Centre working on labour law changes
New division of labour laws into five segments ( total 44 labour laws) - Industrial relations, wages, Social security, working conditions and Welfare cess
Proposal to amend various labour laws
Sebi eases delisting hurdle
The regulator had asked acquirers to garner shares from 25 of every 100 shareholders in a company, irrespective of the amount of stake they held . The earlier requirement of compulsory 25 per cent public shareholder participation made delistings almost impossible
| Centre working on labour law changes |
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New Delhi, 22 January The Centre might take up changes to the Industrial Disputes Act on the lines of what the Rajasthan government recently did, sources said. The Union ministry has started work on clubbing all the 44 labour laws into five segments —industrial relations, wages, social security, working conditions and welfare cess. Sources told Business Standard the views of stakeholders had been taken and changes would be done once these are discussed. The Centre had formed an inter- ministerial group headed by the additional secretary of the labour ministry to review and discusss the rationalisation of the labour laws. "We have taken stakeholders' views, which will be discussed at a later stage," said a labour ministry official, on condition of anonymity. Saying it was a "mammoth" exercise, he added inter- ministerial deliberation was on. " We are working on the thematic codes and examining each law individually. This is a time- consuming process." Another official noted these were one of the recommendations of the second National Labour Commission. The Rajasthan government had recently enacted an amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act, allowing factories employingupto300workerstoretrench these without taking permission. Earlier, only factories which employed up to 100 workers were allowed to do so. As this law falls under the concurrent list in the Constitution, states can bring in amendments, with Centre's approval. The Madhya Pradesh government has moved the Centre for like changes. At the central level, the Act still allows only factories employing up to 100 workers to retrench employees without taking government permission. Changes to the ID Act have been an old demand of businesses, which often complain of a lack of flexibility in hiring workers. Trade unions have always opposed this move. Another official said the labour ministry had set up a "reform cell" comprising legal experts and present and former officers to look into this process of simplification of laws. Law governing industrial relations such as the ID Act, the Trade Unions Act and Industrial Employment Act may be collated into a single Industrial Relations Act. Those related to wages such as the Minimum Wages Act and Payment of Wages Act might be consolidated. |
| Sebi eases delisting hurdle |
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Mumbai, 22 January The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) through aboard of directors meeting on Thursday, eased its recently introduced delisting regulations. The regulator had asked acquirers to garner shares from 25 of every 100 shareholders in a company, irrespective of the amount of stake they held. It has now said this would not be applicable if it can be shown that all shareholders were contacted. JN Gupta, managing director, Stakeholders Empowerment Services, a proxy advisory firm, said the move was a positive. Proxy advisory firms often advise minority shareholders. "The earlier requirement of compulsory 25 per cent public shareholder participation made delistings almost impossible... The government and the regulators should now devise ways of incentivising listed companies, so that they are encouraged to remain listed. The incentives could be in the form of lesser taxation or availability of cheap finance," he said. "Sebi has reacted to the outcry against mandatory participation by 25 per cent of public shareholders ( holding shares in demat form). They have given greater leverage to companies and bankers but expect all public shareholders to be contacted. The practical applicability will now have to be tested," said Amit Tandon, founder and managing director, Institutional Investor Advisory Services, which also deals with governance issues. Rules were also clarified for issuance of certain kinds of securities. Partly paid shares to the public or to specific groups of investors through a rights issue will require 25 per cent of the money to be paid upfront. The balance is to be paid in 12 months when the issue size is less than ₹ 500 crore. For warrants, the tenure was changed from 12 months to 18 months. Warrants will also require a 25 per cent upfront payment. The regulator also made provisions for reissuance of, and introduction of options on debt securities. The move is a bid to improve liquidity in such securities and provide flexibility for their redemption, said Sebi. It also made steps to change rules for trustees. This included allowing banks and public financial institutions to act as a trustee without obtaining registration, and in enhancing disclosures for securitised debt instruments. The regulator has given another 18 months for companies listed on regional exchanges to list themselves on bourses with nationwide terminals. Says 25% shareholders need not participate so long as all were made aware; some changes in other regulations, too The regulator had asked acquirers to garner shares from 25 of every 100 shareholders in a company, irrespective of the amount of stake they held |
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