Legal and Regulatory Compliance for Small and Medium Business Enterprises

By Prof. KD Raju | IIT Kharagpur

Learners enrolled: 280

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Legal and regulatory compliance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is essential for ensuring that businesses operate lawfully and avoid legal risks. SMEs must comply with a range of regulations, including tax obligations, employment laws and industry-specific licenses or permits. Adherence to labor laws, such as minimum wage requirements and workplace safety, is critical for protecting employees and minimizing legal disputes. Additionally, SMEs must ensure compliance with consumer protection laws, intellectual property rights, and data privacy regulations. Staying compliant not only mitigates legal risks but also fosters credibility and trust with customers, employees, and regulatory authorities. Regular legal reviews, accurate record-keeping, and seeking expert advice can help SMEs navigate complex legal landscapes and thrive in competitive markets. This course will be helpful to any business entrepreneurs in enhancing the ease of doing business.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: All graduate entrepreneurs, business and law students

PREREQUISITES: Any Graduate

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: All Business Chambers

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Law
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	18 Aug 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	18 Aug 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	29 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	01 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Registration, Licensing and Setting up of Business Enterprises

Week 2: Regulation of Employment and Labour Laws

Week 3: Social Security Laws

Week 4: Intellectual Property Protection for Small and Medium Businesses

Week 5: GST and Income Tax compliance

Week 6: Consumer Protection Law and Product Liability

Week 7:

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FSSAI
Regulations and Packaging Standards, Marketing and Advertising regulations

Week 8: Industry-specific Case Studies, Business Contracts

Books and references

Instructor bio

Prof. KD Raju

IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Raju K.D is a Professor of Law at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship by the United States Education Foundation in India (USEFI) to pursue his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 2011, he received the Microsoft Outstanding Young Faculty Award for his research on Intellectual Property (IP) and Competition Law, which was later published as a book in 2015. Dr. Raju's expertise spans International Law, World Trade Organization (WTO) law, Trade and Economic Law, and Intellectual Property Law. A prolific writer, he has contributed to around 35 book chapters, authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles in national and international journals, and published 8 books. He has offered NTEL Courses on IP&Competition Law, New Labour Codes of India and International Trade Law which is still active as re-run courses.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: November 01, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team