Expanding Your Business to Hyderabad or Chennai? Here's What You Need to Know About Licenses

Dear Seniors,

We have situated our Head Office in SAS Nagar Mohali (Punjab), and by the blessings of God, we are working on PAN India. We are providing food services to hospital patients. I want to know the requirements for running a successful business in Hyderabad, such as:

1. Shop & Commercial Establishment License
2. PF Registration
3. ESI Registration
4. Labour Welfare Fund (LWF) License
5. Professional Tax License

We already possess the above-mentioned licenses for our Head Office in Punjab. Please advise if we need to obtain these licenses separately for Hyderabad or Chennai.

Regards,
Neeraj Kumar

Separate Registrations for Different Locations

If you have separate offices in different locations, separate registrations under the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act for each office are mandatory. This requirement applies even if you have offices in one state, for example, Punjab. Therefore, the question of not requiring a registration under the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana and Tamil Nadu Shops Act does not arise; registration is still necessary.

PF and ESI Registration

Separate PF registration is not required if the employees deployed in Hyderabad and Chennai are already covered under the Head Office's PF registration. To facilitate the employees, you can obtain subcodes under the existing PF registration. However, for ESI, it is advisable to obtain separate subcodes for Hyderabad and Chennai. This process can be completed online. Without subcodes for these locations, you will need to collect sickness reports from the insured employees and submit them to the local office (Mohali) attached to the Head Office in Punjab, potentially causing delays in employee benefits. Therefore, it is recommended to have separate subcodes for each office nationwide, with contributions made from the Head Office for each subcode.

Labour Welfare Fund and Profession Tax

Labour Welfare Fund regulations vary by state, requiring separate registrations in each state due to the lack of uniformity among states. Online remittance allows for payments to be made from the Head Office.

Similarly, Profession Tax is specific to each state and must be paid to the local administration where the office is situated. This tax is payable every six months, so the branch office manager should be instructed to take the necessary steps. Additionally, separate licenses are needed from each local administration, Gram Panchayat, Municipality, or Corporation where an office is located.

Separate licenses under state laws

Separate licenses under state laws/rules in vogue are necessary. Similarly, all other records, registers, periodical returns, etc., are also necessary. Please go through the Acts & Rules of the respective states for compliance.