SUMMARY
Administrations across the country have been reducing compliances under the DPIIT’s BRAP 2020 (fifth edition)
Ministries, states and UTs have decriminalised more than 3,500 provisions related to minor technical or procedural defaults
The government has also decriminalised minor economic offences under the Companies Act, 2013
Various administrations across the country, including union ministries, state governments and union territories have reduced more than 39,000 compliances to foster ease of doing business as of January 17, 2023, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23.
The Ministry of Finance quoted the above data in the Economic Survey in the Parliament, tabled earlier on Tuesday (January 31) by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Survey mentioned that administrations across the country have been reducing various compliances for businesses under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2020 (fifth edition).
Launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in June 2022, BRAP oversaw 7,496 reforms implemented across States and UTs.
“Reducing the Compliance Burden (RCB) on businesses and citizens is a continuous exercise to leapfrog to the next level of governance excellence and improve Ease of Living,” the Survey noted.
Ministries, states and UTs have collectively decriminalised more than 3,500 provisions related to minor technical or procedural defaults as of January 17, 2023. Further, the government launched India’s National Single Window System (NSWS) in September 2021 to improve the ease of doing business.
The NSWS provides a single digital platform to investors for approvals and clearances and has garnered 4.3 Lakh unique visitors as of January 10, 2023. The Economic Survey 2022-23 also noted that the portal has witnessed 81,000+ approvals so far and around 43,000 approvals are currently under process.
“The portal will progressively onboard more approvals and licenses based on user /industry feedback. This portal has integrated multiple existing clearance systems of the various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and State Governments to enhance investor experience,” said the Ministry of Finance in the Economic Survey.
The government has also decriminalised minor economic offences under the Companies Act, 2013.
“By introducing civil liabilities for dealing with simple defaults that do not involve fraud or where the nature of the lapse is purely procedural, the government has demonstrated its intent to promote ease of doing business for domestic and global investors,” the Economic Survey document noted.
Per the Economic Survey 2022-23, more than 1400 default cases have been decided without resorting to the court while around 4 Lakh companies have willingly rectified past defaults to avoid penalties under the Companies Act.
Apart from the aforementioned reforms, the Economic Survey also detailed various reforms in GST, insolvency and bankruptcy, labour laws, foreign investment and other structural reforms that have helped improve the ease of doing business in India.
According to the World Bank, India ranked 63rd in 2022 in ease of doing business across the world among 190 countries, improving its rank from 142 in 2014. Back in 2018, the Modi government also pledged to take the country to the top 50 in EoDB rankings.
