Fear to trust: India simplifies laws under Jan Vishwas Bill 2026 to boost business‑friendly environment

Rashmi Pandey — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:24:43 +0000

Under the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, India is overhauling its central‑laws compliance framework by decriminalising minor offences and shifting from punitive to trust‑based regulation. The legislation, which has been cleared by both Houses of Parliament and is now headed for the President’s assent, amends provisions across about‑80 central Acts administered by 23 ministries, with the government stating that 717 previously criminal‑punishable provisions are being converted into civil‑penalty‑based or administrative‑compliance mechanisms. The move follows the earlier Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which had already decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 central laws.

The 2026 Bill targets “technical, procedural and minor lapses” in areas such as corporate compliance, metrology, customs, excise, environment, health, and trade‑related statutes, replacing prison terms or disproportionately harsh penalties with graded warning‑driven mechanisms, improvement notices, and monetary fines. For example, under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, failure to maintain or produce required records by an importer, especially MSME‑scale operators, will no longer trigger immediate penal action; instead the entity receives an improvement notice to correct the gap. The framework aims to distinguish clearly between will‑full non‑compliance that remains subject to stricter enforcement and minor procedural errors that can be remedied without criminalising business‑day‑to‑day operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has framed the reforms as a core element of its “Ease of Doing Business” and “Ease of Living” agendas, noting that the 2026 version rationalises more than 1,000 offences and excises redundant or outdated penal clauses. The Bill’s architecture includes warnings for first‑time contraventions, graded escalation of fines based on severity, and standardised penalty structures so that penalties are proportionate to the nature and impact of the violation. Officials have emphasised that serious offences—such as large‑scale money‑laundering, tax‑fraud, or environmental‑damage‑related violations—continue to attract stronger sanctions, but the burden on exporters and MSMEs for minor compliance gaps is expected to fall sharply.

For MSMEs and exporters, the reforms are expected to translate into lower litigation risk, reduced regulatory fear of imprisonment, and faster resolution of inspection‑driven issues, which in turn supports supply‑chain predictability and smoother cross‑border trade. The government has already signalled that state‑level “Jan Vishwas”‑style initiatives, such as Delhi’s parallel bill, are being aligned with the central framework, creating a more uniform national‑level approach to minor‑offence decriminalisation.

Key highlights

Jan Vishwas Bill 2026 decriminalises 717 minor offences across 80 central laws.
Minor lapses now attract warnings and fines, not imprisonment.
MSMEs and exporters gain relief from criminal‑compliance fears.
Serious offences and will‑full violations still face strict penalties.
Reform is part of national “Ease of Doing Business” and “Ease of Living” push.

Vedant Fashions pays Rs 50,000 compounding fee for legal metrology violation

Business Desk — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 18:52:42 +0000

Vedant Fashions has paid a compounding fee of ₹50,000 following a notice from the Department of Legal Metrology for an alleged violation of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009. The violation involved non-disclosure of the size on a product label at a retail outlet.

The company received a Seizure Memo on 16 December 2025, from the Senior Inspector of the Department of Legal Metrology in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The memo cited a breach of Section 36(1) of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, and Rule 9 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. This breach pertained to the non-disclosure of the size of a pocket square on the product label.

In response, Vedant Fashions submitted a request on 20 February 2026, seeking to compound the offence with the minimum applicable fee. Subsequently, the authority issued a notice on 17 March 2026, directing the company to deposit ₹50,000 as a compounding fee. Vedant Fashions complied with this directive by depositing the fee on 24 March 2026 and formally informed the authority through a letter dated 25 March 2026.

The company confirmed that apart from the ₹50,000 fee, there is no other financial or operational impact on its activities. The details of the violation and the subsequent actions were disclosed in compliance with Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

Disclaimer: This article is based on a regulatory filing submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

Legal Metrology | Business Upturn

Fear to trust: India simplifies laws under Jan Vishwas Bill 2026 to boost business‑friendly environment

Key highlights

Vedant Fashions pays Rs 50,000 compounding fee for legal metrology violation