New Delhi, 29 June (H.S.): The Central Government has launched the 'Reform Intimation Mechanism' to promote Ease of Doing Business (EoDB). Introduced through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, the new mechanism allows businesses to rectify specified procedural lapses without facing immediate penal action.

According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, under the new framework, businesses committing certain procedural or regulatory non-compliances for the first time will be given an opportunity to correct the deficiencies before any punitive action is initiated.

The reform is aimed at improving the Ease of Doing Business by encouraging voluntary compliance, reducing unnecessary legal disputes, and promoting a trust-based regulatory framework while ensuring robust consumer protection.

The Ministry said the mechanism has been implemented through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, which enables businesses to rectify procedural shortcomings without attracting penalties in the first instance. It is designed to foster voluntary compliance, minimise avoidable litigation, and strengthen a regulatory environment based on trust without compromising consumer interests.

The Reform Notice System applies to specified first-time procedural and regulatory non-compliances, including registration requirements, documentation and record-keeping, model approval, the manufacture, sale and repair of weights and measures, import of weights and measures, transactions involving packaged commodities, submission of statutory information, and filing of mandatory returns.

The Department of Consumer Affairs clarified that the Reform Intimation Mechanism does not dilute consumer protection or weaken enforcement under the Legal Metrology Act. It applies only to specified first-time procedural and regulatory violations and does not extend to serious or repeated instances of non-compliance.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar