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Owing to the mushrooming of passive funds in the past decade coupled with concerns regarding conflict of interest and governance of indices and the fact that market indices are often seen as the barometer of economic growth, it is prudent to govern index providers.

The Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) in Pavana Dibbur v The Directorate of Enforcement, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1586, held that the offence of criminal conspiracy will be categorised as a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) only if the alleged conspiracy is for commission of an offence that is listed as a scheduled offence under PMLA.

On 29 January 2024, the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) notified the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024 (PS Regulations) with the intention of governing and regulating payment services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSC).

The Indian and Mauritian Governments have recently signed a protocol dated 7 March 2024 (Protocol) to amend the India-Mauritius tax treaty (Tax Treaty). The text of the Protocol was not available in public domain until 11 April 2024. The amendments appear to address the concerns surrounding ‘treaty shopping’ by incorporating a ‘Principal Purpose Test’ (PPT) under the Tax Treaty.

As we approach the seventh year of implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in India, it is clear that its introduction has largely been a success across various parameters.  However, one oft-repeated criticism has been against frequent high-pitched, aggressive tax investigations, coupled with frequent cases of multiplicity of investigations by various authorities on same/overlapping issues across various States.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued an advisory dated 21 March 2024 to endorsers and influencers on social media, social media intermediaries and online advertisement intermediaries regarding surrogate advertisements of offshore online betting and gambling platforms (Advisory).

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 08 March 2024 notified the much anticipated Small & Medium Real Estate Investment Trusts (SM REITs) regime by way of an amendment (SM REITs Amendment) to the SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 (REITs Regulations).

On 21 March 2024, the telecom authorities in India announced major developments in the machine-to-machine (M2M) space. Particularly, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued an amendment to the existing instructions on M2M connections relaxing the highly criticized restrictive features of M2M connections (Guidelines). On the same day, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also issued the much-awaited recommendations on ‘Usage of Embedded SIM for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications’ (Recommendations).

The regulatory landscape for betting and gambling in India varies across states, with some imposing an outright ban while others adopting a regulated approach. The widespread proliferation of online betting and gambling platform related advertisements, which are often endorsed by celebrities and influencers across various media channels, and more recently through digital media, has profoundly impacted consumer access to such platforms, leading to an increase in their use. This surge in advertising has also raised significant concerns about its impact, especially on the more vulnerable demographics such as the youth.

On 19 March 2024, the Indian Government issued a notification (Notification No 33/2024) amending the India-Spain Tax Treaty (Spain Treaty) to reduce the erstwhile 20% tax rate on royalties and fees for technical services (FTS) to a 10% tax rate pursuant to the ‘Most Favored Nation’ (MFN) clause in the protocol to the Spain Treaty (MFN Notification). The benefit of the reduced rate is available from Financial Year 2023-24.

Chambers of Tax Consultants (CTC) Monthly Journal

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) notified a new scheme, ‘Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India’ (Scheme) on 15 March 2024 that incentivizes global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ‘make in India’ electric 4-wheeler vehicles (e-4W) and access the third largest auto market.

The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 and the Patent (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024 have been notified and have come into force from the date of Publication in the Official Gazette i.e. 15 March 2024 and 16 March 2024 respectively. The amended rules are being introduced at the backdrop of the efforts being taken to reduce backlog of patent applications, and ease procedures before the Indian Patent Office.  

On 11 March 2024, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India released the following draft rules for public comments: (a) the Competition Commission of India (Exempted Combinations) Rules, 2024; (b) the Competition Commission of India (De Minimis) Rules, 2024; and (c) the Competition Commission of India (Green Channel) Rules, 2024.

A five-judge Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) in High Court Bar Assn. v. State of U.P., 2024 SCC OnLine SC 207 ruled that there cannot be an automatic vacation of stay orders granted by a lower court or High Court in civil and criminal cases after six months. The Constitution Bench presided by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud did not agree with the view expressed by a three Judge bench in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency (P) Ltd. v. CBI, (2018) 16 SCC 299 (“Asian Resurfacing”) that there should be an automatic vacation of a stay order of a lower court unless it is extended specifically.

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court held that distributors of pre-paid recharge vouchers were not ‘agents’ of the telecom companies. Consequently, the telecom companies were not obligated to deduct tax on the discount provided to the distributors. The ruling settles an issue on which various High Courts expressed divergent views in the past. The Court delivered its judgment in a batch of tax appeals, with the lead case being that of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

On 7 March 2024, the Government of Karnataka notified the Karnataka Motor Transport and Other Allied Workers’ Social Security and Welfare Act, 2024 (Act) in the state gazette, pursuant to the Governor’s assent to the same on 6 March 2024.