In this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires,-
(1) “accounting year” means -
(i)
in relation to a corporation, the year ending on
the day on which the books and accounts of the corporation are to be closed and
balanced.
(ii) in relation
to a company, the period in respect of which any profit and loss account of the
company laid before it in annual general meeting is made up, whether that period is a year or
not;
(iii) in any other case -
(a)
the year commencing on the 1st day of
April; or
(b)
if the accounts of an establishment maintained
by the employer thereof are closed and balanced on any day other than the 31st
day of March, then, at the option of the employer, the year ending on the day
on which its accounts are so closed and balanced:
Provided that an option once exercised by the
employer under paragraph (b) of this sub-clause shall not again be exercised
except with the previous permission in writing of the prescribed authority and
upon such conditions as that authority may think fit;
(2) “agricultural
income” shall have the same meaning as in the Income-tax
Act;
(3) “agricultural income-tax law” means any law
for the time being in force relating to the levy of tax on agricultural income;
(4) “allocable
surplus” means-
(a) in
relation to an employer, being a company 3[(other
than a banking company)] which has not made the arrangements prescribed under
the Income-tax Act for the declaration and payment within India of the
dividends payable out of its profits in accordance with the provisions of
section 194 of that Act, sixty-seven per cent of the available surplus in an
accounting; year;
(b) in
any other case, sixty percent of such available surplus;
[***]
(5) “appropriate Government” means-
(i)
in relation to an establishment in respect of
which the appropriate Government under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of
1947), is the Central Government, the Central Government;
(ii)
in relation to any other establishment, the
Government of the State in which that other establishment is situate;
(6) “available surplus” means the available
surplus computed under section 5;
(7) “award” means an interim or a final
determination of any industrial dispute or of any question relating thereto by
any Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal or National Tribunal constituted under
the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), or by any other authority
constituted under any corresponding law relating to investigation and
settlement of industrial disputes in force in a State and includes an
arbitration award made under section 10A of that Act or under that law;
(8)
“banking company” means a banking company as
defined in section 5 of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), and
includes the State Bank of India, any subsidiary bank as defined in the State
Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (38 of 1959) 2[any
corresponding new bank specified in the First Schedule to the Banking Companies
(Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (5 of 1970), 3[any corresponding new bank constituted
under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Under
takings) Act, 1980 (40 of 1980),] any co-operative bank as defined in clause
(bii) of section 2 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934),] and any
other banking institution which may be notified in this behalf by the Central
Government;
(9)
“company” means any company as defined is
section3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), and includes a foreign company
within the meaning of section 591 of that Act;
(10)
“co-operative society” means society registered or deemed to be registered
under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 (2 of 1912), or any other law for
the time being in force in any State relating to co-operating societies;
(11)
“corporation” means any body corporate
established by or under any Central, Provincial or State Act but does not
include a company or a co-operative society;
(12)
“direct tax” means-
(a)
any tax chargeable under-
(i)
the
Income-tax Act;
(ii) the Super Profits
Tax Act, 1963 (14 of 1963);
(iii) the Companies
(Profits) Surtax Act, 1964 (7 of 1964);
(iv) the agricultural
income-tax law; and
(b) any other tax which, having regard to its nature or incidence,
may by declared by the Central Government, by notification in the Official
Gazette, to be a direct tax for the purposes of this Act;
(13) “employee” means
any person (other than an apprentice) employed on a salary or wage not
exceeding 1[three thousand and five hundred rupees]
per mensem in any industry to do any skilled or unskilled manual, supervisory,
managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work for hire or reward,
whether the terms of employment be express or implied;
(14) “employer
includes-
(i) in relation to
an establishment which is a factory, the owner or occupier of the factory,
including the agent of such owner or occupier, the legal representative of a deceased owner
or occupier and where a person has been named as a manager of the factory under
clause (f) of sub-section (1) of section 7 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of
1948), the person so named; and
(ii) in relation to
any other establishment, the person who, or the authority which, has the
ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment and where the said
affairs are entrusted to a manager, managing director or managing agent, such
manager, managing director or managing agent;
(15) “establishment in private sector” means any establishment other
than an establishment in public sector;
(16) “establishment in
public sector” means an establishment owned, controlled or managed by-
(a) a Government
company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(b) a corporation in
which not less than forty per cent of its capital is held (whether singly or
taken together) by-
(i) the Government;
or
(ii) the Reserve Bank
of India
(iii) a corporation
owned by the Government or the Reserve Bank of India
(17) “factory” shall have the same meaning as in clause (m) of section 2
of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948);
(18) “gross profits”
means the gross profits calculated under section 4;
(19) “Income-tax Act”
means the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);
(20) “prescribed”
means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(21) “salary or wage”
means all remuneration (other than remuneration in respect of over-time work)
capable of being expressed in terms of money, which would, if the terms of
employment, express or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to an employee in
respect of his employment or of work done in such employment and includes
dearness allowance (that is to say, all cash payments, by whatever name called,
paid to an employee on account of a rise in the cost of living), but does not
include-
(i) any other
allowance which the employee is for the
time being entitled to;
(ii) the value of any
house accommodation or supply of light, water, medical attendance or other
amenity or of any service or of any concessional supply of food grains or other
articles;
(iii) any traveling
concession;
(iv) any bonus
(including incentive, production and attendance bonus);
(v) any contribution
paid or payable by the employer to any pension fund or provident fund or for
the benefit of the employee under any law for the time being in force;
(vi) any retrenchment
compensation or any gratuity or other retirement benefit payable to the
employee or any ex gratia payment made to him;
(vii) any commission
payable to the employee.
Explanation. – Where an employee is
given in lieu of the whole or part of the salary or wage payable to him, free
food allowance or free food by his employer, such food allowance or the value
of such food shall, for the purpose of this clause, be deemed to from part of
the salary or wage of such employee;
(22) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined
in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947) shall have the meanings
respectively assigned to them in that Act.
