Best of BS Opinion: Rules that read well vs those that work

Good rules matter only when they work in practice, from regulation and governance to business and public services

Rules are often judged by how they read. But the real test is how they work. A regulation that slows investment, a municipal law that fails to prevent unsafe construction, a guarantee that cannot be enforced, a media market that grows without a stable business model, or a hotel that promises comfort without the machinery to deliver it — each shows the same thing. Rules and systems matter only when they are clear, accountable and workable in practice.

 

Our first editorial today, “Rules for growth”, looks at India’s regulatory burden. A new IMF report argues India needs stronger, sustainable and inclusive growth, and identifies regulation as a key constraint. The editorial says India has made progress through bankruptcy reform, GST, and improvements in logistics and infrastructure. But businesses still face too many compliances, inspections, filings, permissions and overlapping requirements. These costs fall especially hard on smaller firms. The answer is not deregulation for its own sake, but simpler, more predictable and more transparent rules that allow firms to invest, grow and create jobs.

 

 

The second editorial, “All fall down”, applies the same logic to Delhi’s municipal failures. The deaths caused by a building collapse are not just the result of one unsafe structure. They reflect a wider governance failure: unauthorised construction, poor enforcement, corruption, weak accountability and overlapping authority. Delhi’s civic agencies seem to act only after disaster strikes. The editorial argues that the city needs stronger inspection systems, transparent building records, clear responsibility and action against officials who allow violations to continue. Urban rules cannot remain paper safeguards while risk accumulates in concrete and steel.

 

M S Sahoo and Raghav Pandey’s column, “What is a personal guarantee really worth?”, takes the theme to insolvency law. Personal guarantees are meant to reassure lenders and improve recovery when corporate borrowers fail. But their value depends on whether the law allows timely, predictable and fair enforcement. If guarantors can delay proceedings, avoid liability or exploit gaps between different forums, the guarantee becomes less meaningful. The authors argue that insolvency law must clarify the counterfactual value of guarantees and align recovery with commercial reality.

 

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar’s column, “Media’s post-liberalisation report card”, looks at 35 years of change in Indian media. Liberalisation expanded TV, print, entertainment and digital markets, creating scale and variety. But the sector’s future depends on more than growth in outlets or audiences. It needs credible business models, sharper regulation, better measurement, technological adaptation and trust. A media market can expand rapidly and still struggle if its economic and institutional foundations remain weak.

 

 “Hospitality, by night and day”, Ishaan Mital’s review of Nakul Anand’s The Night Manager, takes the argument to the hotel business. Hospitality is often experienced as ease, polish and luxury, but it depends on discipline behind the scenes: Training, staffing, service systems, maintenance, management and attention to detail.

 

Growth and trust do not simply come from rules that exist, show these pieces. They come from systems that work when tested.