropolitan areas and Assam. Separately, bulk consumers may hold 30 days’ stock instead of 15, but the extra quantity must come only from sugar imported under Advance Authorisation or TRQ.
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FEMA & RBIRBI withdraws 268 currency-management circulars issued between 1976 and 2025 after consolidating them into Master Directions
268 circulars withdrawnRule changeRBI has withdrawn 268 circulars and guidelines on currency management, dated from 9 August 1976 to 24 April 2025. Some have been consolidated into function-wise Master Directions and subject-specific instructions; others have become obsolete or redundant. A separate circular of the same day lets a bank’s Board delegate monitoring of ATM cassette swaps to a Committee of Executives.
September 2026
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LicencesNew CAFE norms notified for passenger vehicles from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032: target tightens to 3.3273 litres/100 km
CAFE norms from 1 April 2027Rule changeThe Ministry of Power says it has notified new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms for new passenger vehicles manufactured or imported for sale in India, applicable from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032. The fuel-consumption benchmark tightens from 3.996 litres/100 km in 2027–28 to 3.3273 litres/100 km in 2031–32.
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CustomsTariff values from 1 October 2026: crude palm oil US$ 1,229, gold US$ 1,339 per 10 grams, silver US$ 1,965 per kg — Notification 80/2026-Customs (N.T.)
Tariff values from 1 OctoberRule changeCBIC has substituted the tariff value tables for edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts under Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.). The new values apply from 1 October 2026. The areca nut value is unchanged at US$ 11,574 per metric ton.
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LicencesCAQM approves revised GRAP schedule for NCR: DG set and bus curbs move to Stage I, essential-goods exemption for BS-IV goods vehicles removed
Revised GRAP: 48 actionsRule changeThe Commission for Air Quality Management approved modifications to the GRAP Schedule for the NCR at its 30th Full Commission meeting on 28 September 2026. Actions on DG sets and BS-IV and below buses move from Stage II to Stage I, Sonipat is added to the districts with LMV restrictions, and web-portal dust monitoring is extended to C&D projects beyond municipal limits.
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LabourESI coverage notified in the entire area of 25 districts of Madhya Pradesh from 1 October 2026
25 districts of MPRule changeA Gazette notification under section 1(4) of the Code on Social Security covers the whole of Niwari, which was not implemented at all, and of 24 districts that were only partly covered.
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FEMA & RBIExporters get nine months to bring export proceeds home from 1 October 2026: RBI amends the new FEMA export-import regulations, notified with fifteen, before they take effect
Export proceeds: 9 monthsRule changeRBI has amended regulation 5(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 before they took effect. The period to realise and repatriate export value is nine months instead of fifteen, and twelve months instead of eighteen where the export is invoiced or settled in rupees. The amendment is in force from 1 October 2026.
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CustomsAnti-dumping duty on jute yarn, hessian fabric and sacking bags from Bangladesh and Nepal re-fixed after mid-term review: Notification 24/2026-Customs (ADD)
Jute ADD: nil to US$445 per MTRule changeThe Finance Ministry has substituted the duty table in Notification No. 33/2022-Customs (ADD) on jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal, following DGTR’s mid-term review findings of 25 June 2026. Producer-wise duties now range from nil to US$ 155 per MT; the residual rates go up to US$ 445 per MT for Bangladesh and US$ 292 per MT for Nepal.
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Income TaxTDS on property bought from a non-resident: Forms 132 and 141 amended from 1 October 2026
Form 141, Schedule ERule changeThe Income-tax (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2026 bring the case where a resident individual or HUF deducts tax on buying immovable property from a non-resident into rules 215, 218 and 219, and add a new Schedule E to Form No. 141.
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InsolvencyLiquidation: liquidator may modify the list of stakeholders on new information and intimate the Adjudicating Authority within 30 days — IBBI Fifth Amendment Regulations, 2026
Intimate the AA within 30 daysRule changeIBBI has amended regulation 31 of the Liquidation Process Regulations, 2016. Sub-regulations (3) and (4) are replaced by a single sub-regulation (3): the liquidator may modify an entry in the list of stakeholders when he comes across additional information warranting it, and shall intimate the Adjudicating Authority within thirty days of the modification. The amendment is in force from its publication in the Official Gazette.
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FEMA & RBIRBI finalises rules on novation of OTC derivative contracts; instructions folded into four existing Directions and apply from 22 September 2026
OTC derivative novationRule changeRBI has finalised its instructions on novation of OTC derivative contracts, first released as a draft on 9 July 2025. Instead of a separate direction, the instructions are inserted in the four Directions governing OTC foreign exchange, rupee interest rate, government securities and credit derivatives. They apply to any novation undertaken on or after 22 September 2026.
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LicencesGlass screen protectors for smartphones brought under the Compulsory Registration Order from 1 April 2027: MeitY S.O. 5190(E)
IS 19348:2025 from 1 Apr 2027Rule changeMeitY has added “Screen Protectors for smartphones” as S. No. 66 in the Schedule to the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021. The Indian Standard is IS 19348:2025, “Glass Screen Protector — Specification”. The Order applies to these goods from 1 April 2027.
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LicencesGas Cylinders Rules amended for CNG/CBG Mobile Refuelling Units: who may own one, where it may dispense and what safety conditions apply
CNG/CBG mobile refuellingRule changeDPIIT has notified the Gas Cylinder (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 831(E) dated 21 September 2026). A new Condition 22 in Form G lays down additional conditions for CNG/CBG Mobile Refuelling Units — ownership, the vehicles they may refuel, safety distances and records. Public retail dispensing is barred.
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FEMA & RBIRBI issues final Basel III market-risk capital rules for commercial banks: Simplified Standardised Approach from 1 April 2027
Market risk rules: 1 Apr 2027Rule changeRBI has issued the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Minimum Capital Requirements for Market Risk) Directions, 2026, finalising draft guidelines of 17 February 2023. Banks must use the Simplified Standardised Approach, with capital computed for interest rate, equity and foreign exchange risk. The Directions take effect from 1 April 2027.
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