New Delhi: The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, aiming to decriminalise minor offences and shift penalties from imprisonment to monetary fines.
The government had earlier brought the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act in 2023 to remove criminality for small violations across laws. Under that framework, 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries or departments were decriminalised.
A revised Bill was introduced in 2025 and was referred to a Parliamentary Select Committee, which held consultations with various ministries and submitted its report to Parliament on March 13. Following this, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal withdrew the 2025 Bill on March 18 to pursue further changes.
The 2026 Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada. It proposes removing imprisonment in 57 provisions and eliminating fines in 158 provisions. It also seeks to reduce jail terms in 17 provisions and convert combined imprisonment-and-fine penalties into only fines in 113 provisions.
The government said the reform has been carefully designed to ensure large-scale violations or serious offences are not diluted, and that sensitive areas such as national security, labour courts, armed forces and international obligations have been kept outside its scope.
