BOMBAY LABOUR WELFARE FUND (GUJARAT AMENDMENT) ACT, 1973 THE BOMBAY LABOUR
WELFARE FUND (GUJARAT AMENDMENT) ACT, 1973 [Act No. 29 of 1973] [30th November, 1973] An Act further to
amend the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953. It
is hereby enacted in the Twenty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as
follows:? (1) This Act may be called the Bombay Labour Welfare
Fund (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 1973. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the State
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. In
section 2 of the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 ((Bom. XL of 1953))
(hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act"),? (1) after clause (1), the following clause shall be
inserted, namely:? "(1A)
"contribution" means the sum of money payable as contribution to the
Board in accordance with the provisions of section 6B;"; (2) in clause (2)? (i) for the words "manual or clerical" the
words "manual, clerical, supervisory or technical" shall be
substituted; (ii) the following shall be added at the end, namely:? "but
does not include any person? (a) who is employed mainly in a managerial capacity, or (b) who, being employed in a supervisory capacity,
draws wages exceeding seven hundred and fifty rupees per mensem or exercises,
either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the
powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature;"; (3) in clause (4), for the portion beginning with the
brackets, figures and words "(iii) any establishment" and ending with
the words "or any State Government" the following shall be
substituted, namely:? "(iii)
any establishment within the meaning of the Bombay Shops and Establishments
Act, 1948(Bom. LXX. IX of 1948), which employs, or on any working day during
the twelve months preceding the specified date employed, ten or more persons: Provided
that, any such establishment shall, subject to the provision contained in the
succeeding proviso continue to be an establishment for the purposes of this
Act, notwithstanding a reduction in the number of persons to less than ten at
any subsequent time: Provided
further that, where for a continuous period of not less than three months the
number of persons employed therein has been less than ten, such establishment
shall cense to be an establishment for the purposes of this Act with effect
from the beginning of the month following the expiry of the said period of
three months, and the employer shall, within one month from the date of such
cessation, intimate by registered post the fact thereof to such authority as
the State Government may specify in this behalf;"; (4) after clause (9), the following clause shall be
inserted, namely:? "(9A)
"specified date" in relation to any establishment for the purpose of
payment to the Board of any sum specified in item (a), (b) or (bb) of
sub-section (2) of section 3 shall be the date on or before which any such sum
becomes payable to the Fund;"; (5) for clause (11), the following shall be
substituted, namely:? "(11)
"wages" means wages as defined in clause (vi) of section 3 of the
Payment of Wages Act, 1936(IV of 1936);", In
section 3 of the principal Act,? (1) in sub-section (1), for the word, figure and letter
"section 6A" the words, figures and letters "sections 6A and
6B" shall be substituted: (2) in sub-section (2),? (a) after item (b), the following stall be inserted,
namely:? "(bb)
any contribution paid under section 6B ;"; (b) in item (d), the word "and" shall be
deleted; (c) after item (e), the following items shall be added,
namely:? "(f)
any loan, grant-in-aid or subsidy paid by the State Government or any local
authority or statutory corporation; (g)
all sums received in any other manner or from any other source.". After
section 6A of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted,
namely:? "6B. Contribution.-- (1) There shall be paid to the Board for the purposes
of this Act a contribution payable by the employer in respect of an employee in
an establishment (hereinafter referred to as "the employer's
contribution"), a contribution payable by such employee (hereinafter
referred to as "the employee's contribution") and a contribution
payable by the State Government, as hereinafter provided and every such contribution
shall form part of the Fund. (2) The amount of employee's contribution shall be
payable every six months in respect of every employee whose name stands on the
register of the establishment concerned on 30th June and 31st December
respectively, at the rate of 25 paise for every such employee and the amount of
employer's contribution shall be payable every six months at the rate of 50
paise for each such employee: Provided
that the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
increase the said rate of employee's contribution to such amount not exceeding
50 paise if it considers necessary to do so to enable the Board to fulfil the
objects of this Act: Provided
further that where the rate of employee's contribution is so increased by the State
Government, the rate of employer's contribution shall be twice the rate of
employee's contribution as so increased. (3) Every employer shall pay to the Board both the
employer's contribution and the employee's contribution before the 15th day of
July and 15th day of January, every year. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections
(2) and (3), the employer's contribution and the employee's contribution
payable for the first time after the date of the coming into force of the
Bombay Labour Welfare Fund (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 1973(Guj. 29 of 1973)
(hereinafter referred to as "the appointed date") shall be payable
before such date, and at the respective rates as aforesaid for every employee
whose name stands on the register of the establishment concerned on such date
as may be specified by the State Government by notification in the Official
Gazette and such contributions payable next thereafter shall be paid in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, irrespective of whether the period
of six months as specified in sub-section (2) has passed or not. (5) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
enactment but subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules made
thereunder the employer shall be entitled to recover from any such employee
that employee's contribution by deduction from his wages, and not otherwise;
and such deduction shall be deemed to be a deduction authorised by or under the
Payment of Wages Act, 1936(IV of 1936): Provided
that no such deduction shall be made in excess of the amount of the
contribution payable by such employee, nor shall any such deduction except the
deduction in respect of the employee's contribution payable for the first time
after the appointed date be made from any wages other than the wages for the
months of June and December: Provided
further that, if through inadvertence or otherwise, no deduction has been made
from the wages of an employee for the months aforesaid, such deduction may be
made from the wages of such employee for any subsequent month or months with
the permission in writing of the Inspector appointed under this Act. (6) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary no
employer shall deduct the employer's contribution from any wages payable to an
employee or otherwise recover it from the employee. (7) Any sum duly deducted by an employer from the wages
of an employee under this section shall be deemed to have been entrusted to him
by the employee for the purpose of paying the contribution in respect of which
it was deducted. (8) An employer shall pay the employer's and the
employee's contribution to the Board by cheque, money-order or in cash, and he
shall bear the expenses of remitting to the Board such contribution. (9) The Welfare Commissioner shall submit to the State
Government as soon as possible after the end of July and January every year in
the prescribed form a statement showing the total amount of the employer's
contribution in respect of his establishment for the period to which the
statement relates and on receipt of the statement from the Welfare
Commissioner, the State Government shall pay to the Board a contribution of an
amount equal to the employer's contribution in respect of that establishment: Provided
that the statement in relation to the employee's contribution payable for the
first time after the appointed date referred to in sub-section (4) shall be
submitted as soon as possible after the specified date in relation to that
contribution.". In
section 12 of the principal Act, to sub-section (1), the following shall be
added at the end, namely:? "Inspector
appointed, whether by a local authority or the State Government under the
Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948(Bom. LXX. IX of 1948) in relation to
any area, shall be deemed to be also Inspector for the purposes of this Act, in
respect of establishments, to which this Act applies and the local limits
within which such Inspector shall exercise his functions under this Act shall
be the area for which he is appointed under the said Act.". In
section 18 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the words "in the
prescribed manner" the words "in the manner specified in sub-section
(1) of section 4 for constitution of the Board" shall be substituted.
Preamble - THE BOMBAY LABOUR WELFARE
FUND (GUJARAT AMENDMENT) ACT, 1973PREAMBLE