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Registrations & Licensing.

Lede

A licence is a small piece of paper that confers a very large permission: to open the doors, hire the staff, store the inventory, serve the customer. Most businesses treat the licence as a hurdle to clear at incorporation. We treat it as a calendar that has to be kept clean for as long as the business stays open.

[i]Mandate

The posture of the firm — what we hold ourselves to, and what we ask of those who engage us.

A licence is a contract with the state about what you may do, where, with how many people, and under what conditions. The contract has expiry dates, renewal windows, change-notice obligations, and quiet penalties that compound when missed. We hold that calendar so the operating business does not have to.

For new establishments we take the file from first incorporation through to the issuance of every permit needed to switch on the lights. For established groups we inherit the existing portfolio of registrations — often a drawer of paper certificates with conflicting validities — and rebuild it as a single living register, with renewals scheduled and a partner accountable for each one.

Licences are not granted in haste. We are paid for our patience, our knowledge of inspection cycles in seven states, and our equanimity in the queue.

[ii]Scope

The work,
line by line.

8 mandates form the standing scope. Bespoke additions are documented on engagement.

01

Shops & Commercial Establishment registration

First registration on commencement, name-board endorsement, amendments on address change, renewal where the state still requires it.

02

Factory registration & licence

Building-plan approval, factory licence, hazardous-process and women/night-shift approvals, renewal on the statutory cycle.

03

Trade Licence — municipal

Issued by the BBMP and equivalent civic bodies. Annual renewal coordinated with the ward office.

04

FSSAI licence

Registration, State or Central licence by turnover and footprint. Site inspection coordination and renewals.

05

Contract Labour — Principal Employer registration

Where twenty or more contract workmen are engaged. Contractor licence administration on behalf of the contractor.

06

Inter-State Migrant Workmen registration

For projects deploying five or more inter-state migrant workmen — registration of the principal employer and licensing of the contractor.

07

Building & Other Construction Workers cess & registration

One-per-cent cess, registration of the establishment and the workers, return-filing on the prescribed schedule.

08

Industry-specific permits

Petroleum storage, weights & measures, drug licences, MSME Udyam, IEC, GSTIN where compliance overlaps with operations.

[iii]Cadence

The operating
calendar.

The rhythm we hold ourselves to. Where the calendar slips, the engagement partner answers for it.

Week 1

Diligence — documents, plans, approvals

Week 2

Drafting and filing

Week 3–6

Inspection cycle and clarifications

Week 7

Issuance and register handover

Annual

Renewals calendar maintained centrally

Event-driven

Amendments — address, ownership, capacity

[iv]Frame

The statutes
we work under.

The standing reference. Where a statute does not appear, the work is not undertaken.

[01]

Karnataka Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1961

§ 4 (and equivalent state Acts)

Registration of the establishment within thirty days of commencement; mandatory in every Indian state.

[02]

Factories Act, 1948

§ 6, § 7

Approval of building plans; licensing of the factory; annual renewal under the state factory rules.

[03]

Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976

§ 353 read with BBMP byelaws

Trade Licence — municipal permission to carry on a trade at the registered address.

[04]

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

§ 31, FSS (Licensing & Registration) Regulations 2011

FSSAI Registration up to ₹12 lakh turnover; State Licence to ₹20 crore; Central Licence above.

[05]

Contract Labour (R&A) Act, 1970

§ 7, § 12

Principal-employer registration where twenty or more contract workmen are engaged; contractor licence for each contractor.

[06]

Inter-State Migrant Workmen (RECS) Act, 1979

§ 4, § 8

Registration of the principal employer; licensing of the contractor — applicable from five inter-state migrant workmen.

[07]

BOCW (RECS) Act, 1996 and Welfare Cess Act, 1996

§ 7, § 3

Registration of the establishment and the workers; one-per-cent cess on the cost of construction.

[08]

MSMED Act, 2006

Udyam Registration Notification, 26-Jun-2020

Self-declaration on the Udyam portal — required to access MSME relief and to invoke MSME payment timelines.

References current to the Indian statute book as on filing. Where new codes consolidate or supersede the above, the firm moves with the codes — without an invoice for the migration.

[v]See also

Adjacent registers.

[]Begin a mandate

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