Jan Vishwas Reform: Trust-Based Regulation and the Next Three Reforms

Why in the News

A major editorial published on 2 November 2026 argues for taking the Jan Vishwas reforms forward: principle (the philosophy of trust-based regulation), compilation (a single source of legislative truth) and assurance (only published obligations are enforceable). A few months earlier, Parliament had passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 - in the Lok Sabha on 1 April 2026 and in the Rajya Sabha on 2 April 2026. According to government figures, it amended 784 provisions of 79 Central Acts under 23 ministries, of which 717 provisions were decriminalised and 67 provisions were changed for ease of living. This is the second big wave of trust-based governance after the first Jan Vishwas Act of 2023, and the debate has now reached the third stage - a single, searchable digital source of law.

Background

The first big step towards trust-based governance was the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised 183 provisions of 42 Central Acts. After that, in August 2025, the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2025 covering 17 Acts was brought, and it was sent to a Select Committee of the Lok Sabha (Chairperson: Tejasvi Surya). In its report in March 2026, the committee recommended further changes in those 17 Acts along with amendments to 65 additional Acts, after which the 2025 Bill was withdrawn and a comprehensive Bill, 2026 was introduced on 27 March 2026 (as introduced, it amended 80 Central Acts).

Main features of the 2026 law:

• Civil penalty in place of imprisonment: In many offences, imprisonment was removed and a civil penalty was imposed. For example, in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, for a cosmetics-related violation, in place of imprisonment of up to one year, a civil penalty of Rs 1 lakh or three times the value of the seized cosmetics (whichever is higher).
• Omission of offences: Some offences were removed altogether, such as a false report of fire in the Delhi Police Act, 1978 and a false entry in the register in the Copyright Act, 1957.
• Warning-first system: In laws like the Apprentices Act, 1961, an advisory for the first violation, a warning for the second and a civil penalty only afterwards.
• Improvement notice: In the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, an opportunity to correct within a fixed time on the first violation.
• Adjudication mechanism: Penalties will be determined by adjudicating officers, with a process of show-cause notice and personal hearing, and an appellate authority for appeal - that is, small violations will be freed from the burden of courts.
• Automatic increase: The prescribed penalties will rise every three years at the rate of 10 percent of the minimum amount.
• Health sector: Adjudication process and proportionate penalties in health laws including the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Pharmacy Act, 1948, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010; strict action remains for serious violations such as fake or adulterated medicines.

Editorial Analysis: The Three Proposed Next Reforms

The editorial's author (co-founder of TeamLease Services) argues that India's problem is not the number of jobs but wages: according to him, India ranks 128th in the world in per-capita GDP, one-third of the workforce is in low-wage work without formal status, and China, which was equal in 1991, is today five times ahead in per-capita GDP - the reason, in his words, is "regulatory cholesterol", that is, vagueness, inconsistency and distrust in rules. (These figures are the author's estimates, not from a government source.) To solve this he has given three proposals, which are not a Bill or government policy but policy proposals:

• Principle: Institutionally adopt the philosophy of trust-based regulation - freedom, necessity and proportionality - among more than 3 crore civil servants. The author identifies six "toxic ideologies": a mindset of prior permission, making unenforceable rules, making the process itself the punishment, ignoring more than 25 administrative instruments beyond Acts (circulars, directions and so on), writing laws for exceptions, and excessive criminalisation.
• Compilation: A single, searchable, machine-readable national digital source of legislative truth - by joining the physical Gazette, the e-Gazette and India Code into one list. The author cites the principle "ignorance of the law is no excuse" and says this obligation is just only when the State makes the law knowable. In this context he mentions three judicial decisions: Harla v. State of Rajasthan (1952) - rejecting secret rules "locked in executive drawers"; B K Srinivasan v. State of Karnataka (1987) - stress on the knowability of law; Viraj Impex v. Union of India (2019) - law is effective only when properly published and made known to the public. Global examples: the US Federal Register, the UK's legislation.gov.uk, the European Union's EUR-Lex, and similar portals in Singapore and Australia.
• Assurance: A guarantee that only those obligations will be enforceable that are published on this single source - in line with the draft of the Transparency of Rules Act proposed by economist Sanjeev Sanyal. This will end the uncertainty of an unscheduled obligation.

Controversies and Challenges

• Implementation gap: Changing the law is easy, a mindset is not. The success of trust-based regulation depends on the behaviour of lakhs of officers - despite the Select Committee's recommendations and the provisions of the Act, change in the licence-inspection culture may be slow.
• Role of states: Most of the compliance burden comes from state and local laws; the central decriminalisation will give full benefit only when states also make similar reforms.
• Stakeholder balance: Critics warn that in the health, safety and environment sectors the deterrent value of a penalty may be less than that of imprisonment if the cost of compliance is more than the penalty; the government's reply is that criminal provisions remain for serious violations (fake medicines, dangerous products).
• Earlier failures of a single source: The author himself admits that earlier attempts at a single source of legislative truth failed because of poor design, weak capacity and discontinuous attention - so merely building a portal is not enough, a legal guarantee (assurance) is needed.

Exam Perspective

• GS-2 (Governance): Trust-based governance, reducing the burden on the judiciary, knowability of rules and legislative reform.
• GS-3 (Economy): Ease of Doing Business, formalisation, high-wage employment, regulatory reform and entrepreneurship.
• GS-4 (Ethics): Trust, transparency and accountability in governance.

Prelims Practice Questions

Mains Practice Question

"India's challenge is not the number of jobs but the level of wages." In the light of this statement, evaluate the role of trust-based regulatory reforms (Jan Vishwas) in creating high-wage formal employment. (250 words, 15 marks)

Answer Outline

Introduction: The prevalence of informal employment; the link between regulatory uncertainty and entrepreneurship.

Main Body: Jan Vishwas 2023 and 2026: decriminalisation, adjudication mechanism, warning-first system - reduction in compliance cost and risk.
Wage logic: enterprises combine land, labour and capital only when rules are transparent, consistent and credible; a condition of formal growth.
Limit ahead: central law alone is not enough - state-level reforms, an implementation mindset, a single legislative source and a publication guarantee are needed.

Conclusion: Give speed, scale and institutional depth to trust-based governance.

Way Forward

The next challenge of Jan Vishwas is at three levels: first, effective implementation of the 2026 law - appointment of adjudicating officers, the appellate mechanism and parallel reforms by states. Second, clarity of the government's position on the policy proposals (a single national digital source of legislative truth and a published-obligation guarantee) - these are at present editorial and expert proposals, not enacted. Third, impact assessment: whether data on penalty revenue, reduction in litigation and growth of formal enterprises will be made public. From the exam point of view, this topic represents the next generation of governance reform and economic liberalisation, and the results of its implementation will remain monitorable in the coming years.

Sources

1. Press Information Bureau (PIB), 3 April 2026 - Jan Vishwas Bill, 2026 passed by Parliament; 79 Acts, 784 provisions, 717 decriminalised: Link
2. PRS Legislative Research - Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026: introduction, passage and key provisions (27 March - 2 April 2026): Link
3. Press Information Bureau (PIB) - Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: 183 provisions of 42 Central Acts decriminalised: Link
4. The Indian Express (editorial), 2 November 2026 - Jan Vishwas: three reforms for high-wage employment (principle, compilation, assurance): Link

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