Chapter VIII LABOUR HOUSING

Interpretation. (1) For the purposes of this Chapter,— (a) ‘employee’ means any person who is employed for hire or reward to do any work skilled or unskilled, manual or clerical, in any factory as defined in the Factories Act, 1948, or in any mine as defined in the Mines Act, 1952, or in any textile mill, or in any iron and steel works, or in any tobacco manufactory; and also includes any person declared by notification by the State Government to be an employee for the purposes of this Chapter; (b) ‘employer’ means any person who employs whether directly or through another person, or whether on behalf of himself or any other person, one or more employees, and includes,— (i) in a factory, the owner or occupier of the factory and includes the managing 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, the person so named; (ii) in any employment under any local authority, the person appointed by such authority for the supervision and control of employees or where no person is appointed, the chief executive officer of the local authority;

(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to provide for the welfare of labour by providing proper houses for employees as near as possible to their place of work of such types and designs in accordance with such schemes as the State Government may approve. (2) The Board may, in addition to preparing and carrying out schemes for the provision of suitable housing accommodation for employees, promote measures directed towards,— (i) the provision of gardens, playgrounds and recreational facilities; (ii) the improvement of public health and sanitation; (iii) provision of water supplies and facilities for washing; (iv) the provision of transport to and from work; and may incur in respect of such measures expenditure from the fund of the Board within such limits as may be prescribed by the State Government.

Provisions regarding housing accommodation. (1) The occupation by any employee of any housing accommodation provided by the Board shall be subject to compliance by that person at all times with such conditions relating to his occupation of such accommodation as may be prescribed. (2) Before any person occupies any such accommodation, he shall be furnished with a copy of the conditions referred to in sub-section (1), and if he so desires the said conditions shall be read over to him in a language which he understands; and the Board shall cause to be published in such manner as it thinks best adapted for informing the persons concerned any changes which may from time to time be made in the said conditions. (3) If in the opinion of the Board any person in occupation of any such accommodation fails or ceases to comply with any of the conditions referred to in sub-section (1) it may, by notice in writing, require him to vacate the accommodation on or before such date, not being less than thirty days after the service of the notice; and the occupation of such accommodation by such person or any dependent of his after the date so specified shall be unlawful and such person or dependent may be evicted accordingly from such accommodation in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI. (4) There shall be payable in respect of the occupation of any such accommodation as aforesaid rent at such rate as may be prescribed taking into consideration,- (i) the cost of construction of the accommodation, and (ii) the cost of maintenance of the accommodation. (5) (i) All rent payable in respect of the occupation of such accommodation as aforesaid shall in the first instance be paid by the employer of the employee occupying the accommodation. (ii) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment but subject to the provisions of any regulations, if any, under this Act, the employer shall be entitled to recover the rent paid by him under clause (i) by deductions from the wages of the employee concerned, and not otherwise.

(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to keep the housing accommodation under its control in a good habitable condition. (2) Where the State Government or any local authority or any court notified by the State Government in this behalf, upon consideration of any representation or of a report from any of its officers or other information received by it, is satisfied that any housing accommodation under the control of the Board is in any respect not in a good habitable condition, it may, unless it is satisfied that it is not capable at a reasonable expense of being brought to a habitable condition, serve upon the Board a notice requiring it, within such reasonable time, not being less than twenty-one days as may be specified in the notice, to execute the works specified in the notice, and stating that in the opinion of the State Government, the local authority or the court, as the case may be, those works will bring the house to a good habitable condition. (3) (a) The Board may, within twenty-one days of the service of the notice under sub-section (2) by a local authority or a court, appeal to the State Government or where the notice is served by the State Government apply to it for a review and no proceedings shall be taken by the State Government or the local authority or the court, as the case may be, to enforce the notice before the appeal or the application for review, as the case may be, has been finally determined. (b) The State Government may, on such appeal or application for review, make an order either confirming or quashing or varying the notice, and such order of the State Government shall be final and conclusive. (4) If a notice served on the Board under sub-section (1) is not complied with, then, after the expiration of the time specified in the notice or, if an appeal or an application for review has been made against the notice and upon that appeal or application for review the notice has been confirmed with or without variation, after the expiration of twenty-one days from the final determination of the appeal or application for review, or of such longer period as the State Government, in determining the appeal or application for review, may fix, the State Government or the local authority or the court, as the case may be, may itself cause the work required by the notice, or by the notice as varied by the State Government, to be done. (5) Any expenses incurred by the State Government or a local authority or a court under sub-section (4), together with interest at six percent per annum, from the date when a demand for the expenses is served until payment, may be recovered from the Board summarily as if the notice of demand were a decree of a civil court, and any civil court of competent jurisdiction shall execute such notice of demand as if it were a decree of such court.

