Regulating Act

Regulating Act, (1773), legislation passed by the British Parliament for the regulation of the British East India Company’s Indian territories, mainly in Bengal. It was the first intervention by the British government in the company’s territorial affairs and marked the beginning of a takeover process that was completed in 1858.

The occasion for the Regulating Act was the company’s misgovernment of its Bengal lands, brought to a crisis by the threat of bankruptcy and a demand for a government loan. The main provisions of the act were the appointment of a governor-general of Fort William in Bengal with supervisory powers over the presidencies of Madras (now Chennai) and Bombay (now Mumbai). The governor-general had a council of four and was given a casting vote but no veto. A supreme court of four English judges was set up in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In Great Britain annual elections of 24 directors were replaced by the election of six judges a year, each for a four-year term, and the qualification for a vote was raised from £500 to £1,000. This change made it more difficult for private groups to control policy and places by manipulating votes. The act had many defects—e.g., the governor-general’s lack of a veto led to quarrels with his councillors, and the supreme court’s lack of defined powers led to legal disputes and anomalies. The act was amended and the government of India was recast by Prime Minister William Pitt’s India Act of 1784.