Struggling to Get Permission for Electronic Salary Records in Maharashtra? Need Guidance!

We are an IT company with around 35-40 people. As per the Shop Act, it's mandatory to maintain a physical register for employee data that includes salary, etc./muster. I have heard about seeking authority permission to obtain an exemption for maintaining records electronically. The Shop Act person is questioning repeatedly but not assisting in obtaining the permission. Can someone help and provide a link/website where I can find steps/processes to obtain authority permissions, especially for Maharashtra State/Pune, to allow for maintaining employee salary records electronically? I am certain that not many people maintain physical salary registers nowadays, especially IT companies. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Ray

You have to apply to the Inspector of Labour for an exemption, who will in turn forward it to the Commissioner for approval. You may also approach the Commissioner directly. Make sure to enclose the formats you want to adopt if they differ from the format provided by the statute.

You need to apply to the concerned State Chief Labour Commissioner for the same. Go through the Bombay Shop Act. You will find a section relating to exemption from the applicability of the particular section or rule of the Act. File the application accordingly with your format, or you can revert to [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons].

Thank you both. This has given me some direction. Additionally, I assume that the format referred to in this context as the "format provided by the statute" is the actual physical muster, right? Or where can I see the permitted "statute format" so that I can create the same in an electronic format (document/excel) and move on? Once again, I am very thankful to you both for bringing me out of the dark.

Format is not the physical muster but reduced to a soft copy with the same data. If you want to have your own format, you are permitted to do so after approval from the commissioner. You can get the formats from the bare Act of the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act and Rules.

Regards