Hello friends, we have a small consultancy, 6 people in all, but we got a letter from the ESIC office, stating:
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Provisions of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948
I am directed to invite your attention to the provisions of Section 2A of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (as amended), under which a factory/establishment is required to be registered within such time and manner as may be specified in the Regulation. Regulation 10B of the E.S.I. Regulation 1950 (General) makes it obligatory for the employer of the factory/establishment to which this Act applies to register their unit through the online employer portal (ESIC) not later than 15 days after the Act becomes applicable.
Section 44 of the Act further provides that where the return has not been submitted, the Corporation may require any person in charge of the factory/establishment to furnish such particulars as it may consider necessary for the purpose of enabling the Corporation to decide whether the factory/establishment is coverable under the Act. As you have not applied for registration through the online portal, if your unit is coverable under ESIC as per the provisions of the E.S.I. Act, 1948, you must do so within 15 days from the date of receiving this letter and also inform the same to this branch.
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This is strange because we only have 6 (2 owners + 4 employees) people in the office. I visited the ESI office with the letter; they did not cooperate and showed me some cuttings (half A4 page) where an SSO inspector/officer made a report that he has come to our place and made observations. This is extra strange as we have never had any government officers visit our office to date.
Questions for HR Titans
1. How did they discover us? We only have GST and the Shops & Establishment Act, so how did they get our office address, and more importantly, on what basis are they accusing us of suddenly being under ESIC's umbrella (our office is in a posh area, a single room, where did they see "more than 10" laborers)?
2. In the "report," the ESIC officer went as far as saying that it was his second visit to our company. This is a blatant lie because no officer has ever visited us from ESIC. Can they force us to take ESIC based on such imaginary reports and false accusations?
3. How can I get a Xerox copy of the inspector's report they showed me? I know we can file an RTI, but exactly what should I write in that letter, and what requests should I make in my RTI appeal?
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Provisions of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948
I am directed to invite your attention to the provisions of Section 2A of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (as amended), under which a factory/establishment is required to be registered within such time and manner as may be specified in the Regulation. Regulation 10B of the E.S.I. Regulation 1950 (General) makes it obligatory for the employer of the factory/establishment to which this Act applies to register their unit through the online employer portal (ESIC) not later than 15 days after the Act becomes applicable.
Section 44 of the Act further provides that where the return has not been submitted, the Corporation may require any person in charge of the factory/establishment to furnish such particulars as it may consider necessary for the purpose of enabling the Corporation to decide whether the factory/establishment is coverable under the Act. As you have not applied for registration through the online portal, if your unit is coverable under ESIC as per the provisions of the E.S.I. Act, 1948, you must do so within 15 days from the date of receiving this letter and also inform the same to this branch.
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This is strange because we only have 6 (2 owners + 4 employees) people in the office. I visited the ESI office with the letter; they did not cooperate and showed me some cuttings (half A4 page) where an SSO inspector/officer made a report that he has come to our place and made observations. This is extra strange as we have never had any government officers visit our office to date.
Questions for HR Titans
1. How did they discover us? We only have GST and the Shops & Establishment Act, so how did they get our office address, and more importantly, on what basis are they accusing us of suddenly being under ESIC's umbrella (our office is in a posh area, a single room, where did they see "more than 10" laborers)?
2. In the "report," the ESIC officer went as far as saying that it was his second visit to our company. This is a blatant lie because no officer has ever visited us from ESIC. Can they force us to take ESIC based on such imaginary reports and false accusations?
3. How can I get a Xerox copy of the inspector's report they showed me? I know we can file an RTI, but exactly what should I write in that letter, and what requests should I make in my RTI appeal?