DATE | CATEGORY | TITLE |
19/05/2023 | Legislative Updates | Govt. notifies Competition (amendment) Act, 2023 The Government of India notifies Competition (amendment) Act, 2023. The Competition (amendment) Act 2023 had empowered CCI to impose penalties on “global turnover” basis derived from all products and services.The Act allows the use of intellectual property rights as a defence in cases of anti-competitive agreements. |
18/11/2022 | Legislative Updates | Govt. invited feedback on Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been deliberating on various aspects of digital personal data and its protection, and has formulated a draft Bill, titled ‘The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022’. frames out the rights and duties of the citizen (Digital Nagrik) on one hand and the obligations to use collected data lawfully of the Data Fiduciary on the other hand.The feedback on the draft bill in a chapter wise manner may be submitted on https://innovateindia.mygov.in/digital-data-protection/ by December 17, 2022. |
01/04/2022 | Legislative Updates | Govt. introduced The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha(Lower House of Indian Parliament) on April 1, 2022. The Bill seeks to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It also seeks to protect the Antarctic environment and regulate activities in the region. The provisions of the Bill will apply to any person, vessel or aircraft that is a part of an Indian expedition to Antarctica under a permit issued under the Bill. The provision of Central Committee to grant permit is also one of the salient features of this bill. |
21/12/2021 | Legislative Updates | Government introduces the Mediation Bill, 2021 The Government of India introduced The Mediation Bill, 2021 in the Upper House of Parliament(Rajya Sabha) on December 20, 2021. The Bill seeks to promote mediation through offline or online mode. It also provides for enforcement of settlement agreements arising out of mediation proceedings. The salient features of this bill are provisions as to Mediation Council of India, Community Mediation, Pre-litigation mediation etc. The draft bill can be accessed by clicking here. |
13/02/2021 | Legislative Updates | Govt introduces bill to abolish five tribunals including IPAB Government introduced The Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2021 to abolish five tribunals where public at large is not litigant. It was introduced in the lower house of Parliament Lok Sabha on 13th February 2021. The government proposes to wind up five tribunals, including Airport Appellate Tribunal, Authority for Advance Rulings and Intellectual Property Appellate Board. |
10/02/2021 | Legislative Updates | Indian Parliament today passes landmark Major Port Authorities Bill,2020 Parliament today passed the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020. Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping &Waterways moved the bill in Rajya Sabha today and it was passed. Now the Bill will go to the President of India for his assent. With a view to promote the expansion of port infrastructure and facilitate trade and commerce, the Major Port Authorities Bill 2020 bill aims at decentralizing decision making and to infuse professionalism in governance of major ports. It imparts faster and transparent decision making benefiting the stakeholders and better project execution capability. The Bill is aimed at reorienting the governance model in central ports to landlord port model in line with the successful global practice. This will also help in bringing transparency in operations of Major Ports.This will empower the Major Ports to perform with greater efficiency on account of full autonomy in decision making and by modernizing the institutional framework of Major Ports. |
09/02/2021 | Legislative Updates | MCA amended Companies Act 2013 to mitigate blow by pandemic The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has taken various measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic by making amendments in the Companies Act, 2013, Rules made thereunder and by issuing various circulars from time to time. The details of such measures taken by the Ministry can be accessed by clicking here. |
11/12/2020 | Legislative Updates | Govt. of India issued Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2020 for Public Consultation Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of Government of India has circulated draft of Indian Ports Bill 2020 for public consultation which will repeal and replace the Indian Ports Act, 1908 (Act No. 15 of 1908). This bill seeks to,inter alia, enable the structured growth and sustainable development of ports to attract investments in the Port sector for optimum utilisation of the Indian Coastline byeffective administration and management of ports. It will provide measures to facilitate conservation of ports, taking into account the prevalent situation with respect to the high number of non-operational ports. It shall further ensure greater investment in the Indian maritime and ports sector through the creation of improved, comprehensive regulatory frameworks for the creation of new ports and management of existing ports. This bill can be accessed clicking here. |
13/02/2019 | Legislative Updates | Govt. approves Introduction of Registration of Marriage of NRI Bill 2019 The Union Cabinet has approved the introduction of Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Bill, 2019, for creating more accountability and offering more protection against exploitation of Indian citizens, mostly women by their NRI spouses. The Bill provides for amendment of the legal framework to act as a deterrent to the erring NRI spouses and creating more accountability and offer protection against exploitation of Indian Citizens married to NRIs. Once the Bill is passed, marriages performed by NRIs would be registered in India or Indian Missions & Posts abroad, and necessary changes would be carried out in the Passports Act, 1967; and Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 by insertion of Section 86A. |
08/01/2019 | Legislative Updates | Lok Sabha passes “The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill - 2019” In a landmark decision, the Lok Sabha today passed “The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill - 2019”. The Bill has been formulated recognizing the need for regulation of the use and application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) technology, for establishing identity of missing persons, victims, offenders, under trials and unknown deceased persons. The key components of this Bill include: establishment of a DNA Regulatory Board; accreditation of DNA laboratoriesundertaking DNA testing, analysing, etc.; establishment of the National and Regional DNA Data Banks, as envisaged in the Bill, will assist in forensic investigations. This will aid in scientific up-gradation and streamlining of the DNA testing activities in the country with appropriate inputs from the DNA Regulatory Board which would be set up for the purpose. |
