Criminal Penalties for License Non-Compliance

This provision criminalizes failure to comply with license terms, imposing fines of 2,000-5,000 penalty units and/or imprisonment of 6 months to 2 years for administrative violations. In the context of mandatory licensing for all ICT businesses (34), this transforms routine regulatory non-compliance into criminal offenses. Startups and innovators face imprisonment risk for technical violations like missing reporting deadlines or using technology in unanticipated ways, creating a severe chilling effect on market entry and experimentation. The bill already provides administrative penalties (90) and license revocation for non-compliance—adding criminal sanctions including imprisonment is disproportionate and undermines the bill's innovation provisions like the regulatory sandbox (56).