A high-level committee set up by the Centre has pitched 38 reforms aimed at cutting India’s notorious compliance burden and making life simpler for businesses — especially micro, small and medium enterprises.
Chaired by NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba, the panel was formed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day call for a sweeping clean-up of non-financial regulations. The Economic Times reported that the committee has recommended scrapping the mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) rule for MSMEs and building a “trust-based” regulatory system instead of one driven by penalties.
At present, even a small enterprise faces over 1,400 compliances every year and must track nearly 40 regulatory changes a day. To ease this, the panel proposes redefining a small company to include those with turnover up to ₹100 crore, reducing board meetings to one a year, and exempting firms below ₹1 crore turnover from mandatory audits.
It also suggests slashing penal interest on delayed tax payments from 18% to 12%, simplifying GST return filings, expanding credit guarantee cover to medium enterprises, and fast-tracking dispute settlements through online mediation.
The panel also turned its attention to two major regulators — the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It recommends dismantling what it calls the “licence and inspection raj” by introducing a simpler two-tier standards framework that reduces repetitive approvals and inspections.
The Cabinet Secretariat and NITI Aayog are currently reviewing the report. While officials call it a major step towards trust-based governance, it remains to be seen how many of these ideas will survive the policy maze and reach the ground.