07/03/2018 | Legislative Updates | Cabinet approves the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 Govenment of India has approved the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for introduction in the Parliament. The Amendments in the Act of 1996 will facilitate achieving the goal of improving institutional arbitration by establishing an independent body to lay down standards, make arbitration process more party friendly, cost effective and ensure timely disposal of arbitration cases.The bill text can be seen by clicking here. |
07/03/2018 | Legislative Updates | GoI approves Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018 The Government has approved the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for introduction in the Parliament. The Bill brings down the specified value of a commercial dispute to 3 Lakhs from the present one Crore: Therefore, commercial disputes of a reasonable value can be decided by commercial courts. This would bring down the time taken (presently 1445 days) in resolution of commercial disputes of lesser value and thus further improve India's ranking in the Ease of Doing Business. |
19/05/2017 | Legislative Updates | The 14th GST Council of India approves GST rates for goods and Compensation Cess The 14th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Meeting, chaired by the Union Minister of Finance, has broadly approved the GST rates for goods at nil rate, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% to be levied on certain goods. The Council has also broadly approved the rates of GST Compensation Cess to be levied on certain goods.The information has been uploaded after the GST Council’s decision on the website of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and is available at http://www.cbec.gov.in/. It will be subject to further vetting during which the lists may undergo some changes. |
09/05/2017 | Legislative Updates | Governemnt clarified various provisions of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017 The Government has notified the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017 on 28th March,2017 and the provisions of the Amendment Act have come into force with effect from 1st April,2017, except those relating to crèche facility {Section 4(1)} which would come into force from 01.07.2017. Keeping in view queries received from various quarters, The Government had issued certain clarifications on various provisions of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. One of the clarifications issued by the Ministry stated that the enhanced maternity benefit, as modified by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) bill, 2016 can be extended to women who are already under maternity leave at the time of enforcement of this Amendment Act. |
17/05/2016 | Legislative Updates | Government of India notifies Patent(Amendments)Rules, 2016 Indian Government has amended Patent Rules on 16th May 2016. The new Patent(Amendments) Rules, 2016 have come in to force with substantial specific features, i.e., reduction of time period for filing response to First Examination Report from 12 months to six months, facility of remote hearing, disposal of application relating to the request for foreign filing within 21 days, facility for deletion of claim at National Phase entry etc. |
01/01/2016 | Legislative Updates | Government constitutes Committee for Holistic interpretation of the provisions of the Cinematograph Act/Rules In most countries of the world there is a mechanism/process of certifying feature films and documentaries. However it has to be ensured that in doing so, artistic creativity and freedom do not get stifled/curtailed and the people tasked with the work of certification understand these nuances. Indian films have glorious history. A whole lot of Indian films have enriched the cultural milieu of the country besides making astonishing advances in technical aspects of film making. Keeping this in view and in sync with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister, a committee headed by Shri Shyam Benegal has been constituted to suggest the paradigm for ensuring such a milieu. The recommendations of this Committee are expected to provide a holistic framework and enable those tasked with the work of certification of films to discharge their responsibilities keeping in view this framework. |
02/12/2015 | Legislative Updates | Amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, 2015 The Lok Sabha has today passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment Bill), 2015 by voice vote. The Bill seeks to make the arbitration process more investor-friendly, cost effective and suitable for expeditious disposal of cases. It will also facilitate in making India a hub of international commercial arbitration. It may be noted that the President had promogulated an ordinance for amending the earlier prevalent act, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 related and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto. The union cabinet had approved promulgation of this ordinance on 21.10.2015 and had recommended the same to the President. |
09/08/2015 | Legislative Updates | The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 passed Lok Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Bill seeks to modify the definition of a cheque in electronic form, and clarify the appropriate area of jurisdiction of courts, where cases of cheque bouncing can be filed. It provides for filing of cheque bounce cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue. |
02/01/2014 | Legislative Updates | Government of India notified the implementation of Designs (Amendment ) Rules 2014 Government of India notified the implementation of Designs (Amendment ) Rules 2014 from December 30, 2014 onwards. Likewise recently amended patent rules, three categories of Applicants have been introduced i.e. Natural Person, Small entity and other entity. For claiming small entity status Form 24 has to be filed (similar to Form 28 under Patents Rules). The fee payable by small entity is twice that of payable by a natural person and the fee payable by other entity is four times that of payable by a natural person. |
