Bhubaneswar, Sep 7: In a major move to promote ease of doing business, the Odisha Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Monday approved the Odisha Jan Vishwas Bill, 2026, aimed at simplifying regulations and reducing the compliance burden on businesses and citizens.
The Bill marks the second phase of Odisha’s regulatory reform initiative, building on the decriminalisation measures introduced under the Odisha Jan Vishwas Act, 2025.
The proposed legislation seeks to simplify licensing and permission requirements, eliminate overlapping approvals, and extend the validity of several industrial licences and registrations.
The Bill proposes 62 amendments across 16 State Acts administered by 11 government departments. The reforms have been divided into two schedules, covering decriminalisation of minor offences and rationalisation of regulatory approvals.
Under Schedule I, 35 amendments across 11 Acts have been proposed to decriminalise and rationalise minor, technical and procedural offences. The measures include replacing imprisonment and disproportionate fines with monetary penalties, updating outdated penalty provisions, and introducing simpler administrative and appellate mechanisms.
Schedule II proposes 27 amendments across five Acts to rationalise nine regulatory approvals. These include extending licence validity, reducing or removing renewal requirements, introducing intimation-based registration and NOC mechanisms, and eliminating duplicate permissions.
The reforms also extend to municipal and local-body regulations. The government plans to remove duplicate licensing requirements where an equivalent clearance is already available, including cases involving trade licences issued by Urban Local Bodies.
Other measures include extending the validity of agricultural market licences, rationalising Gram Panchayat licensing requirements, and simplifying permissions related to name boards, public-street works and certain temporary commercial activities.
According to the government, the proposed reforms are aimed at reducing compliance costs, litigation and procedural delays for businesses and citizens.
The government expects Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to bring greater regulatory certainty, improve administrative efficiency and strengthen confidence among investors and citizens.
