The Jan Vishwas Bill 2025 aims to decriminalize minor offences, rationalize penalties, and streamline procedures, fostering trust-based governance, ease of doing business, and improved efficiency through targeted process reforms.

Why in the News?

Recently, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 was introduced in Lok Sabha to amend certain enactments to decriminalize and rationalize offences to further enhance trust-based governance for ease of living and doing business.

Key Features of the Bill

First-time contraventions: For 76 offences under 10 different Acts, the Bill provides that first-time violations will attract only an advisory or warning instead of punishment.
Decriminalization of minor offences: Removes imprisonment clauses with monetary penalties or warnings for minor, technical, and procedural defaults. E.g., Some Acts like the Tea Act, 1953, Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (already amended in 2023 are further decriminalized).
Rationalization of penalties: Fines are rationalized and made proportionate, with incremental penalties for repeat offences.
Adjudication mechanism: Designates officers with the authority to impose penalties through administrative processes to ensure quicker resolution of cases and reduce the burden on the judiciary.
Automatic revision of fines: Provides for an automatic increase of 10 per cent in fines and penalties every three year which ensures that penalties remain effective as a deterrent without the need for frequent legislative amendments.

What Are Process Reforms?

Process reforms are described as "nuts and bolts reforms" that involve changing specific rules or procedures, such as altering a subsection of a rule.
- Unlike "structural reforms" (e.g., GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, monetary policy committee) which change the underlying architecture of an economic activity, process reforms improve the operation of a given structure.
They are micro-level, targeted changes to improve operational efficiency in specific sectors or activities within public policy.
Economic Survey 2020-21 also advocated the merits of simpler regulations and smoother processes as against over-regulation and opacity in Indian administrative and legal processes.

Significance of Process Reforms

Sustaining Economic Growth: As the world's fastest-growing economy, India needs ongoing reforms to maintain momentum.
- Process reforms fill the space between major structural changes, keeping the wheels of progress turning.
Ease of Doing Business, Living, and Science: These reforms directly remove day-to-day irritations for citizens, businesses, and researchers. E.g., new procurement rules for scientific institutions make it easier for scientists to work efficiently.
Unblocking bottlenecks and delays: Many government processes in India have legacy inefficiencies due to old rules, cumbersome paperwork, unnecessary approvals, slow delivery of services creating barriers for citizens and businesses.
Enhancing sectoral competitiveness: E.g., Liberalization of telecom rules for Other Service Providers (OSP) fueled a boom in IT-enabled and BPO sectors.
Reducing corruption & rent-Seeking: By making systems transparent and removing unnecessary steps, process reforms help reduce scope of corruption and arbitrary enforcement.
Institutionalizing a problem-solving mindset: Systematic process reforms build a culture of continual problem-solving within government, making institutions agile and responsive, rather than assuming systems are "God-given".

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Case Studies of successful Process Reforms

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): Digitizing subsidy and welfare payments directly to beneficiaries has cut leakages and duplication, saving huge resources and improving service delivery.
Voluntary Company Liquidation: Earlier voluntary liquidation took over 4 years with multiple delays. Streamlining the advertisement process and clarifying that certain NOCs were not required have drastically cut it down in some cases, creating one of the fastest exit regimes globally.
Rationalization of Autonomous Bodies: Closure or merger of many outdated or overlapping government institutions like All India Handloom Board, All India Handicrafts Board, and multiple film units into a single corporation.
Government eMarketplace (GeM) Portal: Introduced to increase transparency and reduce procurement costs by 15-20% through an online platform.
Legal and Dispute Resolution Reforms: Focus on reducing delays and costs in courts, incorporating Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and debt recovery mechanisms.
Legal Metrology Amendments: Criminal penalties for many minor offences were decriminalized through the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 to reduce rent-seeking and harassment.

Conclusion

As India continues to evolve into a dynamic, innovation-driven economy, reforms like the Jan Vishwas Bill must be seen not as endpoints but as milestones in a longer journey of governance transformation. By embracing technology, continuous simplification, and citizen-centric governance, these reforms can translate into a culture of responsiveness, transparency, and adaptability within institutions.