Facing Labour Cess in Haryana: How Are Real Estate Developers Handling It?

Dear Friends,

The Labour Department in Haryana has imposed a 1% Labour Cess on all Real Estate Developers based on the actual project cost under the BOCW Act, 1996. I would be very thankful if any HR friend from the Gurgaon/NCR region could guide me on this matter. The Labour Department is also planning to raid establishments that are not paying this labour cess.

Your valuable suggestions are always welcome.

Regards,

Rajkumar Jaiswal
Manager-HR, Vatika Group
0981887-0002

Dear Mr. Raj,

Please let me know if constructing our own building for business purposes (an IT Company) will come under the labor cess of 1% under BOCW, 1996.

Regards,
Manish Kathuria
kathuria.manish@yahoo.com

Dear Friends,

The Building and Other Construction Workers Act is for the welfare of the construction workers as they work in the unorganized sector. However, there are many definitions that can be interpreted in different ways, or you can say they lack clarity. For example, the cost of construction and the definition of an employer are not clearly defined. The definition of the cost of construction is nowhere given, and the definition of an employer includes contractors, with the definition of a contractor including sub-contractors. Therefore, we can manipulate the words since some Supreme Court judgments clarify the ambiguities. Until then, we must interpret or navigate through the law.

Regards

There seems to be a lot of confusion among the members regarding the BOCW Act. I would suggest going through the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the Builders Association of India case, wherein the Act has been discussed in detail, and clarifications on issues like who the employer is can be found. The Act does not apply in the case of building your own house.

I would like to know about the AP High Court Judgment. Kindly provide the case number or parties involved in the case.

Surendra Dash

Dear Surendra,

Do you have a copy of the judgment of the Delhi High Court as mentioned by you above? Can you please share it with us?

Regards,
Nitin

Dear Nitin,

Yes, the citation is Builders Association of India and others vs. Union of India. The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench of Mukul Mudgal and S. Muralidhar JJ on 28.02.2007. My problem is I am not very adept in computer applications. If you give your email address, I can send the text of the judgment.

Surendra

Has anyone got a copy of the judgment of the Delhi High Court as mentioned by Surendra? Please share it with me at [IMG]https://www.citehr.com/misc.php?do=email_dev&email=bml0aW4uYmFzcn VyQGVwY29zLmNvbQ==[/IMG]

Regards,
Nitin

Can you tell me the date of implementation of Labour cess in AP and whether it is obligatory on the part of the employer/client to pay the labour cess in case of default by the contractors?

Regards,
Jagadeesh Nandi

Hi,

The cess under the BOCW Act is the principal employer's duty to pay through a contractor or directly against construction costs at 1% or as per cess assessment by the assessment authority under the BOCW Act after the completion of construction for buildings such as commercial, institutional, factory, housing society, etc.

Thank you.