PANAJI
The Goa government has simplified and extended the validity period for trade licences issued by village panchayats, under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). With this, entrepreneurs can now choose a validity period of one, three, five or ten years.
A circular issued by Director of Panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar on July 30, 2025, states that the change will ensure there are no difficulties faced by business owners, who previously had to renew their licences annually.
As per the earlier system, trade licences were issued for a term ending on March 31 of each financial year, with renewals permitted for one year at a time. This practice, according to the circular, was causing hardship to entrepreneurs seeking longer-term licences.
To ease the burden and improve the ease of doing business, the government revised the format. "After considering the above circumstances and also keeping in the spirit of ease of doing business under the Business Reform Action Plan, the Government has decided to revise the said format which would enable village panchayats to issue/renew trade licences for a longer duration of more than one year, i.e., up to three years or five years or ten years as per the requirement of the applicant," it said.
