Porvorim: The Goa government on Tuesday introduced the Goa Jan Vishwas (Laws Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Legislative Assembly, seeking to decriminalise minor offences across multiple state laws and replace imprisonment provisions with monetary penalties to promote what it termed trust-based governance and ease of living and doing business.
The Bill proposes amendments to over a dozen state enactments, including laws governing excise, waste management, fire services, land revenue, municipalities, panchayats, public health, and civic administration, by removing criminal liability for minor violations and rationalising fines and penalties.
As per the Statement of Objects, the legislation aims to reduce the compliance burden on citizens and businesses by ensuring that minor procedural lapses do not result in criminal prosecution, while still maintaining regulatory oversight through financial deterrents.
A key feature of the Bill is the systematic substitution of imprisonment and prosecution clauses with graded penalties, particularly in laws such as the Goa Fire Force Act, 1986, where offences earlier punishable with jail terms are proposed to be converted into penalties linked to pay or fixed monetary limits.
In the Goa Waste Management Act, 2016, the Bill prescribes steep penalties for illegal construction or misuse of land in waste management areas, including fines running into several lakhs of rupees and daily penalties for continuing violations, while doing away with criminal proceedings.
The proposed amendments to the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968, form a substantial part of the Bill, enhancing penalties for civic violations such as illegal constructions, encroachments, dumping of waste, sewage discharge, unauthorised commercial activities, and obstruction of public spaces, with fines in several cases increased up to Rs 50,000 or Rs 1 lakh, along with continuing penalties for repeat offences.
The Bill also introduces a provision for automatic revision of fines and penalties by 10 per cent every three years, aimed at preventing erosion of deterrence due to inflation and delays in legislative updates.
Further, the legislation seeks to repeal the Goa Jan Vishwas (Laws Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, while protecting actions already taken under the ordinance through a savings clause.
Government sources indicated that the Bill is aligned with similar decriminalisation exercises undertaken at the Centre and is intended to improve administrative efficiency, reduce litigation, and allow enforcement agencies to focus on serious offences.
The Bill was introduced during the ongoing session and is expected to be taken up for detailed discussion at a later stage.
