AKP Corporate & Compliance Digest February 03, 2026

We are delighted to share this week's AKP Corporate & Compliance Weekly Digest. Please feel free to write to us with your feedback at info@akandpartners.in.

1.              Labour Law

1.1.      Employees’ Enrolment Scheme offers compliance window for missed EPF coverage

The Government outlined the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign-2025 as a special window for employers to voluntarily enrol eligible employees who were left out from Employees’ Provident Fund coverage between July 1, 2017, and October 31, 2025, and to regularise past compliance under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. The scheme was stated to be operational for 6 (six) months from November 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, with employee contribution waiver where the employee share was not deducted from salary, and with employers required to remit dues including interest and a lump sum penal damage of INR 100 (Indian Rupees One Hundred only) per establishment (subject to stated conditions). The release also stated enrolment is through an online portal with Face Authentication Technology-based verification.

1.2.          e-Shram’s aggregator module expands formal registration for platform work

The Government stated that e-Shram supports registration of unorganised workers (including gig and platform workers) and provides a Universal Account Number on a self-declaration basis, and that an aggregator module (launched on December 12, 2024) enables registration of aggregators and platform workers engaged by them. The release stated 12 (twelve) aggregators had been onboarded, including Zomato, Uber and Swiggy, and noted that the Code on Social Security, 2020 (brought into force on November 21, 2025) contains definitions and a framework for social security measures (including life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old age protection), including through a Social Security Fund. The update also cited NITI Aayog estimates that gig and platform workers were 7.7 (seven point seven) million in financial year 2020–21 and could rise to 23.5 (twenty-three point five) million by financial year 2029–30 and referenced Budget 2025–26 measures for registration and health coverage linkages.

2.              Stamp Duty

2.1.          Bombay HC rules stamp duty on DRT e-auction sale certificates should follow auction price

The Bombay High Court held that where an immovable property is sold through a transparent e-auction under the Debt Recovery Tribunal, stamp duty on the sale certificate should be determined on the auction consideration (that is, the price discovered in the auction). In the case before the Court, the Collector had assessed duty on INR 8,34,91,500 (Indian Rupees Eight Crore Thirty-Four Lakh Ninety-One Thousand Five Hundred only) instead of the auction price of INR 2,01,31,000 (Indian Rupees Two Crore One Lakh Thirty-One Thousand only), and had also imposed a penalty of INR 12,02,278 (Indian Rupees Twelve Lakh Two Thousand Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight only). The Court allowed the writ petition and set aside the market-value-based determination under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958.

2.2.          Punjab reiterates concessional stamp duty window for cooperative society property registrations

Punjab authorities reiterated the registration requirement for properties in cooperative societies; alongside concessional stamp duty timelines linked to the registration date. Original allottees were reported to be exempt from stamp duty but required to pay a registration fee of 1 per cent (one per cent) capped at INR 2,00,000 (Indian Rupees Two Lakhs only). Non-original allottees were reported to pay stamp duty of 1 per cent (one per cent) for registrations completed up to January 31, 2026, and 2 per cent (two per cent) for registrations completed between February 1, 2026, and February 28, 2026 (as per the reported notification framework).

3.              Stock Exchanges

3.1.          NSE sets revised holding-statement reporting schedule due to Union Budget live trading session

National Stock Exchange of India Limited (“NSE”) issued Circular Ref. No. 06/2026 (Department: Inspection) revising the due dates for reporting holding statements because a live trading session will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, for the presentation of the Union Budget.  The circular specifies that holding statement reporting for trade dates January 30, 2026, January 31, 2026, and February 1, 2026, will be due on February 2, 2026, while reporting for the trade date February 2, 2026, will be due on February 3, 2026 Trading members have been advised to take note and comply, and NSE has provided regional office contact details and a central help desk email for clarifications.

3.2.          BSE revises holding-statement reporting dates for Union Budget live trading session

Bombay Stock Exchange (“BSE”) issued Notice No. 20260128-32 setting a revised schedule for reporting holding statements because a live trading session will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, for the presentation of the Union Budget.  The notice specifies that holding statement reporting for January 30, 2026, January 31, 2026, and February 1, 2026, will be due on February 2, 2026, while reporting for February 2, 2026, will be due on February 3, 2026. Trading members have been advised to comply, and the notice references earlier BSE communications on holding-statement submissions and the Union Budget 2026 live trading session.

3.3.          BSE extends deadline for trading members to upload client KYC records to KRAs for validation

BSE issued Notice No. 20260130-12 extending the timeline for intermediaries to upload Know Your Client (“KYC”) records to KYC Registration Agencies (“KRAs”) for validations to April 3, 2026, following requests from multiple trading members and in continuation of an earlier exchange notice dated December 24, 2025. The notice reiterates Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) requirements that KYC uploads must be completed within 3 (three) working days of KYC completion (revised from 10 (ten) working days) and reminds members that only clients with a KRA status of “KYC Registered” or “KYC Validated” may trade. It also states that PANs whose KYC status is not validated by the KRAs will not be permitted to trade on the exchange and will not be allowed to square up open positions and asks members to monitor such clients’ positions and coordinate directly with the relevant KRAs for queries.

