New Delhi | People caught urinating in public or creating a nuisance by dumping stinking waste on the streets will attract a tenfold fine of Rs 500 if the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2025, is passed in Parliament.
Public urination currently attracts a fine of Rs 50 under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, which was introduced by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada in the Lok Sabha on Friday, proposes multiple amendments in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.
The change proposed under Section 397(1) of the said Act replaces the existing fine with a higher penalty for acts such as easing oneself in public, disturbing public peace through noise, or storing substances like night-soil, cow dung, manure or rubbish without written permission from the Commissioner.
The amendment has proposed a sharper measure for the civic body as the penalty for running establishments such as lodging houses, eating joints and tea shops without a licence or in violation of licence conditions.
The offence, which currently attracts a fine of Rs 100, is set to be converted into a penalty of Rs 1,000 under Section 421, signalling a stricter stance on unregulated commercial activity.
Similarly, letting a dog roam a public street without a leash, currently attracting a Rs 50 fine under the said Act, will cost Rs 1,000.
Sanitation-related lapses have also been recast. Failure to remove filth or polluted matter, which earlier drew a nominal Rs 50 fine, would now first invite a warning and then a penalty of Rs 500 for repeat violations.
The Bill also removes several provisions entirely. The highest fine in the Act, which is Rs 10,000 plus Rs 500 per day for commencing building work without notice under Section 337(4), is dropped altogether.
The proposed legislation decriminalises Section 387, under which a municipal sweeper absent without notice could be imprisoned for up to one month, and replaces it with a Rs 500 civil penalty.
It, through its Section 461A, also shifts adjudication of the bulk of violations from criminal courts to a municipal officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner, with a 30-day appeal window and a six-month disposal deadline.
