Do C&F Agents Need a Shop & Establishment License? Seeking Advice on Required Documents

Hi,

This is Tapas Ray from V-Guard Industries Ltd. I want to know if a C&F has to take the Shop & Establishment License or not.

What are the statutory documents we should demand from the C&F for our safety if we appoint him as our C&F? Please reply if anybody has any idea.

Regards, Tapas Ray

Email: tapas.ray@vguard.in

Your establishment should follow the relevant Act, which reads as follows:

Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1960

Applicability

1) It extends to the whole State of Kerala and applies to all shops and commercial establishments except those specifically exempted under the Act.

2) Establishment has been defined in section 2(S) of the Act as shops or commercial establishments which may be small, medium, or big establishments.

Small establishments mean an establishment having nil employees or up to five employees are employed, medium establishment means an establishment having six or more but less than 20 persons are employed, and big establishment means any establishments having 20 or more employees are employed.

Registration of Establishments

Every employer of an establishment shall make an application in Form 81 with a Treasury receipt showing that the prescribed fee has been paid to the competent authority within sixty days from the date of commencement of its work. The competent authority shall, if satisfied, register the establishment and issue a registration certificate in Form B. The registration certificate granted shall be renewed every year at least thirty days before the expiry of the period, on payment of the required fee (Sec. 5A(0)).

The competent authority shall not grant or renew a registration certificate unless the provisions of this Act and Rules have been substantially complied with.

You may read the relevant act for documents, forms, registers, and other stipulations.

Thank you, Mr. Kumar, for the above information. However, I belong to the Bhubaneswar, Odisha branch, and we are going to appoint a C&F. My query is whether we should demand that the C&F person provide their Shop & Establishment certificate. Does this mean that a C&F needs to obtain the registration certificate from the Shop & Establishment? Also, what other statutory documents do we need to collect from him before finalizing the agreement?

Regards,
Tapas

The Odisha Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1956

Here are the provisions applicable in Odisha.

[Published vide Orissa Act No. 30 of 1956. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Orissa Gazette, Ext. 5.9.1956, p. 25; for Report of Select Committee, see ibid dated 27th September 1956, p. 3.]

Section 2 - Definitions

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context:

(4) "Commercial establishment" means a commercial or trading or banking or insurance establishment, an establishment or administrative service in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in official work, hotel, restaurant, boarding, or eating house, cafe, or any other refreshment house, theatre, or any other place of public amusement or entertainment and includes such establishment as the State Government may, by notification, declare to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act.

(7) "Employer" means a person having charge of, or owning or having ultimate control over the affairs of an establishment and includes the manager, agent, or other person acting in the general management or control of an establishment.

(8) "Establishment" means a shop or a commercial establishment.

(19) "Shop" means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers and includes offices, storerooms, godowns or warehouses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business but does not include a commercial establishment or a shop attached to a factory where the persons employed in the shop are allowed the benefits provided for workers under the Factories Act, 1948 (LXIII of 1948).

Section 3 - Exemptions

(1) Nothing in this Act shall apply to:

(a) Offices of, or under the Central or State Government or local authorities;

(b) Offices under the Reserve Bank of India;

(c) Establishments run by the owners themselves without employing any employee or establishments in which only members of the employer's family are employed;

(d) Establishments for the treatment or care of the sick, infirm, destitute, mentally unfit persons;

(e) Persons occupying positions of management or employed in a confidential capacity;

(f) Persons whose work is inherently intermittent such as travelers or caretakers;

(g) Persons directly engaged in preparatory or complementary work such as clearing or forwarding clerks responsible for the dispatch of goods;

(h) Fairs, or bazaars for the sale of work for charitable or other purposes for which no private profit is derived; and

(i) Libraries at which the business of lending books or periodicals is not carried on for purposes of gain other than that of making profits for charitable, philanthropic, religious, or educational objects.

Section 4 - Registration of Establishment

(1) Within the period specified in Sub-section (4), the employer of every establishment shall send to the Inspector of the area concerned, a statement in the prescribed form, together with such fees as may be prescribed, containing:

(a) The name of the employer and the manager, if any;

(b) The postal address of the establishment;

(c) The name, if any, of the establishment;

(d) The category of the establishment, that is whether it be a shop, commercial establishment, hotel, restaurant, cafe, boarding or eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement of entertainment; and

(e) Such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(2) On receipt of the statement and the fees, the Inspector shall, on being satisfied about the correctness of the statement, register the establishment in the register of establishments in such a manner as may be prescribed and shall issue in the prescribed form a registration certificate to the employer. The registration certificate shall be prominently displayed at the establishment.

(3) In the event of any doubt or difference of opinion between an employer and the Inspector as to the category to which an establishment should belong, the Inspector shall refer the matter to the Chief Inspector who shall, after such an inquiry as may be prescribed, decide the category of such an establishment and his decision shall be final for the purpose of this Act.

(4) Within thirty days from the date mentioned in Column (2) below in respect of an establishment mentioned in Column (1), the statement together with fees shall be sent to the Inspector under Sub-section (1).

If these provisions are applicable, and the Agent is employing persons, you should insist on:

1) VAT registration, TIN (GST)

2) PAN & TAN

3) Aadhaar card of the owner

4) Registration under the MSMED

5) IT Clearance certificate/IT Returns

6) Professional Tax Registration.

And other labor-related records as prescribed.

It is not a license but registration under the relevant State Shops & Commercial Establishments Act. Whether C&F Service includes warehousing activities? Whether they are supplying any employees to the principal employer's establishment?

How many employees are working in the C&F office? Based on this, the applicability of various labor laws will be determined.

Thank you all for such useful information you shared by giving your valuable time. It will help me a lot. Yes, it includes warehouse activity. The manpower he is showing is less than 10, and others are daily wage workers for loading and unloading.

Regards,
Tapas