New Delhi: Central Ministries and States, Union Territories are carrying out an exercise to reduce compliance burden. More than 22,000 compliances have been reduced by Union Ministries, States & UTs so far under the initiative and about 13,000 compliances simplified while more than 1,200 processes have been digitized.
During last few years 103 offences have been decriminalized and 327 redundant provisions/laws removed.
The aim of this exercise is to simplify, decriminalize and remove redundant laws, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, while speaking at the workshop on National Workshop on Reducing Compliance Burden organised by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) here today.
He said that numerous regulatory compliances only confused the new prospects and built hesitation in investors but today we are creating a most conducive environment for entrepreneurs.
The Minister said that the soft launch of the National Single Window System is an outstanding example of Government’s commitment to simply and rationalise things.
The National Single Window System portal hosts approvals across 18 Central Departments and 9 States and another 14 Central departments and 5 states will be added by December 2021.
Goyal said that through a participative and consultative approach with all stakeholders the government was identifying and eliminating hurdles in a timebound manner.
Some of the reforms implemented by the Centre to ease compliance burden on citizens and businesses are-
1) Removal of distinction between Domestic and International OSP (other service provider) which will provide thrust to voice-based BPO and ITeS organizations in India,
2) liberalized access to geospatial data,
3) Introduction of ‘Mera Ration’ mobile app,
4) Introduction of single step online Aadhaar validation process for 18 services associated with Driving License and Registration Certificate.
5) 46 penal provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and 12 offences under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008 decriminalized.
6) Through business process re-engineering, States/UTs have reduced time for granting approvals/licenses, eliminated physical touch-points and brought transparency in inspections.
7) Single window clearances for new investors have reduced the time to start operations across businesses.
It was noted that many State Governments have also maintained the momentum of continued reforms by implementing licensing reforms, computerized central random inspection system, labour reforms, initiatives to support Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and promote industrial development in the true spirit of cooperative federalism.
In July 2020, Cabinet Secretary had written to all Ministries to set up a dedicated team to examine the Acts and Regulations under their purview and reduce the compliance burden for citizens and business activities. DPIIT has been directed to act as a Nodal Department to coordinate this exercise of reducing compliance burden on citizens and business activities.
The objective for this comprehensive exercise is to improve ease of living and ease of doing business by simplifying, rationalizing, digitizing and decriminalizing government to business and citizen interfaces across all Ministries and States/Union Territories. Following are the focus areas of this exercise:-
1) Eliminate compliance burden across all procedures, rules, notifications, circulars, office memorandums, etc. which merely add to time and cost without achieving any tangible improvement in governance.
2) Repeal/amend/subsume redundant laws.
3) Decriminalize laws pertaining to technical and minor non-compliance issues to eliminate constant fear of being prosecuted for trivial defaults, while retaining strict criminal enforcement for serious fraudulent offences that jeopardize and prejudice public interest.
In July-August 2020, DPIIT shared the template of Action Plan to reduce compliance burden with all Ministries and States/UTs. Each Department and State/UT appointed a nodal officer for coordinating the exercise for reduction of compliance burden.
So far, through a time-bound exercise various government agencies have reduced more than 22,000 compliances across Ministries and States/UTs.
As part of the exercise on reducing compliance burden, Ministries and States/ UTs implemented various initiatives that impact specific segments of citizens and businesses. Some of the initiatives of different departments are –
1) Department of Telecommunications:
– Distinction between Domestic and International OSP (other service provider) removed, allowing Indian Telecom Service Providers serving foreign counterparts to register as an OSP. Allowed sharing of EPABX and PSTN lines by domestic and international centers. This provides massive growth thrust to BPO, BPM and ITeS organizations providing voice-based services in India
2) Department of Science and Technology:
– Private, public entities and research institutes now allowed to collect, process, store, publish and share geospatial data and services including maps enabling an Indian firm offer world class geo spatial service such as Google maps. Liberalized access to geospatial data helps stakeholders plan better for infrastructure projects, protection from natural calamities and enables environment protection. Reduced reliance on foreign resources and technology for geo spatial mapping
3) Department of Food and Public Distribution:
– Migrant beneficiaries empowered to get their entitled quota of food grains from any electronic point of sale (e-PoS) enabled fair price shops across the country. ‘Mera Ration’ mobile app introduced to help users identify nearest fair price shop, check entitlement details and recent transactions. Ration cards made portable minimizing compliance pain of migrant beneficiaries in availing their food grain quota. Facility covers more than 75 Crore beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) covering almost 94.3% of NFSA population
4) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways:
– Single step online Aadhaar validation process introduced for 18 services associated with Driving License (DL), Registration Certificate (RC), Transfer of Ownership, International Driving Permit, Hire-Purchase, etc., eliminating the need for citizens to visit the Road Transport Offices (RTO) leading to hassle free services at the doorstep of citizens
– Registration Certificate now issued at dealer location itself. Vehicle registration can be done anywhere in the state (Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal) vis-a-vis earlier process wherein it could be done only at respective RTO
5) Ministry of Education:
– Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) user interface developed to enable learners and teachers across the country to access curricula of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs online. 1.85 lakh pieces of e-content on-boarded and high traffic on portal (~2,400 crore hits since lockdown) showcases its increased usage. Training of teachers has been enabled online on DIKSHA with about 25 lakh teachers benefitting from it.
6) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises:
– Samadhaan portal launched empowering MSMEs across the country to register and track grievances related to delayed payment and settlement of disputes. CHAMPIONS portal launched by the Prime Minister for speedy redressal of grievances of MSMEs. Over 37,000 grievances redressed (by Aug’21) with a reply rate of more than 99%.
– Sampark portal launched to help connect jobseekers (passed out trainees/ students of MSME Technology Centers) to recruiters. 4.73+ lakh jobseekers and more than 6,200 recruiters are registered on the portal till date
8) Department of Consumer Affairs:
– BIS Care app launched empowering consumers to check authenticity of ISI marked and hallmarked products. Citizens can also lodge complaints against fraudulent products using the App.
-global bihari bureau
