Do We Need Separate Registrations for Our Mumbai and Pune Offices?

I have one query. We have offices in Mumbai and Pune. Do we have to register separately for both offices?

Regards,
Hemlata

I feel that this is a childish question you asked. As I believe, you must be aware that shops and establishments come under the purview of the Municipal Corporation. Therefore, the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai and Pune are different, so you have to register both offices separately.

In fact, the authority issues a registration certificate for a particular premise, not the entire company. The applicability of shops and establishments is for particular shops or establishments. Even if you have multiple offices within the same municipal corporation or within the same territorial area, you still need to register them separately.

If I have an office that is not within the Municipal Corporation's jurisdiction, am I required to register my office under the S&E Act? What I understood from your above post is that I am required to register my office under the S&E Act only if my office is in the Municipal Corporation Area. Kindly clarify.

Regards.

Operating authority of Shops & Establishment is the Municipal Corporation. So, where a Municipal Corporation exists, it means there should be Shops & Establishment applicable, except in Delhi, where its operating authority is the Labour Department. However, some geographical areas are exempted from this act, so there is no need to register under the same.

As per Section 1, (4), the [State] Government shall, by notification published in the Official Gazette, direct that all or any of the provisions of this Act shall come into force in such other local areas having a population of twenty-five thousand and more as may be specified in the notification. (5) The [State] Government may also, by a similar notification, direct that all or any of the provisions of this Act shall come into force in such local areas having a population of less than twenty-five thousand as may be specified in the notification.

I will tell you one case: one retail organization had three offices in one premise, but the company registered only one office/company. Therefore, when the inspector visited the place, he remarked that registration was not found. Consequently, the company had to register the remaining two companies/offices under the same.

Objectives of the Shops and Establishments Act, 1953

- To provide statutory obligations and rights to employees and employers in the unorganized sector of employment, i.e., shops and establishments.

Scope and Coverage

- A state legislation; each state has framed its own rules for the Act.
- Applicable to all persons employed in an establishment with or without wages, except the members of the employer's family.
- The state government can exempt, either permanently or for a specified period, any establishments from all or any provisions of this Act.

Main Provisions

- Compulsory registration of shop/establishment within thirty days of commencement of work.
- Communication of closure of the establishment within 15 days from the closing of the establishment.
- Lays down the hours of work per day and week.
- Lays down guidelines for spread-over, rest interval, opening and closing hours, closed days, national and religious holidays, overtime work.
- Rules for employment of children, young persons, and women.
- Rules for annual leave, maternity leave, sickness and casual leave, etc.
- Rules for employment and termination of service.
- Maintenance of registers and records and display of notices.
- Obligations of employers.
- Obligations of employees.

When to Consult and Refer

- At the time of starting an enterprise.
- When framing personnel policies and rules.

Regards.

Thank you for responding to me. I also appreciate your participation in this forum. It is not my intention to hurt you but to correct you. You are referring to The Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 with Maharashtra Rules 1961. You are referring to some other enactment of 1953.

You have rightly said that it is a State Legislation. But it seems to me, you have copied and pasted it from Google. Everything available nowadays online may not necessarily be correct. On this site too, barring a few discussions, many discussions are baseless and the inputs given by many, including senior members, are incorrect. Unfortunately, the readers may carry this misinformation with them.

My request to you and everyone is to kindly refer to the bare acts always and interpret them correctly. Don't even refer to the online bare acts. They may not be authentic and updated.

My Understanding of The Bombay Shops and Establishment Act 1948

1. This Act is applicable in the entire State of Maharashtra but came into force in local areas as specified in Schedule I, which mostly covers Municipal Areas, Boroughs i.e., Nagar Palika, Cantonments, etc.

2. The State Government has the power to bring any or all the provisions of this Act into force in other local areas having a population of 25,000 or more. The State Government also has the power to bring any or all the provisions of this Act into force in other local areas having a population of less than 25,000. By virtue of this, in many Panchayat Areas, this Act is made applicable either fully or to a certain extent.

3. Each establishment/shop, i.e., each place of business, is liable to be registered under this Act irrespective of whether employees are engaged or not. Some of the shop inspectors insist on separate registration for each establishment/shop within the same premises/building. I have seen separate registrations of establishments belonging to the same owner on the same floor and have also seen a single registration for establishments on different floors. This all depends on how the inspector interprets it and how you convince and deal with them.

4. The Registration/Inspectorate authority under this Act is not necessarily the Municipal Corporation. Only in Mumbai, it is the Municipal Corporation. For the rest, it is the Labour Commissionerate office. Even though Thane, Dombivali-Kalyan, Panvel, Pune, etc., have Municipal Corporations, the authority is the Labour Commissionerate office and not the Municipal Corporation. In Navi Mumbai, which has its Municipal Corporation, the authority under this Act is also under CLRA, either the Labour Commissionerate office at Thane or at Panvel, depending on the area.

