Statutory Compliance: Importance

Every country has its own labour laws that Company needs to comply with. In the same way India has its own set of Central and State labour laws. These laws change on a State and Central level, and it is mandatory for Companies to obey them. Non-compliance with these regulations can land a Company into legal trouble such as inspections, show cause notices, penalties, fines, or worse. This is why, Companies spend a good deal of resources for ensuring statutory compliance in India under applicable Establishment and Employment laws and regulations.

It’s important to make yourself familiar with some of the relevant statutory compliances that are applicable on your business, to keep abreast of any changes that need to incorporate since the laws and rules related to Establishment and Employment are prone to frequent amendments and changes.

List of Important Statutory Compliances in India

License and Registration is the permission given by the government to the business owners enabling them to sell their goods and services legally. Generally, applicability of licenses and Registration depends on the location of the business, nature of activity and type of entity. Licenses and Registration are indispensable for every business.

The basic mandatory Licenses and registrations are as follows:-

1. Trade License – Trade License comes under the jurisdiction of the State Municipal Corporation of the area where the business is located. The license allows the holder to carry out the trade or business only for which it is issued. Mode of procuring and statutory fees differs from state to state. The license is issued for one year only and needs to be renewed every year. It is issued to the businesses or trades to function by adhering to all statutory compliances and the standards of safety as issued by State Municipal Corporation.
2. Shops & Establishment Registration – This Registration is obtained from the State labour office and is applicable on all the shops, establishment and commercial establishments and hence mandatory to be procured by all the businesses. Mode of procuring and statutory fees differs from state to state.
3. Import & Export Code – This registration is a pre-requisite for the businesses dealing in export from and import to India. Import and Export Code is issued by the DGFT and is a PAN based registration. Hence only one IEC can be applied and procured against one PAN.
   All the IEC holders have to mandatorily update their IEC details once in a year between April to June to avoid de-activation of their IEC number.
4. GST Registration – Supply of goods and services in India triggers the requirement to obtaining GST registration, collecting and payment of GST. Upon the approval of registration application, the business is allotted a 15-digit unique number called GSTIN by the Central government.
   Any business which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of goods and whose turnover exceeds Rs 40 lakhs in a financial year is required to register under GST. For the service providers the limit is Rs 20 lakh. The Composition scheme under GST law is for small businesses operating in India. Monthly return, Annual return are part of mandatory statutory compliances under GST and GST audit for certain suppliers.

Apart from the Establishment related licenses and registrations, there are Employment related legislations that have been enacted to safeguard and promote the interest of labour covering several aspects such as fair and minimum wages, regular payments, working conditions, holidays, leaves, safety and health, labour welfare, social security, industrial relations, protection of interest of women and child labour etc.

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948- It applies to every employer employing one or more employees. The Act fixes the minimum wages to be earned by the skilled and unskilled labour employed across various sectors, regions and occupations.

The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 – It is applicable to every employee employed in a factory, industry or any other establishment earning wages up to Rs. 24,000/- per month. The Act ensures that employees from various industries are paid on time by having penalties for wages paid late by a month. Every organisation employing less than 1000 employees should pay the wages on or before 7th of the subsequent month and in case of employing more than 1000 employees, wages should be paid on or before 10th of the subsequent month.

 Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 –The Act ensures that uniform wages should be paid to the employees irrespective of their genders. Male and female should be paid same remuneration for the same work. Non-compliance with the Act can lead to serious fines and penalties.

 The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017- This Act applies to all establishments with ten or more employees. Female employee is allowed to have 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. But to be eligible for this benefit, she must be working for an organization for at least 80 days within the past 12 months.

The Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952- The purpose of the Act is to provide social security to the employee. The Act is applicable on any establishment employing more than 20 employees. To make this possible, every employee during his/her employment contributes some amount from their salary to the Provident Fund. Even their employer is also required to contribute to this fund.