Govt rescinds 6 rules under Merchant Shipping Act

Shipping Ministry has done away with six rules under the Merchant Shipping Act which had "become obsolete", in order to promote ease of doing business.
The Ministry had rescinded seven rules earlier and by doing away with these 6 norms, the number has reached to 13.
"The Ministry of Shipping, in accordance with the government's commitment to do away with obsolete laws which hinder efficient governance, has notified the final rescinding of the six rules under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958," a statement from the Ministry of Shipping said today.
"Out of a large number of rules and regulations, many had become redundant in course of time and were leading to avoidable delay, making it necessary to weed them out to achieve process simplification and improve governance," it said.

The norms rescinded today include Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention Certificates) Rules, 1975, Merchant Shipping (Radio Direction Finders) Rules 1968, Merchant Shipping (Distress Messages and Navigational Warnings) Rules, 1964, Merchant Shipping (Muster) Rules, 1968, Merchant Shipping (Pilot Ladder) Rules, 1967 and Life-boatmen's (Qualifications and Certificates) Rules 1963.
The Ministry had invited comments and objections from the public via a notification in Gazette on November 17, last year.

Seven rules stood rescinded through a notification in November last year and as of today, the Ministry has rescinded a total of thirteen rules under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.
"The context, purpose and objectives of all the rules/regulations, administered by this Ministry, were studied and thirteen obsolete and unnecessary rules under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 were identified for rescinding in keeping with the government's ethos of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance," the statement said.

This step will simplify the legislative framework governing merchant shipping sector in India and streamline the processes and procedures in the shipping sector, it said.
"Besides, the rescinding of these rules will further promote 'ease-of-doing-business' in India and has been widely welcomed by the merchant shipping community and businesses," it added.