The central government will table Jan Vishwas 2.0 in the Lok Sabha. Under this scheme, people who make mistakes for the first time will get an ‘Improvement Notice’ instead of a penalty. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet earlier this week. The bill seeks to revise specific laws to decriminalise and streamline offences, promoting trust-based governance to facilitate easier living and business operations.
Earlier, on February 1, 2025, during her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had promised to launch Jan Vishwas 2.0. “In the Jan Vishwas Act 2023, more than 180 legal provisions were decriminalised. Our government will now bring up the Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalise more than 100 provisions in various laws,” she had said.
Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0
The Jan Vishwas 2.0 Bill introduces a provision to define an “improvement notice” and to apply it across various legal domains. Unlike the Jan Vishwas 1.0 Bill of 2023, which imposed immediate penalties for first-time violations, the new bill adopts an inform-correct-penalize approach. Under this framework, first-time offenders will receive an improvement notice instead of a fine, granting them time to rectify their errors before facing penalties. Penalties apply from second offence onwards, and the amount will be the same as it was for first offence in Jan Vishwas 1.0. Fines will increase for subsequent offences, subject to a maximum cap depending on the Sections.
The new system keeps full decriminalisation but adds an improvement notice. This notice encourages people to fix mistakes on their own before any fines are imposed. It helps reduce the fear of punishment for small, unintentional errors, said a source.
Earlier, the government passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 to make certain laws less strict and remove criminal penalties for minor offences. For instance, Section 41 of the Food Corporations Act, 1964 used to say that using FCI’s name in an advertisement without permission could land someone in jail for up to six months or make them pay a fine of Rs 1,000- This was omitted by the e Jan Vishwas Act.
