The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed A.P. Omnibus (Speed of Doing Business) Bill, 2026 on Wednesday by amending the A.P. Fire Service Act, 1999, AP Industrial Single Window Clearance Act, 2002, and AP Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act, 2017.
The Bill is aimed at fostering a trust-based regulatory framework, improving the ease of living for citizens, and enhancing the Speed of Doing Business by implementing a slew of deregulation and compliance-reduction reforms recommended by the Central government.
It facilitates simplification of regulatory processes, easing of compliance burden, and creation of a transparent, efficient, and business-friendly governance framework.
In A.P. Fire Service Act of 1999, provisions related to bye-laws and fire prevention and life safety measures have been redefined, and references to the National Building Code and empanelment of third-party fire audit agencies for renewal of fire safety certificates were excluded, enhancing efficiency, transparency, accountability and timely delivery of services.
Single Desk Bureau
As far as industrial approvals are concerned, the Bill paved the way for strengthening the statutory framework by restructuring the Single Desk Bureau as the State's Single Nodal Agency for all business approvals, supported by a two-tier institutional mechanism comprising State and District Committees, a Central Inspection System, and an optional Investment Facilitation Agency by amending the AP Industrial Single Window Clearance Act, 2002.
Under the existing Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act, an applicant aggrieved by the rejection of his/her application or by non-delivery of a notified public service within the stipulated time has to file an appeal manually.
As this is imposing an unnecessary procedural burden on the applicant and frequently resulting in the appellate remedies not being invoked in a timely manner, amending the above Act was considered necessary.
Auto-appeal mechanism
The amendment provides for an auto-appeal mechanism, wherein an appeal will be deemed to be automatically filed before the Appellate Authority through the Single Desk Portal without requiring any action on the part of the applicant and disposed of in a time-bound manner.
Published - August 19, 2026 07:31 pm IST