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Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The government is ready with the third version of the Jan Vishwas Bill aimed at decriminalising provisions of central laws to make life easier for businesses and for the common man, Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday. 

 

Goyal had introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, on Aug. 18 in the Lok Sabha as part of the government's push to further improve ease of doing business and ease of living. The bill, cleared by the Cabinet, was then referred to a Select Committee. The committee is due to submit the report on the first day of the next Parliament session. 

 

Prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, proposes amendments to 355 provisions under 16 central laws administered by 10 ministries and departments. Of these, 288 provisions are to be decriminalised to promote ease of doing business, while 67 are to be amended to support ease of living. The law also aims to reduce the load on the judiciary by shifting focus from criminal prosecutions for minor or unintentional violations to civil penalties. 

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the plan to introduce the bill in the Budget for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). The government had earlier enacted the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, to decriminalise and rationalise certain minor offences across 42 central acts and improve ease of doing business. The 2023 Act had eliminated 183 criminal provisions across 19 ministries. 

 

Speaking at the curtain raiser event for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's 98th Annual General Meeting, Goyal also urged the industry on Tuesday to adopt a more ambitious, proactive approach to drive India's growth. "Set bold targets. We can't be satisfied with incremental growth. We need to venture out of the ordinary. We need domestic capital in startups and R&D (Research & Development)," he said. End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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