02/01/2014 | Legislative Updates | Lok Sabha clears Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 The Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared the Companies (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to ease related-party transaction norms and ensure severe punishment for those raising illegal deposits from the public. The amendments also propose restricting hearings by special courts to serious offences. The Bill, containing 14 amendments, was passed by voice vote.The amendments include replacing 'special resolution' with 'ordinary resolution' for approval of related-party transactions by minority shareholders. This means companies will require the consent of 50 per cent of the minority shareholders present, instead of 75 per cent (under the current Act). |
02/12/2014 | Legislative Updates | Introduction of comprehensive Anti-hijacking Bill, 2014 The Government of India, today gave its approval for introduction of the comprehensive Anti-Hijacking Bill 2014. The current law, the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982, was last amended in 1994. The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August, 2010. During the process of amendment, a global diplomatic Conference was held at Beijing in August-September, 2010. India is a signatory to the Beijing Protocol signed at the Conference. This Protocol brought out new principal offences combined with ancillary offences, enlarged the scope of ‘hijacking’, expanded jurisdiction and strengthened extradition and mutual assistance regimes. The Bill provides death punishment for the offence of the highjacking, where such offence results in the death of a hostage or of a security personal; or with imprisonment for life and the moveable and immoveable property of such persons shall also be liable to be confiscated. |
12/08/2014 | Legislative Updates | Parliament passes Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014 The upper house of parliament on Tuesday passed the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which seeks to empower Sebi and facilitate a crackdown on Ponzi schemes which are used to fleece the poor. The bill --which gives the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) the power to search premises, effect seizures and access call data records -- had been passed by Lok Sabha last week.The bill empowers the Sebi to act against all illegal money-pooling schemes involving Rs. 100 crore or more, launch recovery proceedings, pass disgorgement orders for ill-gotten money and facilitate its return to identifiable investors, and seek call data records and other information from any person, company, bank, authority or organization during its probes. |
23/08/2014 | Legislative Updates | Govt. of India passes the NDPS (Amendment) Bill, 2014 The passing of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act Amendment Bill by Parliament is all set to release the shackles on the pain and palliative care movement in the country, as morphine, the essential medicine for pain relief, becomes more accessible to those suffering from chronic pain. |
20/08/2012 | Legislative Update | Indian Government introduced the Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill 2013 A bill to replace the DGCA by a new regulator for the Indian aviation sector, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 20, 2013. The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill 2013, which was introduced by Minister of State for Civil Aviation K.C.Venugopal, would provide the CAA full operational and financial autonomy to regulate all issues concerning civil aviation safety and protect the interests of consumers in a fast-changing aviation scenario. |
12/08/2013 | Legislative Update | Government introduces Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013 Government today introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the ordinance which sought to provide more powers to capital market regulator SEBI. The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, was introduced by Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena. The Bill is to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996. |
08/06/2012 | Legislative Update | Government of India notified Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 The Government of India passed the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 to ensure royalty benefits to artists, musicians, song writers, music directors and performers and today it has been notified in the gazette of India. Now creative artists can claim lifetime royalties for their creative work. It will now become mandatory for radio as well as television broadcasters to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art is broadcast. It bans people from bringing out cover versions of any literary, dramatic or musical work for five years from the first recording of the original creation. |
21/05/2012 | Legislative Update | Govt. of India introduced law to establish research and innovation universities The government today introduced in Parliament a Bill to enable private industry, companies, top Indian and foreign educational institutions to set up Universities of Innovation and Research in India. The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012, seeks to provide a legislation to allow setting up of innovation varsities in private and public sector as well as in public-private partnership mode. Currently, India has no Central law providing this framework. Under the Bill, all foreign institutions with 50 years standing and more (including Oxford, Cambridge, Yale) can set up research and innovation universities in India. |
11/11/2011 | Legislative Update | Draft Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2011 unveiled Russia's private and state-owned companies continue to expand their operations beyond Russia's borders, even if the rate of this expansion has slowed. |
13/10/2011 | Legislative Update | Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011 to help banks recover dues to be introduced in winter session The government approved the introduction of a bill in the winter session of parliament, which will help banks improve their debt recovery process and enhance credit to both corporate and retail customers. The enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011, will also reduce the cost of funds for banks and their customers and reduce the level of non-performing assets. The provision of mandatory registration of subsisting security interest (equitable mortgages) would promote innovation in credit information. |