In response to the India Business Corruption Survey, 2024 showing 66% of businesses paying bribes, Budget 2025 unveiled Jan Vishwas 2.0, designed to alleviate regulatory compliance challenges."
What is Jan Vishwas 2.0?
Aim – To further decriminalize around 100 provisions in various laws to enhance the ease of doing business in India.
It builds upon the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which had already decriminalized 180 provisions across 42 laws.
India Business Corruption Survey, 2024
The India Business Corruption Survey 2024 is a comprehensive study assessing the prevalence and impact of corruption on businesses across India.
Conducted by the online platform LocalCircles.
The survey provides critical insights into bribery, red-tapism and compliance challenges faced by businesses.
Key Findings of the Survey:
66% of businesses admitted to paying bribes, highlighting the systemic nature of corruption.
54% stated they were coerced into bribery to expedite government approvals, secure permits, or meet compliance requirements.
The worst-affected sectors include labour, GST, income tax, pollution control, provident funds, property registration, drug, and health departments.
A majority of respondents view corruption as a major deterrent to foreign direct investment (FDI).
What is the need for the bill?
Decriminalize more provisions – While Jan Vishwas Act 2023 decriminalized 180 provisions with imprisonment clauses, Jan Vishwas 2.0 aims to decriminalize approximately 100 more provisions.
However, over 20,000 provisions with imprisonment clauses still remain untouched.
Trust-Based Governance – The initiative reflects a move towards "trust-based governance," where the emphasis is on fostering a system of compliance through trust rather than fear of punishment.
It is designed to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses.
Reduce corruption and bribery – The document cites that 66% of businesses admit to paying bribes, with 54% being coerced to do so to navigate government processes.
The bill aims to reduce opportunities for corrupt practices.
Simplify regulatory compliance – Indian businesses face extremely complex compliance challenges with 9,420 compliance updates in the past year alone (about 36 daily changes).
This creates inefficiency and opportunities for corruption.
To increase foreign investment – The document mentions that 4 out of 5 respondents in an EY-FICCI survey believe corruption deters foreign direct investment (FDI).
Improving compliance frameworks would make India more attractive for global investors.
Maintain economic competitiveness – The document warns that India risks losing investment and talent to countries with more business-friendly environments, like the United States, which is advancing its own governance reforms.
What are the Key Features of Jan Vishwas 2.0?
Sectors covered – Taxation laws (GST, Income Tax), Labour laws, Company and corporate laws, Environmental compliance laws, Intellectual Property laws (Copyright, Trademark, Patents and Geographical Indications).
High-Level Committee for Regulatory Reforms – A dedicated High-Level Committee will be set up to review non-financial sector regulations.
The committee’s key responsibilities include:
Identify laws that create compliance burdens.
Recommend further decriminalization.
Suggest measures to enhance ease of doing business.
Compliance Simplification & Predictability
The government recognizes that frequent compliance updates create confusion and foster corruption.
Inspired by FSSAI's new regulation (which allows only one update per year for food label changes), a predictable regulatory framework will be introduced for other business sectors.
One Nation, One Business Identity–Jan Vishwas 2.0 proposes a ‘One Nation, One Business’ Identity System, which will:
Unify all business IDs into a single digital identifier.
Reduce paperwork, duplications, and bureaucratic delays.
Improve regulatory transparency and reduce corruption.
As India has 23 different business identifiers, it can help to navigate them.
The 23 different business identifiers include:
Permanent Account Number (PAN)
Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN)
Corporate Identification Number (CIN)
Professional tax numbers, Factory licenses, etc.
Digital-First Approach to Compliance– Establishing a factory in India requires submitting hundreds of self-attested and notarised documents across more than 40 government departments.
This process needs to be transformed as this this archaic system breeds corruption and inefficiency.
Proposal to introduce ‘Digi Locker’ for Businesses, a tamper-proof, authenticated repository that could result in:
All compliance-related documents to be stored digitally.
Government agencies to verify records instantly without requiring notarized hard copies.
Entrepreneurs have no longer need to submit hundreds of self-attested documents.
Approval timelines for business licenses, factory setups, and permits could be cut from months to days.
What are its impacts?
Boost India’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.
Reduce Corruption & Bureaucratic Delays.
Encourage Domestic & Foreign Investments.
Empowering Indian entrepreneurs to "innovate, expand, and create jobs without fear or unnecessary regulatory friction."
Helps India remain competitive in the global race for investment and entrepreneurial talent.
What are its Challenges & Concerns?
Limited scope – While Jan Vishwas 2.0 aims to decriminalize around 100 provisions, the document points out that over 20,000 provisions with imprisonment clauses would still remain untouched.
This suggests the bill may be insufficient in scale.
Slow implementation – The government initiated compliance reforms two years ago, but progress has been "sluggish."
This raises concerns about timely implementation of Jan Vishwas 2.0.
Systemic corruption – Deep-rooted corruption issues that may not be fully addressed by decriminalization alone.
Officials "often wield compliance provisions as tools to extract bribes" and "unofficial payments are still required" even when compliances are met.
Regulatory chaos – With 9,420 compliance updates in the past year (36 daily changes), there's concern that decriminalizing some provisions won't solve the fundamental issue of excessive and frequently changing regulations.
Competing reforms globally – Other countries like the US are making their business environments more efficient, creating pressure for India's reforms to be sufficiently bold and comprehensive to remain competitive.
State-level implementation challenges – Labour codes remain in limbo awaiting implementation, suggesting potential challenges in execution across Union and state levels.
Clarity and Transparency – Ambiguity in certain provisions could lead to arbitrary interpretations by officials, potentially recreating the problems the bill aims to solve.
Impact on Worker Rights – Concerns exist that decriminalizing labor law violations could weaken worker protections, potentially leading to exploitation.
Careful consideration is needed to ensure that worker rights are not compromised.
Less Focus on the informal Sector – The bill primarily targets the formal sector, leaving the vast informal sector largely untouched.
This raises concerns about equitable treatment and the potential for increased disparities.
Way Forward
The India Business Corruption Survey 2024 shows that bribery is a big problem.
Jan Vishwas 2.0 aims to fix this by simplifying laws and reducing red tape.
However, more steps are needed for real change that include:
It can implement a comprehensive decriminalization of the more than 20,000 remaining imprisonment clauses beyond Jan Vishwas 2.0.
It can create a unified "One Nation, One Business" identity system to replace the current 23+ separate identifiers.
Adopting a digital-first approach with a secure "digi locker" system for document verification.
It can establish predictable regulatory changes by limiting updates to once per year across all bodies.
It can operationalize the four modern labor codes that remain in limbo.
It can reduce subjective power of inspectors who currently operate without accountability.
Allocating the budget for digital integration of business compliance systems.
