Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash, today informed the Parliament about the recent ease of doing business reforms in India.
He said that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in coordination with Central Ministries/Departments, States, and Union Territories (UTs), has spearheaded various reforms to improve the business regulatory environment in the country.
On the lines of annual assessment done by the World Bank for its Doing Business Report (DBR), DPIIT spearheads a dynamic reform exercise called Business Reforms Action Plan, which ranks all the States and UTs in the country based on the implementation of designated reform parameters.
The focus of the reforms has been on streamlining the existing regulations and processes and eliminating unnecessary requirements and procedures.
The Action Plan covers a number of reform areas such as Investment Enablers, Online Single Window System, Land administration and Transfer of Land and Property, Construction Permits Enablers, Labour Regulation Enablers, Environment Registration Enablers, Inspection Enablers, Paying Taxes, Obtaining Utility Permits, etc.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken several initiatives towards simplification of Labour Laws for ease of doing business.
Consolidation of Labour Laws
The Government has notified four Labour Codes, namely, the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 by simplifying, amalgamating, and rationalizing the relevant provisions of 29 Central Labour Laws.
Through Labour Codes provisions have been made for one registration for an establishment instead of multiple registrations, one license, and one return in place of multiple licenses and returns.
Shram Suvidha Portal
Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP) is a major IT initiative of the Ministry, towards ease of doing business and reducing the complexities in labor law compliance.
Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Legal Affairs have taken the following measures for timely disposal of commercial cases which promote Ease of doing business.
Commercial Courts Act, 2015
The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 has been enacted to deal specifically with commercial disputes in India.
It was amended in 2018, providing for the constitution of commercial courts at the district level and Commercial Division in all the High Courts.
To streamline their functioning, the pecuniary value of commercial cases which can be entertained by the commercial courts has been reduced to Rs. 3 lakh from earlier Rs. 1 crore.
The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 is administered by the Department of Legal Affairs.
Special Courts for Infrastructure Projects Related Disputes
Designated Special Courts for hearing Infrastructure projects related disputes have been set up in 23 High Courts along with Special Commercial Benches in High Courts for dealing with high value commercial disputes i.e. above Rs. 500 crores have been set up in 8 High Courts.
Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism
Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism by way of Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement (PIMS) has been provided in the Act.
It provides an opportunity to the parties to resolve commercial disputes outside the ambit of the courts at the very outset which has reduced the clogging of cases in Commercial Courts.
The Act mandates holding of Case Management Hearing (Pre-Trial Conference) to complete the trial in a time-bound manner. This has been institutionalized leading to speedier resolution of commercial cases.
Case Information System (CIS) Software
Commercial cases are now randomly and automatically assigned to Judges using Case Information System (CIS) software eliminating human intervention this enhancing judicial transparency.
To ensure compliance of three adjournment Rule a facility of colour banding in CIS software has been created which provides information regarding the number of adjournments in a case and facilitates speedy decision making.
Electronic Filing of Commercial Cases
Electronic filing of commercial cases (E-Filing) has been operationalised in most Commercial Courts to reduce the time taken to file cases.
Electronic service of Summons (E-Summons) of commercial cases has been operationalised in few commercial courts which reduces the delay in sending summons to parties.
Electronic Case management tools (ECMT) for Judges and Advocates have been integrated into one single CIS Software, which has enhanced judicial productivity and made the justice delivery system more accessible, reliable and transparent. Dedicated Websites have been started for Commercial Courts.
The Government has notified the Commercial Courts (Statistical Data) Rules, 2018 for making available detailed data points on various aspects of commercial cases for effective monitoring of time taken in case disposal by these courts.
DPIIT, in coordination with Central Ministries/Departments, States, and UTs, spearheads the exercise of reducing the compliance burden for improving the overall business regulatory environment in the country.
The objective of this exercise is to improve the Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living and Government to Business and Citizen interface hassle-free.
The key focus areas of the exercise are-
- Rationalization/Auto-renewal of licenses/certificates/permissions
- Risk-based / Third-party Inspections and Audits
- Standardized and simplified return filing
- Rationalized maintenance of registers
- Minimize / eliminate display requirements
- Digitization and simplification of manual forms and records
- Decriminalization of minor technical and procedural defaults
- Repeal or amendment of redundant laws
Udyam Registration
Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises has undertaken various steps towards improving the ease of doing business.
This includes, inter alia, the introduction of Online Registration – Udyam Registration (completely online and no fees), the constitution of the Review Committee to monitor the progress of the implementation of the Policy, the opening of a grievance cell to redress the Grievances of MSEs and launch of “MSME Sambandh Portal” to monitor the progress of procurement by the CPSEs from MSEs, etc.