Bill replaces imprisonment with fines in 15 laws, adds 3-year penalty review

This Bill amends various existing laws to decriminalise and rationalise offences, aiming to enhance trust-based governance and ease of living and doing business. It replaces many criminal penalties with financial penalties or warnings and updates procedural rules for enforcement.

The Bill affects entities and individuals subject to the specific laws listed in the Schedule, including non-banking financial companies, drug and cosmetics manufacturers, silk board members, road transport corporations, tea and coir industry operators, and residents or businesses in Delhi (including property owners, vehicle owners, and those subject to municipal regulations).

• Fines and penalties under the amended enactments will be increased by 10% of the minimum amount every three years after the Act comes into force.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 is amended to replace 'Penalties' with 'Offences' in certain sections and introduces specific penalties for non-banking financial companies failing to produce documents or answer questions.
• The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 is amended to remove imprisonment for certain offences, replacing it with a fine of not less than thirty thousand rupees.
• The Central Silk Board Act, 1948 is amended to replace imprisonment with a warning for first-time offences and a penalty of 25,000 to 1,00,000 rupees for repeated offences, and introduces an adjudicating officer and appellate authority for penalty adjudication.
• The Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 is amended to replace the term 'fine' with 'penalty'.
• The Tea Act, 1953 is amended to replace fines with a warning for first-time contraventions and a penalty up to one lakh rupees for subsequent ones, and updates references to adjudicating officers.
• Sections 20 and 21 of the Coir Industry Act, 1953 are omitted.
• The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is extensively amended to limit assessment periods to seven years, require physical surveys for first-time property tax assessments, replace 'Administrator' with 'District Judge' in certain appeals, and introduce new sections for penalty adjudication and appeals.
• The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 amendments include a new section 461A for penalties for violations listed in Part-B of the Twelfth Schedule, with a requirement for a warning notice before invoking certain penalty provisions for first-time contraventions.
• The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 amendments replace references to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and specify that certain offences are cognizable only if a complaint is filed by an authorized officer.
• New sections 468A and 468B are inserted into the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 to establish procedures for adjudication of penalties and appeals.

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