WAREHOUSE DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATORY AUTHORITY

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Authority

Section 24 of the Warehouse Development (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 (‘Act’ for short) provides for the constitution of Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (‘Authority’ for short).  The Authority shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power, subject to the provisions of the Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both moveable and immovable and to contract and shall, by said name, sue or be sued.  The head office of the Authority shall be at New Delhi and the Authority may, with the previous approval of the Central Government establish offices at other places in India.

Mission and Objectives of the Authority

The mission of the Authority is to ensure that the interests of the farmers are protected through the growth and development in the warehousing sector.  The main objectives are to improve the fiduciary trust of depositors and banks, increase liquidity  in rural areas, encourage scientific, warehousing of goods, lower the cost of financing, promote shorter and efficient supply chains, enhance reward for grading and quality and ensure better price risk management.

Members of the Authority

The Authority shall consist of-

• A Chairperson; and
• Not more than 2 members to be appointed by the Central Government from amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing who have wide knowledge and experience in inventory management, insurance, preservation, quality control, agriculture banking, finance, economics, law or administration.

The Chairperson shall be the Chief Executive of the Authority.

Tenure of members

The Chairperson and every other Member shall hold office for a term not exceeding 5 years from the date on which he enters upon his office.   He shall be eligible for reappointment.   N person shall hold office as the Chairperson or other Member after he has attained the age of 65 years.

Removal of Members

The Central Government may remove from office any Member who-

1. is, or at any time has been, adjudged as an insolvent; or
2. has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a member; or
3. has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Central Government, involves moral turpitude; or
4. has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as a Member; or
5. has so abused his position as to render his continuation in office detrimental to the public interest.

No such member shall be removed under (d) and (e) unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.

Warehousing Advisory Committee

The Authority may, by notification, constitute a Committee to be known as the ‘Warehouse Advisory Committee’ to advise the Authority on matters relating to the making of regulations and make recommendations for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.  The Committee shall consist of not more than 15 members excluding the members of the Authority to represent the interests of commerce, industry, engineering, agriculture, consumers, organizations engaged in warehousing, quality control, preservation and research bodies.    The Committee may advise the Authority on such other matters as may be referred to it by the Authority.

Powers and functions of the Authority

The powers and functions of the Authority shall include the following-

• to issue to the applicants fulfilling the requirements for warehousemen a certificate of registration in respect of  warehouses, or renew, modify, withdraw, suspend or cancel such registration;
• to regulate the registration and functioning of accreditation agency, renew, modify, withdraw, suspend or cancel such registration and specify the code of conduct for officials of accreditation agencies for accreditation of the warehouses;
• to specify the qualifications, code of conduct and practical training for warehousemen and staff engaged in warehousing business;
• to regulate the process of pledge, creation of charges and enforcement thereof in respect of goods deposited with the warehouse;
• to promote efficiency in conduct of warehouse business;
• to make regulations laying down the standards for approval of certifying agencies for grading of goods;
• to promote the professional organizations connected with the warehousing business;
• to determine the rate of, and levy, the fees and other charges for carrying out the provisions of the Act;
• to call for information from, undertaking inspection of, conducting enquiries and investigation including audit of the warehouses, accreditation agencies and other organizations connected with the warehousing business;
• to regulate the rates, advantages, terms and conditions that may be offered by warehousemen in respect of warehousing business;
• to specify, by regulations, the form and manner in which books of account shall be maintained and statement of accounts shall be rendered by warehousemen;
• to maintain a panel of arbitrators and to nominate arbitrators from such panel in disputes between warehouses and warehouse receipt holders;
• to regulate and develop electronic system of holding and transfer of credit balances of fungible goods deposited in the warehouses;
• to determine the minimum percentage of space to be kept reserved for storage of agricultural commodities in a registered warehouse;
• to specify the duties and responsibilities of the warehouseman;
• to exercise such other powers and perform such other functions as may be prescribed.

Powers of Authority to make regulations

The Authority may, with the previous approval of the Central Government and in consultation with the Warehousing Advisory Committee, by notification, make regulations consistent with the Act and the rules made there under to carry out the provisions of the Act.  The Authority has made the following regulations-

• Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Meetings) Regulations, 2012;
• Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts) Regulations, 2017;
• Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Conditions of the service of the officers and  other Employees) Regulations, 2016;

Meetings of the Authority

The Authority shall meet at such times and places and shall observe such rules of procedure for the transaction of its business at the meetings as may be determined by the regulations.  The Chairperson, or if, for any reason he is unable to attend a meeting of the Authority, any other Member chosen by the Members present from amongst themselves at the meeting shall preside at the meeting.  All questions which come up before any meeting of the Authority shall be decided by a majority of votes by the members present and voting, and in the event of an inequality of votes, the Chairperson, or the person presiding shall have a second or casing vote.

No act or proceeding of the Authority shall be invalid merely by reason of-

• any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Authority; or
• any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member of the Authority; or
• any irregularity in the procedure of the Authority not affecting the merits of the case.

Grievance redressal system

The grievance redressal system is an online web portal developed by the Authority primarily intended to allow submission of grievances by the aggrieved users of warehouse and all other stakeholders.  This portal facilitates the user to launch a grievance and receive response up to his satisfaction both in terms of quality and time.  The registered grievances can also be escalated to the Authority in case of dissatisfaction in an easy and transparent manner.

Appeal

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Authority made under this Act, or any rules or the regulations made there under, may prefer an appeal to such person or Authority appointed by the Central Government within 60 days from the date of such order.  An appeal may be admitted after the expiry of the said period of 60 days but not beyond a total period of 90 days if the appellant satisfies the Appellate Authority that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within he said period.

Powers of the Central Government

The Authority shall be bound such directions on questions of policy, other than those relating to technical and administrative matters, as the Central Government may give in writing to it from time to time.  The Authority shall, as far as practicable, be given an opportunity to express its views before any direction is given.

Supersession of the Authoriy

If, at any time, the Central Government is of the opinion that-

• on account of circumstances beyond the control of the Authority, it is unable to discharge the functions to perform the duties imposed on it by or under the provisions of the Act; or
• the Authority has persistently defaulted in complying with any direction given by the Central Government under the Act or in the discharge of the functions or performance of the duties imposed on it by or under the provisions of the Act and as a result of such default the financial position of the Authority or the administration of the Authority has suffered; or
• the circumstances exist which render it necessary in the public interest so to do, the Central Government may, by notification and for reasons to be specified therein supersede the Authority for such period not exceeding 6 months, as may be specified in the Notification and nominate a person to look after the functions of the Authority; before issuing any such notification, the Central Government shall give a reasonable opportunity to the Authority to make representations against the proposed supersession and shall consider the representation, if any, of the Authority.