Jan Vishwas 2.0 – Provisions & Significance- Explained Pointwise

Recently, the government has introduced Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. It seeks to amend 16 Central Acts in order to decriminalize & rationalise certain offences & penalties. This is the second Jan Vishwas legislation brought in by the government. The first, Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, decriminalized 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries/departments.

What are some of the important provisions of the Bill?

1. Decriminalization of Minor Offenses: The Bill proposes to decriminalize 288 provisions across 16 central acts. The primary focus is to remove imprisonment clauses for minor, technical, or procedural defaults. These offenses will now be handled through warnings or monetary penalties. For e.g. it proposes a fine of amount between Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh instead of existing 3-months imprisonment for non-compliance of orders under the Electricity Act, 2023. 
2. Ease of Living & Doing Business: The legislation aims to simplify 355 provisions in total. This includes decriminalizing 288 provisions to foster ease of doing business and amending 67 provisions to facilitate ease of living.
3. Rationalization of Penalties: The Bill introduces a system of proportional and graduated penalties. It proposes that fines and penalties will automatically increase by 10% every three years to maintain a deterrent effect without needing new legislation. 
4. Adjudication Mechanisms: The Bill introduces provisions for the appointment of adjudicating officers and appellate authorities to handle penalties through administrative processes. This is intended to reduce the burden on the judiciary and accelerate the resolution of minor offenses.
5. Focus on First-Time Offenders: For a significant number of offenses (76 offenses across 10 Acts), the Bill proposes to issue a ‘warning’ & ‘improvement notice’ for the first-time offenders. This shifts the focus from “penalize on first detection” to a “warning-correct-penalize” model.
6. Amendments to Specific Acts: The Bill proposes amendments to various laws, including the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. For example, it proposes to simplify vehicle registration and provide a grace period for driving license renewals.

What was the need for Jan Vishwas 2.0?

1. Over-criminalization of minor offences: Many central laws in India continued to prescribe criminal penalties—including imprisonment—for minor, technical, or procedural violations, such as small paperwork errors or trivial acts. Research showed that over 75% of criminal provisions regulate areas outside core criminal justice, creating unnecessary legal hurdles and fear among businesses and citizens.
2. Hindrance to Ease of Doing Business & Living: Harsh punishment provisions had a chilling effect on entrepreneurship, innovation, and daily life, slowing business processes and discouraging honest actors due to the threat of jail for inadvertent mistakes. For example, a 2022 Report by Observer Research Foundation found out that out of the 1536 laws that govern doing business in India, more than half carry imprisonment clauses & more than half od the clauses requiring imprisonment carry a sentence of at least one year. Reducing these risks supports India’s ambition to be a global investment and manufacturing hub, and aligns with the “Make in India” initiative.
3. Reducing Judicial Burden: Courts were clogged with cases arising from minor offences, leading to unnecessary pendency and diverting resources from serious legal matters. According to National Judicial Data Grid, there are more than 3.6cr pending criminal cases in India’s district courts & more than 2.3cr of which are more than 1 year old. The first Jan Vishwas Bill was introduced with the aim to reduce the undue pressure on the justice system, reduce the pendency of cases & help in more efficient & effective justice dispensation.
4. Modernizing Outdated Regulations: Many laws still carried colonial-era, outdated provisions irrelevant in today’s technological and business environment. Jan Vishwas 2.0 aims to update laws to serve contemporary needs and embrace technology-driven compliance.
5. Support for ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’: The Bill reaffirms the government’s commitment to remove outdated laws, support entrepreneur-friendly reforms (Make in India), and align India’s regulatory environment with global standards.

Conclusion:
The goal of Jan Vishwas is to create a more business-friendly environment & promote ease-of-living by eliminating unnecessary legal hurdles & simplify the regulatory landscape. Hence, it is a significant step towards achieving the target of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.