Union minister Piyush Goyal introducing the bill
NEW DELHI: The govt Monday introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, in Lok Sabha to decriminalise 288 provisions relating to minor offences under different central laws, in its bid to expand the reform agenda of ease of living and doing business. In several cases, it proposes to introduce “improvement notices” for first-time violations, replacing fines with penalties and giving violators an opportunity to rectify their non-compliance.Introducing the bill, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said it seeks to enhance trust-based governance for ease of doing business. The bill was referred to the select committee of LS for scrutiny, which is to submit its report by the first day of the next session of Parliament.The Bill seeks to simplify 355 provisions – decriminalising 288 provisions and amending 67. It uses the term “contraventions” instead of “offence” to give an opportunity to violators to mend their ways. It proposes to rationalise penalties for repeat violations.Officials said the bill reflects a shift from the earlier approach of “penalise on first detection” to a “warning-correct-penalise” model, which would promote voluntary compliance. For deterrence, a steep hike in penalties has been proposed for second and subsequent violations in several cases.For example, in the Central Silk Board Act, 1948, the bill proposes to replace the provision of imprisonment of up to one year and up to Rs 1,000 fine to “warning” for first contravention while for subsequent violations the proposed penalty has been hiked manifold (Rs 25,000-1 lakh) for furnishing any false statement. Similarly, the proposed penalty for manufacturing and sale of Ayurvedic, Siddha or Unani drugs in contravention to the provision of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act is three times more. As per the bill, the provision of up to six months’ jail and fine of at least Rs 10,000 would be replaced with only fine of at least Rs 30,000.The bill proposes to amend provisions related to sectors such as agriculture export, industries, transport, electricity, municipal services, textile and coir. It states that the fear of imprisonment for minor offences is a “major factor” hampering the business ecosystem and individual confidence.The legislation proposes to amend 20 provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act to provide relaxation and clarity in compliance, including statewide vehicle registration instead of jurisdiction-specific; driving licence (DL) renewal effective from date of renewal if applied after expiry; 30 days grace period after licence expiry; reporting period for vehicle registration cancellation extended to 30 days from 14; and insurer intimation period on transfer of insurance certificate extended to 30 days from 14.However, for stricter action against air-pollution, the bill proposes Rs 10,000 fine and disqualification to hold DL for first offence while jail and penalty for subsequent offence. This proposes to set a 12-month timeline for claims tribunals to dispose of accident related cases.
