BHUBANESWAR : The state government on Friday approved the Odisha Jan Vishwas Ordinance, 2025, a landmark legal reform to decriminalise minor and procedural regulatory offences, rationalise penalties and eliminate redundant compliance burdens from selected state legislations.
The ordinance will bring into effect graded civil penalty regimes replacing the fine provisions, lower thresholds for procedural defaults and proportionate sanctioning for technical or regulatory breaches, eliminating imprisonment in non-serious cases. Enquiries and appeals will be adjudicated by authorised officials, shortening resolution time and reducing litigation costs.
Official sources said that the initiative is designed to reinforce both ease-of-doing-business (EoDB) and ease-of-living (EoL) across the state by a trust-based, facilitative governance model. In alignment with the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, of the Centre which advocates replacement of criminal sanctions for non-serious defaults with proportionate civil penalties, the state government undertook a systematic review of its regulatory framework.
These reforms will collectively rationalise penalties for minor and regulatory offences, simplify compliance procedures and harmonise state laws with central legislations such as the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023. Official sources said the decriminalisation of minor and procedural lapses under the Odisha Jan Vishwas Ordinance, 2025, will lead to a marked reduction in criminal proceedings and related adjudication costs. Besides, with civil penalties replacing imprisonment for non-serious defaults, the regulatory burden on both businesses and individuals will ease significantly.