The government on Friday introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha to decriminalise and rationalise minor offences, aiming to further promote ease of doing business and ease of living.
The Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada after incorporating recommendations of a select committee.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend multiple enactments to decriminalise minor offences and promote trust-based governance. It aims to revise fines and penalties in proportion to offences and establish appellate authorities.
Opposition members from the Congress, K Kavya and G K Padavi, opposed the introduction of the Bill, contending that it infringes upon the basic structure of the Constitution. Padavi urged the government to refer the Bill again 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 reexamined,” Padavi said, adding that a dissent note had also been submitted in the select committee report.
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Responding to the objections, Prasada said extensive consultations had been undertaken and maintained that the Bill seeks only to decriminalise minor offences.
He said the proposed amendments cover a wide range of laws. “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The Bill had earlier been withdrawn from the Lok Sabha on March 17 for reintroduction after incorporating the select committee’s recommendations.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had introduced a similar version, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha last year, which was subsequently referred to a select committee.
The current exercise builds on the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which was notified on August 11, 2023. The Act decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central laws administered by 19 ministries and departments, marking the first consolidated effort to rationalise minor offences.
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