New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Monday gave its approval for referring the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further scrutiny.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Bill, which aims to amend the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 and the Companies Act, 2013, in the lower house of the Parliament and proposed that it be sent to the JPC for detailed analysis.

The Bill aims to facilitate ease of doing business, decriminalise minor offences, replace certain criminal provisions with civil penalties and reduce compliance burdens for small firms, startups, and produce companies set up by farmers.

Earlier, opposition members, including Congress member Manish Tewari, Trinamool Congress member Sougata Ray, and the DMK's Dr T. Sumathy, opposed the introduction of the bill.

They alleged that the proposed legislation dilutes the provisions of Corporate Social Responsibility. Responding to their concerns, the Finance Minister said that the proposed amendment will not only attract more investments but also facilitate corporate governance.

Sitharaman highlighted that this legislation has been brought after two years of full deliberation. She said the opinion of the representatives from industry chambers, professional institutes, legal and accounting experts, and the public was taken and examined before introducing the Bill in the House.

The amendments in the laws are made on the basis of the Company Law Committee (CLC) constituted by the government to facilitate greater ease of doing business for business entities. The 11-member CLC was constituted in September 2019. Its members included former Lok Sabha Secretary General T.K. Viswanathan, Kotak Mahindra Bank Managing Director Uday Kotak, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Executive Chairman Shardul S. Shroff, chartered accountant G. Ramaswamy, and Xpro India Chairman Sidharth Birla.

The CLC has submitted its last report to the government on March 21, 2022.

Recommendations of the CLC were deliberated by various stakeholders and considered by the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms (HLC-NFRR), chaired by former Cabinet Secretary and NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba.

In her 2025-26 budget speech, the Finance Minister had announced the constitution of the committee. “A High-Level Committee for Regulatory Reforms will be set up for a review of all non-financial sector regulations, certifications, licenses, and permissions,” she said on February 1 last year. IANS