PIB Tracker900 provisions decriminalised, 47,957 compliances cut: the DPIIT ledger
DPIIT put a decade of business-regulation reform into one set of numbers - startups, decriminalised provisions, labour thresholds, FDI and the single window - a self-reported ledger, not an independent evaluation.
What happened
- DPIIT published a consolidated account of its move from a permission-based to a trust-based regulatory framework, across startups, compliance reduction, sectoral regulation, FDI and the National Single Window System.
- Startups: 2,50,046 recognised, reporting over 25.42 lakh jobs across 770+ districts and 56 industries; annual recognitions rose from 34,200 (FY 2023-24) to 36,440 (FY 2024-25); Seed Fund approvals of Rs 775.67 crore for 4,194 startups.
- Compliance: 47,957 compliances reduced across Central Ministries and States; the Jan Vishwas Acts decriminalised 900 provisions - 183 across 42 Acts in 2023 and 717 across 79 Acts in 2026; States have made over 9,700 reforms across seven editions of the BRAP.
- Labour and licensing: 29 Central laws consolidated into four Labour Codes; lay-off and closure permission threshold raised from 100 to 300 workers; a 30-day compliance notice before legal action; PESO licences extended from five to ten years; the Boilers Act, 2025 replaced the Act of 1923.
- Investment: 17 sectors moved to the automatic route; defence FDI under the automatic route raised from 49 to 74 per cent for new licences; insurance to 100 per cent in 2026; FDI of USD 843 billion in FY15-FY26 and a record USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26.
For Prelims
- Jan Vishwas: the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 decriminalised 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts; the 2026 round covers 717 provisions in 79 Acts - 900 in all. Decriminalisation here mostly means replacing imprisonment for minor, technical offences with monetary penalties.
- Labour Codes: the Code on Wages, 2019, Industrial Relations Code, 2020, Code on Social Security, 2020 and OSH Code, 2020 replaced 29 Central labour laws and took effect on 21 November 2025. Prior Government permission for lay-off or closure now applies only at 300 or more workers, up from 100.
- Factory and contract-labour thresholds: a 'factory' now starts at 20 workers with power (was 10) and 40 without power (was 20); contract-labour licensing applies from 50 workers (was 20). Higher thresholds take more small units out of the licensing net - and out of the protections tied to it.
- Startup instruments: the Seed Fund Scheme works through incubators - Rs 775.67 crore for 4,194 startups via 244 incubators; the Fund of Funds for Startups has SIDBI commit to AIFs, not to startups directly (Rs 12,623 crore to 166 AIFs); the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups now covers up to Rs 20 crore per borrower.
- Angel tax: the levy on share premium above fair market value under Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income-tax Act was abolished for all classes of investors in the Union Budget 2024-25 - one of the 63 regulatory reforms DPIIT counts for startups. 4,467 startups hold the Section 80-IAC tax-holiday certificate.
- FDI routes: under the automatic route no prior Government approval is needed; under the government route it is. Defence: 74 per cent automatic for new industrial licences; insurance: 74 per cent (2021), then 100 per cent (2026) for insurers investing their entire premium in India; telecom and satellite component manufacturing up to 100 per cent automatic.
- National Single Window System: soft-launched in September 2021 with 142 Central approvals and 14 States and UTs; now 3,779 services (327 Central, 3,452 State), 34 States and UTs and 32 Central Ministries and Departments, 15.5 lakh applications, 8.5 lakh+ approvals, in 22 languages; Know Your Approvals maps 8,000+ approvals.
- GeM and startups: startups on the Government e-Marketplace rose from 7,929 (January 2021) to 43,260 after prior-experience, prior-turnover and EMD conditions were relaxed; they have delivered 6.23 lakh orders worth Rs 68,105 crore. States with startup policies went from 4 (2016) to 32.
For UPSC: Jan Vishwas = 900 provisions decriminalised (183/42 Acts 2023 + 717/79 Acts 2026); 47,957 compliances cut; lay-off permission 100 to 300 workers; FDI USD 94.53 bn record FY26.
What it is NOT: This is DPIIT reporting on DPIIT: every number is self-reported, and none is an independent evaluation. 'Recognised startups reporting jobs' is a registration count with self-declared employment, not a survival or employment survey - the release does not say how many of the 2,50,046 still operate. The 47,957 'compliances reduced' adds Central and State counts of different kinds of change, and digitising a compliance is not removing it. Higher labour thresholds also mean fewer workers covered by permission and licensing rules, which the release does not count. The FDI total is gross inflow; no net figure is given.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.8 · GS2.15 · Linkage L1
Anchor
The regulatory state is being re-measured by what it no longer requires. DPIIT's ledger counts provisions removed, thresholds raised and approvals automated - an inversion of the old measure of government activity, which was licences issued and inspections made.
Substantiation (data)
900 Central provisions decriminalised across two Jan Vishwas rounds; 47,957 compliances reduced; 29 labour laws in four Codes; 3,779 services on one window; and FDI of USD 843 billion over twelve years, 169 per cent above the twelve before, with a record USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26.
Position
The Government's position is that trust-based regulation - fewer criminal penalties, higher thresholds, digital single windows - lowers the cost of starting and growing a firm, and that the startup, investment and approval numbers are the evidence that it is working.
Counterpoint
Every figure is self-reported and most are inputs, not outcomes. Higher thresholds for lay-off permission, factory coverage and contract-labour licensing reduce the reach of worker protections as well as paperwork, and the release does not count the workers who move outside them. Digitising a compliance is not the same as removing it.
Way forward
Commission an independent survey of compliance cost per firm; publish startup survival rates alongside recognitions; report how many decriminalised offences now attract penalties and at what amounts; and track whether firms just under the new thresholds grow or deliberately stay small.
Conclusion
The ledger shows how much regulation has been removed. Whether firms find it easier to start, hire and stay in business is a separate test - one that an independent survey of firms, not a departmental count, has to answer.
Deploys into: Ease of doing business and regulatory reform · Decriminalisation and Jan Vishwas · Labour Codes and worker protection · Startups and FDI policy
Ministry of Commerce & Industry · 2026-10-27 · PRID 2328842 · PIB source ↗