The Ministry of Law and Justice provided an update on legislative reforms aimed at promoting ease of doing business in India. The government has undertaken continuous legislative and policy interventions to reduce criminalization of minor violations, replacing them with more proportionate civil penalties and administrative mechanisms.
A significant development is the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which removed criminal penalties for numerous minor offences across several Central laws. This was followed by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026, published in the Official Gazette on 8 April 2026, which rationalizes provisions across 79 Central Acts administered by 23 Ministries and Departments. These reforms aim to promote trust-based governance, reduce compliance burden, improve ease of doing business, and ensure proportionate regulatory enforcement.
The government is actively promoting alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms including arbitration and mediation as less adversarial alternatives to conventional dispute resolution. Major initiatives include progressive amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in 2015, 2019, and 2020 to ensure timely conclusion of proceedings, arbitrator neutrality, minimized judicial intervention, and promotion of institutional arbitration.
The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 was amended in 2018 to introduce Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement (PIMS) mechanism, making mediation mandatory for commercial disputes without urgent interim relief before approaching courts. The India International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019 established a world-class arbitration center declared an institution of national importance. The Mediation Act, 2023 provides a standalone legislative framework for mediation, particularly institutional mediation.
Legal Services Authorities under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 have been promoting ADR mechanisms through legal awareness programs and strengthening court-annexed mediation. The data shows significant case settlements through mediation: 98,406 cases in 2024-25 and 225,647 cases in 2025-26.
India's business regulatory environment has improved from 142nd position in 2014 to 63rd out of 190 countries in the World Bank's 2020 Doing Business Report, though the exercise was discontinued in 2020.
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for District and Subordinate Courts has shown measurable results. Third-party evaluation under NITI Aayog found that districts with higher court room density reported a 3-8% decline in average case pendency and a 16% reduction in case resolution time from 3.1 years to 2.6 years in District Courts.