Goyal introduces a Bill to decriminalise minor offences to promote ease of doing business

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022, to decriminalise minor offences to promote ease of business.

Besides the decriminalisation of minor offences, the bill envisages the rationalisation of monetary penalties, depending on the gravity of the offence, bolstering trust-based governance.

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"Yet another novelty involved in the proposal is an increase of 10 per cent of the minimum amount of fine and penalty levied, after the expiry of every three years, once the bill becomes a law," according to the statement of objects and reasons.

The bill was later referred to a 31-member joint committee of Parliament for scrutiny.

The members from the Lok Sabha include PP Chaudhary, Sanjay Jaiswal, Rajendra Agrawal, Poonam Pramod Mahajan, Gaurav Gogoi, A Raja and Sougata Ray. The names of 10 members from the Rajya Sabha will be announced later.

The bill was introduced amid protests by the Opposition who were demanding a discussion on the border issue with China.