Form A Under Gratuity Act

Is it necessary to submit Form-A under Gratuity Act at two different controlling authorities, in case we have a Head Office at Kolkata and works at a different location (other than Kolkata)?

As per sec 2(a) you need to submit form A to the controlling authority under Govt Of India.
Varghese Mathew

Hi,
3. Notice of opening, change or closure of the establishment.-
(1) Within thirty days of the rules becoming applicable to an establishment, a notice in Form A shall be submitted by the employer to the controlling authority of the area.

Dear Questioner,

First, be sure which is the Appropriate Govt - whether the Cental Govt or the State Govt - with reference to Sec.2 (a) of the Payment of Gratuity Act,1972. As per cl (b) of Sec.2(a), if your establishment has branches in more than one State, then the Central Govt is the App.Govt for your establishment as ponited out by Varghese. Even in the case of State Govt being the App. Govt, the query raised is a relevant one when the establishment has branches across the State. If you carefully go through the contents required to be furnished by the employer in Form A of either the Cental Rules or the State Rules you will find them invariably requiring particulars of both the head office as well as the branches. At times the total no. of employees in any branch may be less than 10 right from its inception and also employees may be transferred among the various branches. But, it can not alter the eligibility of such employees for gratuity. So. my personal view is that submission of Form A to the Controlling Authority in whose jurisdiction the Head Office lies would be a sufficient compliance of this Rule.

Hello !

Our learned member Sh Umakanthan has righly pointed out that intially you need to ascertain the jurisdiction of the Appropriate Govt before submitting Form-A under the Payment of Gratuity Act,1972.Your query is little confusing as you have not mentiond the location of establishment situated at different place. Is it within the state of West Bengal or outside the state? If the other establishment is situated in other state,then the appropriate Govt will be the Central Govt and if it is located in the same state, the State will be the appropriate Govt.It all depends on the size and activities of a company. If all their day to day affairs are managed and controlled by their Head Office, then it is imperative for an employer to submit Form-A under payment Gratuity Act but if all the affairs are managed and controlled independently by the establishment with a strength of ten or more employees and if the Head Office only acts as superintendence & vigilance authority,then authorised official of the establishmment will send Form-A to the concerned controlling authority.

BS Kalsi

Member since Aug 2011

Our Company situated at Lucknow and established in Year 2010. We did not submitted Form A at that time. Can we submit Form A to controlling authority now as it is already late.

Dear Anuj,
For whose orders you are waiting ? Submit Form 'A' without any delay. It does not mean that if you have not submitted Form 'A' in time then you are not to sent this intimation. To avoid future action you should submit this form with the controlling authority of the area.
R N KHOLA