Tax & Compliance Updates — 4 November 2026
4 updates today: 2 GST, 2 Other. The most important is CBIC Instruction No. 02/2026-GST, which stops arrests under GST and sets a Rs. 10,000 floor for show cause notices until the CGST Act is amended. It and the customs SCMTR item, dated 30 October and 1 November 2026, were not covered in earlier digests and are included here.
In this update
- E-way bill and consolidated e-way bill numbers to get longer from 1 January 2027
- CBIC Instruction 02/2026-GST: no arrests, e-way bill checks limited, no notices below Rs. 10,000
- SEBI eases digital KYC for NRI, OCI and foreign national clients
- Customs SCMTR: old sea export messages to be phased out by 31 January 2027
GST
E-way bill and consolidated e-way bill numbers to get longer from 1 January 2027
GSTN issued an advisory on 4 November 2026 stating that, because of the volume of e-way bills generated, the existing numbering capacity is expected to be exhausted. The proposed revision, with effect from 1 January 2027, changes the e-way bill number from 12 digits to 14 digits and the consolidated e-way bill number from 10 digits to 11 digits. Taxpayers, GSPs, ERP/software providers and API integrators are advised to modify their applications, APIs, database schemas and validation rules; the changes will be released in the sandbox environment shortly, with details on the E-Way Bill Portal.
Action: If you generate e-way bills through an ERP, billing software or API, check with your software provider that it will accept 14-digit e-way bill numbers and 11-digit consolidated e-way bill numbers before 1 January 2027.
Official source: GSTN advisory: Revision in E-Way Bill and Consolidated E-Way Bill Numbering Formats w.e.f. 1 January 2027 (4 November 2026)
CBIC Instruction 02/2026-GST: no arrests, e-way bill checks limited, no notices below Rs. 10,000
CBIC issued Instruction No. 02/2026-GST dated 30 October 2026 to CGST field formations, implementing three recommendations of the 57th GST Council meeting (8 October 2026) as an interim measure until the CGST Act is amended; the Council had recommended that the amendments take effect from 1 April 2027. Field formations are directed that no further arrests be carried out under GST. A conveyance may be intercepted only on specific intelligence authorised by an officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner, who must record reasons in writing; where neither the supplier nor the recipient is registered or located in the officer’s jurisdiction, the information is passed to the jurisdictional officer and the conveyance allowed to pass (unless no e-way bill or document showing origin or destination is produced), and goods or conveyances in transit are not to be confiscated under section 130. Show cause notices under sections 73, 74 and 74A may not be issued where the amount involved is below Rs. 10,000 (CGST, SGST, IGST, UTGST and compensation cess taken together). The instruction is addressed to CGST officers; the GST Council Secretariat is to circulate it to State GST formations, which may issue similar instructions.
Action: If you face an arrest threat, an e-way bill interception or a small-amount show cause notice from CGST officers, check it against this instruction; for State GST officers, check whether your State has issued a similar instruction.
Official source: CBIC Instruction No. 02/2026-GST dated 30 October 2026
Detailed explainer: 57th GST Council Meeting Recommendations: What Is Live and What Is Pending
Other updates
SEBI eases digital KYC for NRI, OCI and foreign national clients
SEBI issued Circular No. HO/38/30/12(3)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25175/2026 dated 4 November 2026 reviewing the KYC process for individual Person Resident Outside India (PROI) clients, meaning NRIs, OCIs and foreign nationals. The requirement that a client be physically in India during digital on-boarding is relaxed for individual PROI clients located in a FATF-compliant country, and intermediaries may accept digital submission of KYC information and documents from them; the circular also makes KYC records portable between intermediaries and sets out the PAN, passport, KYC form, signature, address proof and Video In Person Verification steps. It comes into effect from 3 December 2026 for on-boarding (and re-KYC) of individual PROI clients, except those in FATF non-compliant countries, who remain under the existing KYC process. It applies to SEBI-registered intermediaries, stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
Action: NRI, OCI and foreign national clients planning to open a demat, trading or other securities account from abroad should check with their intermediary whether digital on-boarding is available to them from 3 December 2026.
Official source: SEBI Circular HO/38/30/12(3)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25175/2026 dated 4 November 2026
For help with investments and reporting by persons resident outside India, see our FEMA advisory services.
Customs SCMTR: old sea export messages to be phased out by 31 January 2027
CBIC issued Notification No. 90/2026-Customs (N.T.) dated 1 November 2026, the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, which substitutes the entry against Sr. No. 6 in the table after Form XII with “31.01.2027” and comes into force on its publication in the Official Gazette. Circular No. 47/2026-Customs of the same date notes that export-side SCMTR filing is still limited to certain ports and provides that the erstwhile export messages will be discontinued zone by zone under its Annexure A, from 16 November 2026 (Thiruvananthapuram) to 6 January 2027 (zones including Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai), completing the transition by 31 January 2027. Stakeholders, including custodians, terminal operators and trans-shippers, are to adopt SCMTR-compliant software and message formats in this period, and no penal action is to be taken during the implementation phase.
Action: If you export by sea, check with your customs broker, shipping line or terminal operator that they will file SCMTR export messages by the date listed for your customs zone.
Official source: Notification No. 90/2026-Customs (N.T.) dated 1 November 2026 and Circular No. 47/2026-Customs dated 1 November 2026
All daily digests · Topic page: GST news and announcements
Compiled from official sources linked above. Last updated 4 November 2026. This is general information, not advice on any particular case.
