New Delhi, March 27 – The government introduced the second version of the Jan Vishwas bill in the Lok Sabha on Friday, aiming to amend certain provisions to decriminalize minor offenses and promote ease of doing business. This move was met with objections from Congress members, which the government addressed.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, proposed by Commerce and Industry Minister Jitin Prasada, seeks to amend 79 central acts administered by 23 ministries.
The bill proposes to decriminalize 784 provisions, with 717 aimed at facilitating ease of doing business and 67 to facilitate ease of living.
Congress members K Kavya and GK Padavi opposed the bill's introduction, arguing that it infringes on the fundamental structure of the Indian Constitution by replacing imprisonment with fines for violations.
Padavi urged the government to send the bill to a select committee or a joint parliamentary committee.
"This is an administrative oversight...the bill is arbitrary and encourages corruption, and it should be re-examined," Padavi said, adding that a dissenting note has also been included in the select committee report.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla sought to know whether a bill can be resubmitted to a parliamentary panel.
Kiren Rijiju, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, stated that there is no provision for resending the bill to the parliamentary committee for scrutiny, and no such precedent exists.
Responding to the Congress's objections, Prasada said that only minor procedural offenses are being proposed to be replaced with fines.
He emphasized that major violations and serious offenses remain unchanged, and the reform process has been carefully structured to exclude critical areas, such as laws related to national security, labour courts, armed forces, and international obligations.
"These are not within this purview. Therefore, these are all minor offenses that are being removed," Prasada explained, adding that extensive consultations have been held on the bill's provisions.
He stated that Parliament has the power to amend the Constitution, and the bill seeks to make minor changes in other legislation.
Prasada added that the bill enhances ease of doing business and living by decriminalizing minor offenses and implementing measures, such as revising fines and penalties in proportion to the offense, and setting up appellate authorities.
"It proposes to amend 79 central acts, administered by 23 ministries, or a total of 784 provisions, are being proposed to be amended, out of which 717 provisions are being decriminalised to foster ease of doing business and 67 provisions are being proposed to facilitate ease of living," he said.
The bill proposes to remove imprisonment in 57 provisions and fines in 158 provisions. Additionally, imprisonment is proposed to be reduced in 17 provisions, and imprisonment and fines are proposed to be converted to penalties in 113 provisions.
The bill also proposes 67 amendments under the New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994, and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, to facilitate ease of living.
It seeks to make 20 amendments under the Motor Vehicle Act, with the aim of providing relaxation for some compliance requirements under the Motor Vehicle Act and resolving legal ambiguities.
These include allowing vehicle registration throughout the state instead of a specific jurisdiction, allowing the renewal of driving licenses from the date of renewal, rather than the expiry date, providing a 30-day grace period after the expiry of the license, during which the license remains valid.
It also proposes amendments in the RBI Act, 1934; Insurance Acts, and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act.
Besides, changes have been proposed in the Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act; Patents Act; Legal Metrology Act; Cantonments Act, 2006; Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006; Pharmacy Act, 1948; Delhi Police Act; Electricity Act; and Railways Act.
According to the statement of objects and reasons, the bill "proposes to amend 79 central enactments, aims to decriminalize minor offences to reduce the compliance burden on businesses, promote ease of doing business and ease of living for citizens by rationalising processes by...issuing warnings at the first instance of contraventions and imposing penalties for subsequent contraventions."
On March 17, the bill was withdrawn from the Lok Sabha for reintroduction after incorporating recommendations from a select committee.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, on March 18 last year, had introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, and it was referred to the select committee.
This initiative builds upon the success of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, the first consolidated legislation to systematically decriminalize minor offenses across multiple Acts.
The 2023 Act, notified on August 11, 2023, decriminalized 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries/departments.