The present write up1 is to collate and present highlights of recent reforms introduced by the Government of India and its various instrumentalities for making it simpler and easier to do conduct business operations in India. In the states of Maharashtra and Delhi, notable reforms have been undertaken to ease out the processes involved and reduce the time taken in common issues/ heads attached for doing business.

EASY TO START A BUSINESS

The below stated developments aim to scale down the number of procedures and days taken to start a business which will slash the costs involved as well:

  1. The Government of India has, in collaboration with the State Governments of Delhi and Maharashtra, undertaken significant reform measures to improve our rank in Starting a Business parameter. The rank has improved from 164 to 155 over the last one year;
  2. Registration with ESIC and EPFO has been made real-time by eliminating all physical touchpoints;
  3. The requirement of opening a bank account has been removed as a mandatory condition for registration with ESIC and EPFO;
  4. The system of issuing PAN and TAN has been put in place together within T+1 days on an application using digital signatures on the ebiz platform. PAN and TAN numbers can be issued on CBDT's portal within T+3 days without digital signature.
  5. Maharashtra state has combined the process of registration with VAT and profession tax. The registration will now be granted in 24 hours and the same has been adopted by Delhi VAT;
  6. Form INC 29 has been launched by Ministry of Corporate Affairs to avail 3 pre-registration services viz. 'Name Availability', 'Director Identification Number' and 'incorporation of company' with one form and one payment;

CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT2

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act as amended has considerably reduced the time taken in arbitration proceedings and grounds on which an award may be challenged. Commercial Appellate Division Bench and Commercial Division Benches are functioning in Bombay High Court and Delhi High Court.

EBIZ PLATFORM

  1. One-stop access for Investors to know more about Investment opportunities and Information on number of Licenses/approvals required from Government agencies;
  2. User friendly features such as Payments through netbanking, credit & debit cards, status tracking, SMS alerts and Help-desk support enabled;
  3. Single face of Government - Composite Application Form and one-time payment designed for obtaining approvals from multiple Ministries/ Departments viz., Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Labour & Employment including Employees' State Insurance Corporation & Employees Provident Fund Organization;
  4. Elimination of multiple visits to different agencies. Investor can apply for 20 Central Government services; 14 Andhra Pradesh, 14 Odisha and 2 Delhi state Government services, 24X7 has been integrated with eBiz IT platform;

DIGITIZATION PROCESS FOR PROPERTY RELATED RECORDS

Digitization will lead to efficiency and reliability of ownership and tenancy rights and will also boost investments:

  1. In Delhi, all sub-registrar offices have been digitized and sub-registrar's records have been integrated with the Land Records Department.
  2. In Maharashtra, all property tax records have been digitized.
  1. Changes in Import and Export procedures

    1. Under Trading across borders parameter, Central Board of Excise and Customs(CBEC) has implemented Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT) (online single window for clearance of goods) on the ICEGATE portal by integrating FSSAI, Animal Quarantine, Plant Quarantine, Drug Controller and Wildlife Control Bureau for imports;
    2. Customer risk management system has been extended to other regulatory agencies to ensure risk- based inspections;
    3. Limit on the number of consignments released under direct delivery has been removed by Ministry of Shipping thereby facilitating prompt delivery of goods;
    4. Terminal handling receipts have been eliminated from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal which cuts down the time taken for the containers at the port;

GETTING ELECTRICITY3

  1. Maharashtra and Delhi have implemented the lump-sum charges for electric connection thereby removing the need of an estimate and an inspection for the same. They have also made online application for connections above 100KVA mandatory;
  2. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has revised the application format of Delhi Electric Supply Code and Performance Standards Regulations, 2007 for faster release of electricity connection;
  3. The distribution licensees have been directed to process applications in the revised format along with the declaration form and only two documents required for getting electricity connection (namely, identity proof & proof of ownership/ occupancy of premises)

CONSTRUCTION PERMITS

These reforms will remarkably reduce compliance burden by reducing the processes and time taken in grant of construction permit as India's rank under Construction Permit parameter has improved marginally to 183th in 2016 from 184th in 2015.

  1. In the states of Maharashtra and Delhi, notable reforms have been undertaken to ease out the processes involved and reduce the time taken for grant of construction permit;
  2. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has completed the process of single window approval by integrating with internal departments as well as, AAI and NMA through a common application form. NoCs from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Director of Industries, Collector and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) have been eliminated. It has also introduced digital signing of building
  3. permit application, as well as sanctioned maps, thereby eliminating need of physical submission of documents. The manual application for grant of construction permits has been discontinued;
  4. Municipal Corporations of Delhi has completed the process of single window approval by integrating with internal departments as well as DMRC, Delhi Fire Services, DUAC, AAI and NMA through a common application form. NOC from Labour Department of Delhi Government is not required if no manufacturing activity is undertaken in the building. It has also introduced digital signing of building permit application, as well as sanctioned maps, thereby eliminating the need of physical submission of documents. Manual submission of application for grant of construction permits has been done away with. Ministry of Urban Development and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have notified the Unified Bye-laws.
  5. Color coded maps have been developed by AAI, NMA, DUAC and DMRC to enable applicants to determine whether NOC is required for the land for which permission is applied for;

Footnotes

1 The content has been gathered from http://dipp.nic.in/# and https://www. epfindia.gov.in

2 A separate detailed note will soon be circulated in the subsequent issue of the newsletter

3 This parameter witnessed a significant improvement in ranking from 99th in 2015 to 70th in 2016

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