The Minimum Wages (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 1960

This Act may be called the Minimum Wages (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 1960.

In section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as " the principal Act "),—

1. (1) in clause
   • (a) of sub-section (1),—
   • (a) in sub-clause (i), the words, figures and letters ", before the 31st day of December 1959 " shall be deleted ; and the following proviso shall be added at the end, namely :— " Provided that, the State Government may, instead of fixing minimum rates of wages under this sub-clause for the whole State, fix such rates for a part of the State, and in the case of an employment under any local authority the State Government may fix such rates for any specified local authority, or class of local authorities ;" ;
   • (b) in sub-clause (ii), the words, figures and letters ", before the 31st day of December 1959 " shall be deleted ;
   • (c) in sub-clause (iii), the following provisos shall be added at the end, namely :— " Provided that, the State Government may, instead of fixing minimum rates of wages under this sub-clause for the whole State, fix such rates for a part of the State : Provided further that, where the State Government has not for any reason fixed the minimum rates of wages in respect of any such employment before the expiry of one year from the date of such notification, nothing contained in this sub-clause shall, after the commencement of the Minimum Wages (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 1960, prevent the State Government from fixing the minimum rates of wages in respect of such employment even after the expiry of the said period of one year ;" ;
2. (2) to sub-section 1A, the following proviso shall be added, namely :— " Provided that, where the State Government has not for any reason fixed the minimum rates of wages in respect of any scheduled employment within one year from the date on which it came to a finding as aforesaid in respect of such employment, nothing contained in this sub-section shall, after the commen- cement of the Minimum Wages (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 1960, prevent the State Government from fixing the minimum rates of wages in respect of such employment even after the expiry of the said period of one year ".

After section 21 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely :—

" 21A.

1. (1) In any proceedings under section 20 the applicant shall not be liable to pay any court-fees (other than fees payable for service of process) in respect of such proceedings : Provided that, when the application is presented by an Inspector, he shall not be liable to pay the process fees also.
2. (2) Where the applicant succeeds in such proceedings, the authority hearing the application shall calculate the amount of court-fees which would have been payable by the applicant but for sub-section (1), and direct the employer or other person responsible for the payment of wages under section 12 to pay the amount to the State Government. The amount shall, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery, be recoverable as an arrear of land revenue.".

In section 22B of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), for clause (b), the following shall be substituted, namely:—

"

1. (b) under section 22A, unless the complaint thereof is made within six months of the date on which the offence becomes known to the Inspector.".

1. (1) In the Schedule to the principal Act, in Part I, the following entries shall be deleted, namely:—
   • (a) the entries—
     • (i) " Employment in salt pan industry.",
     • (ii) " Employment in any residential hotel, restaurant or eating house as defined in the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948.",
     • (iii) " Employment in any industry in which any process of printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure or other similar work, or work incidental to such process or book binding is carried on.", and
     • (iv) " Employment in any cotton ginning or cotton pressing manufactory.", as added to the said Schedule in its application to the Bombay area of the State of Maharashtra ;
   • (b) the entries—
     • (i) " 13. Employment in Glass Industry.",
     • (ii) " 14. Employment in Oil Mills.",
     • (iii) " 15. Employment of Transport Services.",
     • (iv) " 16. Employment in Cement Industry ",
     • (v) " 17. Employment in Potteries.",
     • (vi) " 18. Employment in any cotton ginning and pressing factory.", and
     • (vii) " 19. Employment in any printing press.", as added to the said Schedule in its application to the Vidarbha Region of the State ;
   • (c) the entries—
     • (i) " 13 the employment in button factories.", and
     • (ii) " the employment in the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories.", as added to the said Schedule in its application to the Hyderabad area of the State ; and
   • (d) the entry— " Employment in any shop or commercial establishment, other than that covered under any of the other entries in this Schedule. Explanation.—For the purposes of this entry, the expressions ‘shop’ and ‘commercial establishment’ shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948.", as added to the said Schedule in its application to the State of Maharashtra. .
2. (2) In Part I of the Schedule to the principal Act, after entry 12, the following entries shall be and shall be deemed always to have been added to the said Part in its application to the State of Maharashtra, namely:— " 13.

Employment in any industry in which any process of printing by letter- press, lithography, photogravure or other similar work or work incidental to such process or book binding is carried on.

covered under any of the other entries in this Schedule.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this entry, the expressions ‘shop’ and ‘commercial establishment’ shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948.

1. (3) The deletion in pursuance of sub-section
2. (1) of any entry specified in sub- clause (ii),
   • (iii) or
   • (iv) of clause (a), sub-clause (i), (ii), (iii), (v),
   • (vi) or
   • (vii) of clause
   • (b) , sub-clause
     • (ii) of clause (c), or clause (d), of sub-section
3. (1) shall not affect any minimum rates of wages which may have been fixed in respect of any employment specified in such entry under sub-clause
   • (iii) of clause
   • (a) of sub-section
4. (1) of section 3 of the principal Act before the commencement of this Act and in force in any area immediately before such commencement ; and such rates shall, subject to the provisions of clause
   • (b) of sub-section
5. (1) of the said section 3, continue in force in such area as if they had been fixed in respect of the corresponding employment specified in the Schedule to the principal Act as amended by this section. 6. Amendment of section 20 of Act XI of In section 20 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after the words "payment of less than the minimum rates of wages" the words, brackets and figures "or in respect of wages not paid within the time prescribed under sub-section
6. (1) of section 12" shall be inserted. 7. Amendment of section 22 of Act XI of In section 22 of the principal Act, in clause (a), after the words "provisions of this Act" the following shall be inserted, namely :-- "or fails to pay the wages within the time prescribed under sub-section
7. (1) of section 12". 8. Insertion of new section After section 22 of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely :-- "22-1A. Whoever wilfully obstructs an Inspector in the exercise of any power conferred on him by or under this Act, or fails to produce on demand by an Inspector any registers, records or other documents in his custody kept in pursuance of this Act, and which he is required to produce by or under this Act shall, on conviction, be punished with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees." 9. Amendment of section 26 of Act XI of In section 26 of the principal Act, to sub-section (2A) the following proviso shall be added, namely :-- " Provided that, the powers of the State Government under this sub-section may, subject to the control of the State Government, be exercised by the Commissioner of Labour." 10. Amendment of section 30 of Act XI of In section 30 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2),--
8. (1) in clause (g), for the words "a normal working day" the words "a normal working day or week" shall be substituted;
9. (2) in clause (j), for the words "and wage slips", at both the places where they occur, the words "or wage slips and attendance cards" shall be substituted. 11. Amendment of Schedule to Act XI of In the Schedule to the principal Act, in Part I, in entry 17, for the words "other than that covered" the words "not being an employment in any bank or an employment which is included" shall be substituted.