Overview

• Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 on August 18 and it was immediately referred to a Lok Sabha Select Committee with a report due by the next session’s start.
• The legislation proposes amendments to 355 provisions across 16 central Acts, of which 288 offences would be decriminalised and 67 provisions simplified to ease compliance.
• Under the new framework, first-time contraventions would incur improvement notices rather than penalties, reserving financial sanctions for second and subsequent violations.
• An automatic mechanism will increase minimum fines by 10% every three years to maintain deterrence without requiring fresh parliamentary amendments.
• Designated administrative adjudicators would handle minor procedural defaults, shifting enforcement away from overburdened courts and building on the 2023 decriminalisation reforms.