It shall be the duty of the Board to cause an inspection to be made from time to time of houses occupied by working class people and the areas in which such houses are located with a view to ascertaining whether such houses are fit for human habitation and whether such areas are maintained in a proper condition so as to ensure the safety, health and well-being of working class people.

The Board may exercise the powers and perform the functions of a local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 60 in respect of houses occupied by working class people of which any person other than the Board is the owner, and the provisions of the said section shall thereupon apply to such houses as if the Board were a local authority and the owner of such houses were the Board.

Power of the Board to acquire insanitary houses, etc. (1) If the Board is satisfied that any house occupied by working class people is unfit for human habitation and not capable at a reasonable expense of being rendered so fit or that in any of the cities or towns which the State Government may, by notification specify, any area contains fifty or more working class houses and at least one-third of the working class houses in such area are overcrowded or unfit for human habitation and not capable at a reasonable expense of being rendered so fit or so arranged as to be uncongested, the Board may, with the sanction of the State Government, acquire such house or such area and take action as hereinafter provided. (2) The Board may, subject to the sanction of the State Government, demolish and reconstruct any house acquired under sub-section (1) and may, subject to a like sanction, demolish and reconstruct houses in any area acquired under sub-section (1) or otherwise layout and use the area for providing any amenities for employees as the State Government may approve.

Where any land is acquired by the Board under sub-section (1) of section 63, the compensation payable in respect thereof shall be determined in accordance with the the Right to fair compensation and transparency in land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement Act, 2013 (Central Act 30 of 2013), subject to the condition that the compensation to be paid for a house unfit for h-uman habitation and not capable at reasonable expense of being rendered so fit, shall be the value of the land as a site cleared of the building.

(1) Where in connection with housing operations of the Board, new buildings are constructed or existing buildings reconstructed or public streets and roads are laid out and constructed or reconstructed in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the State Government, the provisions of any municipal or other law relating to buildings or roads shall not, so far as they are inconsistent with the plans and specifications so approved, apply to those buildings and streets, and notwithstanding the provision of any other Act, any public street or road laid out and constructed in accordance with those plans and specifications may be maintained by the Board. (2) In respect of the Cities of Bangalore, Mysore and such other areas as may be notified by State Government, the State Government shall not approve for the purposes

Conditions relating to housing accommodation provided by employers. Notwithstanding any provision of law for the time being in force, if any employer has provided housing accommodation for his employees, such employer and employees shall comply with such provisions as may be prescribed regulating, (i) the occupation of such accommodation, (ii) the rents payable for such occupation, (iii) the proper maintenance of such accommodation, (iv) the rights and liabilities of the employer and the employees in respect of such accommodation, and (v) the circumstances in which such employees can be evicted from such accommodation.

Save as otherwise provided by this Act, after the commencement of this Act, where any employer provides housing accommodation for his employees, such housing accommodation shall comply, and be in accordance, with such conditions and provisions as may be prescribed.

If any employer fails or neglects to pay any rent which under this Act he is liable to pay, the amount so payable may be recovered as if it were an arrear of land revenue.