3.4.          NSDL enables electronic cyber audit submissions via e-PASS and reiterates half-yearly timelines for Depository Participants

National Securities Depository Limited (“NSDL”) issued Circular No. NSDL/POLICY/2026/0013 enhancing the process for Depository Participants to submit the Cyber Security Audit Report electronically through the e-PASS portal, referencing the NSDL Master Circular to Participants dated April 30, 2025, and earlier NSDL and SEBI cyber security framework circulars. NSDL enclosed detailed steps to (i) add auditor details in e-PASS and (ii) file the half-year cyber audit report workflow (auditor submission, DP review with management comments and Action Taken Report (ATR) timelines for non-compliances, and digital signatures by both auditor and DP). It also reiterated that participants must submit a declaration signed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer/partners/proprietor certifying compliance with SEBI cyber security circulars and advisories “from time to time” along with the audit report, and set the half-yearly due dates as December 31 and June 30 (with April 2025–September 2025 specifically due by January 31, 2026), with ATR submissions due by March 31 and September 30, where applicable.

3.5.          NSE Clearing revises client collateral segregation reporting timeline for Union Budget live trading session

NSE Clearing Limited issued Circular Ref. No. 02/2026 setting out a revised schedule for client collateral segregation reporting because a live trading session will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, for the presentation of the Union Budget.  For trade dates January 30, 2026, January 31, 2026, and February 1, 2026, the cut-off date for reporting is February 2, 2026, while for the trade date February 2, 2026, the cut-off date is February 3, 2026. NSE Clearing Limited warned that non-submission of client collateral will be treated as non-compliance and penalties for non-submission will apply, and asked members/custodians to adhere to the timelines.

4.              Information Technology

4.1.          CERT-In warns of high-severity vulnerabilities in Oracle products

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (“CERT-In”) issued Advisory CIAD-2026-0004 on multiple vulnerabilities across Oracle products (including Oracle MySQL, Java SE, Oracle Database Server, WebLogic Server, and VirtualBox) that could be exploited remotely to cause elevation of privilege, denial of service, remote code execution, data manipulation, sensitive information disclosure, and security restriction bypass.  The advisory rates the risk as high and warns of impacts ranging from unauthorised access to sensitive information to potential complete takeover of the target system and recommends applying the relevant Oracle security updates referenced in Oracle’s January 2026 security advisory.

4.2.          CERT-In flags critical vulnerabilities in VMware products

CERT-In issued Vulnerability Note CIVN-2026-0061, rating as critical multiple vulnerabilities in VMware products, including VMware vCenter Server (versions prior to 8.0 U2d, 8.0 U1e and 7.0 U3r) and VMware Cloud Foundation (versions 4.x and 5.x).  CERT-In stated that the vulnerabilities—arising from a heap-overflow in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol and a misconfiguration of sudo—could be exploited via specially crafted network requests to enable remote code execution and privilege escalation, creating a high risk of unauthorised access and data exposure.  CERT-In advised organisations to apply the vendor updates referenced in Broadcom/VMware’s security advisory and noted the associated CVEs: CVE-2024-37079, CVE-2024-37080, and CVE-2024-37081.

4.3.          CERT-In flags critical remote code execution vulnerabilities in n8n

CERT-In issued Vulnerability Note CIVN-2026-0062, rating as critical multiple remote code execution vulnerabilities in n8n (an open-source workflow automation platform) affecting several release lines, including versions prior to 1.123.17, 2.4.5, and 2.5.1 (and other earlier cut-offs listed in the note).  CERT-In stated that the issues stem from eval-injection due to insufficient sandbox isolation in the JavaScript expression engine and Python task execution environment, enabling specially crafted code to escape the sandbox and potentially lead to full compromise of the n8n instance, exposure of credentials and sensitive data, and lateral movement to connected systems.  CERT-In advised organisations deploying n8n to apply the relevant security updates referenced on n8n’s security page.

4.4.          CERT-In flags critical vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Web Help Desk

CERT-In issued Vulnerability Note CIVN-2026-0060, rating as critical multiple vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Web Help Desk version 12.8.8 HF1 and prior.  CERT-In stated that the issues—arising from improper authentication controls, hardcoded credentials, and insecure deserialisation of untrusted data—could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication, access administrative and protected functions, and execute arbitrary code, potentially leading to full system compromise and data exposure.  CERT-In advised users to apply the appropriate vendor updates referenced in SolarWinds’ security advisories for CVE-2025-40552, CVE-2025-40537, CVE-2025-40551, CVE-2025-40554, CVE-2025-40553, and CVE-2025-40536.

5.              Tax

5.1.          GSTN updates GSTR-3B interest computation process under Rule 88B

Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) issued an advisory on system-based interest computation for delayed filing of Form GSTR-3B, aligned with Rule 88B of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017. The advisory explains how the portal will compute and reflect interest, including the cash-versus-credit treatment for interest purposes, which is relevant for taxpayers reconciling interest outgo on late returns.

Disclaimer

The note is prepared for knowledge dissemination and does not constitute legal, financial or commercial advice. AK & Partners or its associates are not responsible for any action taken based on its contents.

For further queries or details, you may contact:

Mr Anuroop Omkar

Founding Partner, AK & Partners

info@akandpartners.in