Archive · 6 Oct 2026
India Needs Law-Anchored Impact Assessments for Better Regulation
Rules help keep people and businesses safe, but poorly designed rules can also make useful activities harder.
The authors say India should check the likely effects of important rules before adopting them.
This process is called Regulatory Impact Assessment, or RIA.
It can help officials compare options and consider effects on people, businesses and the environment.
India’s trade agreements with the UK and EU include commitments related to better rulemaking.
The authors want a law to make RIA a lasting part of how governments work.
They also suggest starting with pilot projects and training people to do careful assessments.
Computer tools could help, but people should remain responsible for checking their work.
The authors argue that India should replace a default-permission approach with regulation that is necessary, proportionate, predictable and innovation-friendly.
India’s recent trade agreements increasingly address regulatory practices; the India–UK agreement includes India’s first standalone chapter on Good Regulatory Practices with an explicit provision for Regulatory Impact Assessment.
The India–EU agreement’s Good Regulatory Practices chapter calls for assessing the need for intervention and its potential economic, social and environmental effects.
The authors propose a standalone enabling law, an RIA Commission framework, pilots and a dedicated unit within DPIIT coordinating with NITI Aayog.
They recommend proportionate assessments, stronger analytical capacity and transparent, auditable AI tools subject to human oversight.
- Who
- The article’s authors, Pradeep S Mehta and Tasmita Sengupta, advocate stronger Regulatory Impact Assessment in India.
- What
- They propose a law-anchored, adequately funded system for assessing the impacts of regulations.
- When
- The article refers to a recent global business summit but gives no date.
- Where
- New Delhi is the location of the summit mentioned; the proposed system concerns India’s Union and state governments.
- Why
- To improve regulatory quality, support trade and investment, and make rules more predictable and responsive to innovation.
- Proposed approach
- Adopt a standalone enabling law to give Regulatory Impact Assessment a statutory basis.
- India–UK agreement
- Its Chapter 24 is described as India’s first standalone Good Regulatory Practices chapter and expressly provides for RIA.
- India–EU agreement
- Its Good Regulatory Practices chapter calls for examining regulatory need and prospective economic, social and environmental impacts.
- Existing guidance
- DPIIT has issued an RIA Guidebook for central ministries and departments.
- Proposed pilot support
- A dedicated RIA Unit within DPIIT could coordinate with NITI Aayog and provide technical assistance.
- Assessment model
- Use preliminary screening for minor or routine changes and detailed cost-benefit analysis for measures with significant effects.
- Technology safeguards
- AI-enabled tools should be transparent and auditable, with human oversight and safeguards for data quality, bias, confidentiality and accountability.