Notification No. 49

What it does

In exercise of the powers under section 295 read with clause (2) of section 17 and sub-section (2C) of section 192 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes makes the Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2003. In the proviso to sub-rule (6) of rule 3 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, the words "the Railways" are substituted by "an airline or the Railways". Sub-rule (6) of rule 3 values the benefit of free or concessional travel provided by an undertaking engaged in the carriage of passengers or goods, and the proviso is thereby extended to airline employees as well as railway employees.

Why it was issued

The explanatory memorandum states that the amendment is for the benefit of airline employees and is therefore not prejudicial to assessees who are airline employees.

Who it reaches

employees of airlines receiving free or concessional travel
airlines deducting tax at source under section 192 on the perquisite value
employees of the Railways, whose position is unchanged
assessing officers valuing travel perquisites

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.17	s.16, s.17, s.18
s.192	s.392, s.402
s.295	s.533

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

Notification No : 49

Section(s) Referred : s. 192(2C) ,s. 17(2) ,s. 295

Date of Issue : 11/3/2003

Notification No. 49 of 2003, dt. 11th March, 2003

In exercise of powers conferred by section 295, read with clause (2) of section 17 and sub-section (2C) of section 192 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely -

1. (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2003,

(2) They shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2002.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962, in rule 3, in sub-rule (6), in proviso, for the words "the Railways", the words "an airline or the Railways", shall be substituted.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM The amendment in rule 3 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 is for the benefit of the airlines employees and therefore is not prejudicial to the assessees, who are airline employees.

Footnote ' - The principal rules were published under Notification No. S.O. 969 dt. 26th March, 1962, which has been amended from time to time, the last such amendment was made vide Notification No. S.O. 104(E) dated 28th January, 2003.

[F. No. 149/154/2002-TPL]

What it changes

The rule numbers are the 1962 Rules’ own, as the notification names them. The right-hand column is the department’s own mapping into the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything.

Rule of the 1962 Rules	Now, in the 2026 Rules
Rule 3	rule 15

From when

1 April 2002, retrospectively.

What to watch

The rules are deemed to have come into force on 1 April 2002, so they operate retrospectively; the explanatory memorandum treats the retrospectivity as benign because the change is in the assessee's favour.
The change is a single substitution in the proviso to sub-rule (6) of rule 3, extending it from the Railways to airlines as well.
The footnote records that the principal rules were last amended by Notification S.O. 104(E) dated 28 January 2003.

Where you meet it

In the salary computation and Form No. 16 of an airline employee where concessional travel is valued, and in the airline's TDS working under section 192.

What it names

Rules it names. Rule 3 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The 1962 Rules were replaced by the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything: a rule number quoted here almost never means the same rule today.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Notification No. 133/2025 [F. No. 370142/27/2025-TPL] / G.S.R 555(E) — Ministry of Finance 18 August 2025
Circular No. 3/2025 — Income tax deduction from salaries during the financial year 2024 25 under section 192 of the income tax act 1961 20 February 2025
Circular No. 24/2022 — Government of INDIA 7 December 2022
Notification No. 90/2022 [F. No. 370142/31/2022-TPL (Part-2)] / SO 3703(E) — Ministry of Finance 5 August 2022
Circular No. 4/2022 — Government of INDiA 15 March 2022
Notification No. 11/2021 [F. No. 370142/52/2020-TPL] / GSR 155(E) — Ministry of Finance 5 March 2021

← Notification No. 50 · Notification No. 48 →

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.

What this is