I stand to be corrected if wrong anywhere. I look at this forum as a knowledge-sharing tool.

Thank you for correcting me and providing additional information on this forum. I do not feel hurt by any of your statements. In fact, I appreciate you sharing this information.

However, some points are in conflict with my views (points 1 & 2), as per your copied statement. Another point to mention is that I do not agree with point no. 3 where you mentioned, "registrations of establishments belonging to the same owner on the same floor and also seen single registration for establishments on different floors. This all depends on how the inspector interprets it and how you convince and deal with him."

I would like to point out that sometimes the inspector may be convinced, and sometimes not. The question is not about how we can convince him, but rather what is legally correct.

I personally believe that every establishment needs to register, even if there are multiple offices owned by the same person or the same establishment on different floors or the same floor. I believe in issuing registration certification for a particular premises, as you mentioned, regardless of whether employees are engaged or not. So, if there are multiple offices on the same floor, with some having employees and some not, do all offices need to be registered?

Kind Regards,
[Your Name]

Please suggest on the following: We have our office where we have obtained a shop act license, and at the factory, we have a factory license. Now, the question is, as we are shifting our office to the factory, do we need to acquire a separate shop act license, or is the factory license sufficient with an amendment to the total strength of workers/staff?

Please advise.

Regards,
ALICIAHR

It's better to decide after consulting the concerned authorities at the office where the Factory Act registration was obtained. To me, it appears that having shifted your 'Shop' into the 'Factory', it would be right to surrender the 'Shop' license and to include your 'shop' strength also within the 'Factory' as it's now a merged unit. This is because your office now forms part of the Factory, and it would be appropriate not to have a 'shop' within the precincts of the 'Factory' to avoid jurisdiction problems.

In saying so, one shouldn't get confused about "manufacturing process," which is a primary indicator for defining a "Factory." In any office, there cannot be a manufacturing process going on, as it is attached to the Factory where all related clerical work is carried out, which is incidental to a 'manufacturing process.' The explanation thus goes like this:

Worker Definition

"Worker means a person employed, directly or by or through any agency (including a contractor) with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, whether for remuneration or not in any manufacturing process, or in cleaning any part of the machinery or premises used for a manufacturing process, or in any other kind of work incidental to, or connected with, the manufacturing process" or the subject of the manufacturing process but does not include any member of the armed forces of the Union." - Sec. 2(1), as amended in 1976.

Explanation: A worker means any person engaged in any work connected with or incidental to a manufacturing process. Thus, the definition is wide. The term includes persons engaged directly and also those who are engaged through an agency (including a contractor with or without the knowledge of the principal employer). The term includes clerical workers and persons paid by piece rates in a factory.

The office staff consequently will have better benefits comparatively having shifted into a "Factory."

The answer to your query is as follows: when you shift your office to the precinct of the factory, the office staff becomes factory staff, and the Factory Act applies to them. Therefore, you need to include those staff in the Factory License by amending it.

Don't forget to surrender the S&E registration.

If you wish to keep those staff detached from the factory for any reason, you need to demarcate this portion of staff by showing it outside of the precincts. Your approved plans also need to be amended.

Regards.

Query on Delhi Shops & Establishment Act

My query is related to the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act. My company's head office is located in Delhi, but we have branches in other states too, such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, and others. So my question is, are we supposed to follow the basic rules related to working hours, closing day, notice period, etc., according to the Delhi S&E Act, or will it vary from state to state?

Thanks & Regards,
Deepika Bhobhiya

Hi,

We have a project in Pune, and we are the secondary stakeholder of the project. We represent a subcontractor for the project and need to deploy manpower for the work as required by the primary stakeholder.

Could you please clarify if we need registration under the Bombay Shop and Establishment Act?

Please advise.

Regards,
Rushpal Singh
8588860899

Hi,

My registered office is in Delhi, and we have a project in Pune. We are the secondary stakeholder of the project and represent a subcontractor for it. We need to deploy manpower for the work as per the requirements of the primary stakeholder.

Could you please clarify if we need to register under the Bombay Shop and Establishment Act?

Please provide advice.

Regards,
Rushpal Singh
8588860899

Please tell us what type of establishment you have in Pune. Is there an office set up with a crew? How many of them are there, and how do you pay them in Pune? What type of transactions do you have in Pune?

Mr. Tushar,

I do believe you must not address a query of any individual like this. Please show your intellectuality with your decency of writing, not with your academic degrees.

Regards