Lok Sabha Question No. 3432 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Ease of Doing Business
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Rattan Lal Kataria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3432.

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 23 RD      MARCH, 2022.

## EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

## 3432.  SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government is making efforts to improve 'Ease of Doing Business' situation in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Union  Government  is  taking  any  concrete  steps  to  dispose  of commercial  cases  pending  in  the  courts with the assistance of State Governments and Union Territory administrations and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is formulating any concrete policy to minimise the licensing  rules  and  requirement  of  labourers  and  to  simplify  the  renewal process; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री ( श्री सोम प्रकाश ) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

Yes,  Sir.  Department  for  Promotion  of  Industry  and  Internal  Trade (DPIIT), in coordination with Central Ministries/Departments, States and Union Territories (UTs), has spearheaded various reforms to improve business regulatory environment in the country. On the lines of annual assessment  done  by  the  World  Bank  for  its  Doing  Business  Report (DBR), DPIIT spearheads a dynamic reform exercise called Business Reforms Action Plan, which ranks all the States and UTs in the country based on implementation of designated reform parameters. The focus of  the  reforms  has  been  on  streamlining  the  existing  regulations  and processes and eliminating unnecessary requirements and procedures. The  Action  Plan  covers  number  of  reform  areas  such  as  Investment Enablers,  Online  Single  Window  System,  Land  administration  and Transfer of Land and Property, Construction Permits Enablers, Labour Regulation  Enablers,  Environment  Registration  Enablers,  Inspection

- (a): Enablers, Paying Taxes, Obtaining Utility Permits, etc.

The Ministry  of Labour and Employment has taken several  initiatives towards simplification of Labour Laws for ease of doing business. The Government  has  notified  four  Labour  Codes,  namely,  the  Code  on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security,  2020  and  the  Occupational  Safety,  Health  and  Working Conditions Code, 2020 by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of 29 Central Labour Laws.

Through Labour Codes provisions have been made for one registration for an establishment instead of multiple registrations, one license and one return in place of multiple licenses and returns.

Shram  Suvidha  Portal  (SSP)  is  a  major  IT  initiative  of  the  Ministry, towards ease of doing business and reducing the complexities in labour law compliance.

- (b): Yes, Sir. Department of Justice (DoJ) and Department of Legal Affairs have taken following measures for timely disposal of commercial cases which promote Ease of doing Business:
- i. The  Commercial  Courts  Act,  2015  has  been  enacted  to  deal specifically  with  commercial  disputes  in  India.  It  was  amended  in 2018,  providing  for  the  constitution  of  commercial  courts  at  the district  level  and  Commercial  Division  in  all  the  High  Courts.  To streamline  their  functioning,  the  pecuniary  value  of  commercial cases which can be entertained by the commercial courts has been reduced  to  Rs.  3  lakh  from  earlier  Rs.  1  crore.  The  Commercial Courts Act, 2015 is administered by the Department of Legal Affairs.
- ii. Designated Special Courts for hearing Infrastructure projects related disputes  have  been  set  up  in  23  High  Courts  alongwith  Special Commercial  Benches  in  High  Courts  for  dealing  with  high  value commercial disputes i.e. above Rs. 500 crores have been set up in 8 High Courts.
- iii. Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism by way of Pre-Institution Mediation  &  Settlement  (PIMS)  has  been  provided  in  the  Act.  It provides  an  opportunity  to  the  parties  to  resolve  commercial disputes outside the ambit of the courts at the very outset which has reduced the clogging of cases in Commercial Courts.
- iv. The Act mandates holding of Case Management Hearing (Pre-Trial Conference) to complete the trial in a time bound manner. This has been institutionalized leading to speedier resolution of commercial cases.
- v. Commercial cases are now randomly and automatically assigned to Judges using Case Information System (CIS) software eliminating human intervention this enhancing judicial transparency. To ensure

compliance of three adjournment Rule a facility of colour banding in CIS software has been created which provides information regarding  the  number  of  adjournments  in  a  case  and  facilitates speedy decision making.

- vi. .Electronic filing of commercial cases (E-Filing) has been operationalised in most Commercial Courts to reduce the time taken to  file  cases.  Electronic  service  of  Summons  (E-Summons)  of commercial  cases  has  been  operationalised  in  few  commercial courts  which  reduces  the  delay  in  sending  summons  to  parties. Electronic Case  management  tools (ECMT)  for Judges and Advocates have been integrated into one single CIS Software, which has  enhanced  judicial  productivity  and  made  the  justice  delivery system  more  accessible, reliable  and transparent. Dedicated Websites have been started for Commercial Courts.
- vii. The  Government  has  notified  the  Commercial  Courts  (Statistical Data)  Rules,  2018  for  making  available  detailed  data  points  on various aspects of commercial cases for effective monitoring of time taken in case disposal by these courts.
3. (c) & (d): DPIIT, in coordination with Central Ministries/Departments, States and UTs,  spearheads  the  exercise  of  reducing  compliance  burden  for improving overall business regulatory environment in the country. The objective of this exercise is to improve Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living and Government to Business and Citizen interface hassle-free. The key focus areas of the exercise are:
- a.  Rationalization/Auto-renewal of licenses/certificates/permissions
- b.  Risk-based / Third-party Inspections and Audits
- c. Standardized and simplified return filing
- d.  Rationalized maintenance of registers
- e.  Minimize / eliminate display requirements
- f. Digitization and simplification of manual forms and records
- g.  Decriminalization of minor technical and procedural defaults
- h.  Repeal or amendment of redundant laws

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has undertaken various steps towards improving the ease of doing business that include, inter alia, introduction of Online Registration -Udyam Registration (completely online and no fees), constitution of Review Committee to monitor the progress of the implementation of the Policy, opening of a grievance cell to redress the Grievances of MSEs and launch of 'MSME Sambandh Portal' to monitor the progress of procurement by the CPSEs from MSEs, etc.

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