whether CLRA registration required for software development vendors

Hi,
Whether CLRA would be applicable to a company as principal employer if the IT giant companies such as TCS / Infosys are engaged under contract for software development and ongoing maintenance of such software and other IT support from the premises of the said company. There seems to be varied market practice where few companies are including those IT giants as contractor under CLRA registration and few are not on the grounds that those software engineers of TCS / infosys are not workers. Can someone guide on correct legal position for such IT contracts.

Thanks and Regards,
Pankaj Srivastava

In this context who is the principal employer? What or who is (IT) giant from the labour law point of view? If the companies like TCS has to do software development work and associated work by sending their employees to some other companies, certainly, the CLRA Act will be applicable. They should take licenses under CLRA Act after collecting form VI from the company for which they do the work. ie, the principal employer.

(TCS insists that their vendors for supply of food to their employees should have CLRA licence and the HR team of TCS will carry out audits to make sure that the restaurants / the food supplier pay minimum wages to their workers, pay bonus to their workers etc. What is the need of it? The food vendors are not expected to follow the CLRA Act because the relationship between the restaurants and the TCS is like a seller and buyer of a product or service and the workers of the restaurants are not contract labours. It is okay, if the restaurant people engage their workers in TCS to prepare food for the employees of TCS using the materials supplied by the TCS and infrastructure, kitchen etc, owned or possessed by the TCS. But it is not required when the relationship is just Buyer and Seller.... )

The primary question here is where is the work taking place. If TCS or Infosys or another software company undertakes to develop a programme or other service at their work premises, for some other principal then there is no need for taking CLRA license by such contractors. But if the required number of labourers are deployed at the works of the pricipal then the license is required. I recollect an exception to the above principle in a Orissa High Court judgement which says that if the contractor is a well established entity having its well defined HR compliances, then there is no need for such contractors to take license.

What shall be the definition of "well established entity" ? If we apply it to big establishments as principal employer, then for small principal employer, can't we have small contractors working without license???? That is why I have said who is a giant? Can there be a law which defines its scope?