Policy Briefs

This brief has recommendations and comments on the Contract Enforcement components of Business Reform Action Plan 2015 and 2016.

The Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms, conducted by the World Bank in September 2015 ranked Maharashtra at rank 8 with an overall implementation score of 49.43%.

The Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms, conducted by the World Bank in September 2015 (“State Assessment Report”)1 ranked Punjab as the best performing state on the parameter of setting up a business with a score of 81.48% against national average of 31.91%.  

In this brief note, we list the 12 main policy reforms that need to be implemented in order to allow ease of doing business for MSMEs.

This policy brief proposes a reform toincentivise the registration of MSMEs without facilitating further red tapism and in order to prevent the running of a parallel black market economy.

Rajasthan has implemented a single window system, allows for online submission and clearances to the Pollution Control Board, operates an e-government initiative and has single ID for all state commercial taxes.

Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act has been identified as one of the biggest bottlenecks clogging the disposal of cases in India. It has failed to deter cases of dishonour of cheques due to the sheer size of litigation faced by the courts. We recommend radical reforms to deal with the huge arrears of cheque bounce cases.

The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2014 seeks to reduce the workload of the Delhi High Court by increasing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district courts from INR 20 lakh to INR 2 crore.

The current definition of MSMEs is based on the size of investment in plant, machinery and equipment, allowing leeway for manipulation and different interpretations.  Thus there is a need for basing the definition on annual turnover to bring more uniformity and transparency.

Lack of is a major barrier for  potential entrepreneurs, especially those from  disadvantaged socioeconomic groups or minorities. This brief argues for an Entrepreneur Resource Centre and outlines the functions it must fulfil in order to meet its objective.

A roundtable was organised at CCS in order to gather solutions to the problem of compliance with regulatory norms that govern starting, operating and exiting a business. The objective of the roundtable was to envision a framework that allows for increased registration of enterprises with Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

This policy brief outlines possible State amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; Factory Act, 1948; Contract labour Act, 1970 and Apprenticeship Act 1961.

Policy reforms are proposed for the implementation of a single window clearance system in the three matters of starting a business, compliance with taxation regulations and consolidating labour related requirements.

This 8 point action plan seeks to create a framework for time and cost effective contract enforcement. India can cut down the number of procedures by 10 digits by implementing simple technological changes such as online service of notice and pro-actively supplying a copy of the judgment online.

Against the post-New Industrial Policy (1991) growth witnessed in large-scale industries, a corresponding boom in the small and mid-sized domestic industry has been conspicuously absent. CCS has conducted research to understand the the causes for the same.

These rules have been drafted with the aim to ensure effective implementation of the Street Vendors Act 2014, keeping in mind the goal of ensuring livelihood freedom to vendors and hawkers and adherence to the rule of law and the principles of natural justice.