White-Collar Crime 2025 – Trends & Developments

Trends and Developments

India's Decriminalisation Drive: Balancing Ease of Doing Business with Accountability in Emerging Domains

India's efforts to enhance ease of doing business have been gradually gaining momentum. A key objective in this regard is to streamline compliance requirements and reduce the burden on the judicial system. To this end, India has prioritised the decriminalisation of minor or technical violations, aiming to alleviate the volume of criminal cases that clog the courts. Over the past five years, this drive has led to amendments across more than 200 provisions in over 50 statutes, replacing imprisonment with monetary penalties for minor offences.

At the same time, Indian policymakers have complemented this decriminalisation initiative with targeted new offences in emerging digital ecosystems. This dual approach – reducing penal provisions for low-risk offences while maintaining strict accountability in high-risk, technology-driven sectors