The Department of Pharmaceuticals has opened the PRIP portal for the second call of the ₹5,000 crore Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma & MedTech scheme and added a New Discovery track: up to ₹50 crore for startups and MSMEs doing NCE/NBE projects at TRL 1–3, with at least 25% co-funding from bona fide institutional investors.
DGIT (Systems) has notified how a reporting person registers on the Reporting Portal, gets an ITDREIN and files, corrects or deletes the statement in Form No. 98 under rule 160 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has amended the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 through the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026. Every e-commerce entity must join the National Consumer Helpline convergence process. New duties cover complaints, search results, sponsored listings, price reductions, dark patterns and seller disclosures. The Rules come into force on 1 January 2027.
The Directorate of Income Tax (Systems) has notified the format and procedure for two statements of financial transactions under section 508(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025: SFT-2517 for depositories and SFT-2518 for registrars and share transfer agents of mutual funds. The data, used to pre-fill capital gains in the return, is due half-yearly — by 31 October and 30 April — and must also be given to the account holder.
The Department of Consumer Affairs notified the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026 on 27 August 2026. The Rules provide for Indian Standard Time as the common time reference across the country for legal, administrative, commercial and other official purposes, and come into force 180 days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
A nationwide verification launched on 18 August 2026 covers about 394 entities and 36 professionals. CBDT has asked Accountants to exercise due care before certifying remittances in Form 15CB / Form 146.
A study by officers of SEBI’s Department of Economic and Policy Analysis covers anchor investor exits in 242 mainboard IPOs listed between April 2022 and October 2025. On a weighted basis anchors sold 3.2% immediately after the first unlock, around 8% by day 60 and about 17.3% past the 90-day unlock. Exits were much higher in issues up to ₹250 crore, and FPIs sold more than mutual funds.
Instruction 01/2026-GST follows a draft C&AG performance audit on GST on minerals, which found no structured mechanism for State Mining Authorities to share cases of illegal mining and transport with the GST formations.
Maharashtra amended rule 11 of its Profession Tax Rules on 28 February 2026, bringing the due date for the March return and for annual returns forward to 15 March. After portal problems, Trade Circular 2T of 2026 waived the whole late fee for March 2026 and FY 2025-26 PTRC returns filed by 30 April 2026 where the tax was paid by 15 March.
Rule change
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