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EMPLOYEES' STATE INSURANCE (AMENDMENT)ACT 2010

THE EMPLOYEES' STATE INSURANCE (AMENDMENT)
ACT, 2010
(NO. 18 OF 2010)
[24th May, 2010.]
An Act further to amend the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India as
follows:--
1. Short title and commencement. - (1)
This Act may be called the Employees' State
Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2010.
(2) Section 18 shall be deemed to have come into force
on the 3rd day of July, 2008 and
the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date as the Central
Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Amendment of section 1.B - In the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (hereinafter
referred to as the principal Act), in section 1, in sub-section (5), for the words "six
months'", the words "one month's"
shall be substituted.
3. Amendment of section 2. - In section 2 of the principal Act, --
(A) in clause (6A),--
(a) for sub-clause
(i), the following sub-clause shall be substituted,
namely:--
"(i) a widow, a legitimate or adopted son who has not attained the
age
of twenty-five years, an unmarried legitimate or adopted daughter,";
(b) in sub-clause (ii), for the words "eighteen years",
the words "twenty-
five years" shall be substituted;
(B) in clause (9), for the words "or under the standing orders of the
establishment;",
the words "and includes such person engaged as apprentice whose
training period is extended to any length of time" shall be substituted;
(C) in clause (11), for sub-clause (v), the following sub-clauses shall be
substituted, namely:--
"(v) dependant parents, whose income
from all sources does not exceed
such income as may be prescribed by the Central Government;
(vi) in case the insured person is unmarried
and his or her parents are not
alive, a minor brother or sister wholly dependant upon the earnings of the
insured person;";
(D) for
clause (12), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:--
`(12) "factory" means any premises including the precincts thereof
whereon ten or more persons are employed or were employed on any day of the
preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing
process is
being carried on or is ordinarily so carried on, but does not include a mine
subject to the operation of the Mines Act, 1952 or a railway running shed;'.
4. Amendment of section 10. - In section 10 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1),
for clauses (a)
and (b), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:--
"(a) the Director General, the Employees' State Insurance Corporation,
ex officio as Chairman;
(b) the Director General, Health Services, ex officio as Co-chairman;".
5. Amendment of section 12. - In
section 12 of the principal Act, for sub-section
(3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:--
"(3) A person referred
to in clause (i) of section 4 shall cease to be a member
on becoming a Minister or Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of the
People
or Deputy Chairman of the Council of States or when he ceases to be a member of
Parliament.".
6. Amendment of section 17.
- In section 17 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2),
in clause (a), after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted,
namely:--
"Provided further that this sub-section shall not apply to appointment of
consultants and specialists in various fields
appointed on contract basis,".
7. Amendment of section 37. - In section 37 of the principal Act, for the words "five
years", the
words "three years" shall be substituted.
8. Amendment of section 45. - In section 45 of the principal Act,--
(a) for the words "Inspectors"
and "Inspector", wherever they occur, the words
"Social Security Officers" and "Social Security Officer" shall respectively be
substituted;
(b) after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:--
"(4) Any officer of the Corporation authorised
in this behalf by it may,
carry out re-inspection or test inspection of the records and returns submitted
under section 44 for the
purpose of verifying the correctness and quality of the
inspection carried out by a Social Security Officer.".
9. Amendment of section
45A. - In section 45A of the principal Act, in sub-section
(1),--
(i) for the word "Inspector", the words "Social Security Officer"
shall be
substituted;
(ii) after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:--
"Provided further that no such order
shall be passed by the Corporation in
respect of the period beyond five years from the date on which the contribution
shall become
payable.".
10. Insertion of new section 45AA. -After section 45A of the principal Act, the
following section shall be inserted, namely:--
"45AA. Appellate authority. - If an employer is not satisfied with the order
referred to in section 45A, he may prefer an appeal
to an appellate authority as may
be provided by regulation, within sixty days of the date of such order after
depositing twenty-five
per cent. of the contribution so ordered or the contribution as
per his own calculation, whichever is higher, with the Corporation:
Provided that if the employer finally succeeds in the appeal, the Corporation
shall refund such deposit to the employer together
with such interest as may be
specified in the regulation.".
11. Amendment of sections 51A and 51B. - In the principal Act, in sections
51A and
51B, for the words "an insured person's", the words "an employee's" shall be substituted.
12. Amendment of sections 51C and
51D.In the principal Act, in sections 51C and
51D, for the words "insured person", the word "employee" shall be substituted.
13.
Insertion of new section 51E. - After section 51D of the principal Act, the
following section shall be inserted, namely:--
"51 E.
Accidents happening while commuting to the place of work and vice
versa. - An accident occurring to an employee while commuting from
his residence
to the place of employment for duty or from the place of employment to his
residence after performing duty, shall be
deemed to have arisen out of and in the
course of employment if nexus between the circumstances, time and place in which
the accident
occurred and the employment is established.".
14. Amendment of section 56. - In section 56 of the principal Act, in sub-section
(3),
for the third proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:--
"Provided also that an insured person who has attained the age of
superannuation,
a person who retires under a Voluntary Retirement Scheme or takes
premature retirement, and his spouse shall be eligible to receive
medical benefits
subject to payment of contribution and such other conditions as may be prescribed
by the Central Government.".
15.
Amendment of section 58. - In section 58 of the principal Act, after sub-section
(4), the following
sub-sections shall be inserted,
namely:--
"(5) The State Government may, in addition to the Corporation under this Act,
with the previous approval of the Central
Government, establish such organisation
(by whatever name called) to provide for certain benefits to employees in case of
sickness,
maternity and employment injury:
Provided that any reference to the State Government in the Act shall also
include reference to the
organisation as and when such organisation is established by
the State Government.
(6) The organisation referred to in sub-section
(5) shall have such structure and
discharge functions, exercise powers and undertake such activities as may be
prescribed.".
16.
Amendment of section 59. - In section 59 of the principal Act, after sub-section
(2), the following sub-section shall be inserted,
namely:--
"(3) The Corporation may also enter into agreement with any local authority,
local body or private body for commissioning
and running Employees' State
Insurance hospitals through third party participation for providing medical treatment
and attendance
to insured persons and where such medical benefit has been extended
to their families, to their families.".
17. Insertion of new
section 59B. - After section 59A of the principal Act, the following
section shall be inserted, namely:--
"59B. Medical and para-medical
education. - The Corporation may establish
medical colleges, nursing colleges and training institutes for its para-medical staff
and other employees with a view to improve the quality of services provided under
the Employees' State Insurance Scheme.".
18. Substitution
of new Chapter for Chapter VA. - For Chapter VA of the principal Act,
the following Chapter shall be substituted, namely:--
CHAPTER
VA
SCHEME FOR OTHER BENEFICIARIES
73A. Definitions. - In this Chapter,--
(a) "other beneficiaries" means persons other than the person
insured under this
Act;
(b) "Scheme" means any Scheme framed by the Central Government from time
to time under section 73B for the
medical facility for other beneficiaries;
(c) "underutilised hospital" means any hospital not fully utilised by the persons
insured
under this Act;
(d) "user charges" means the amount which is to be charged from the other
beneficiaries for medical facilities as
may be notified by the Corporation in
consultation with the Central Government from time to time.
73B. Power to frame Schemes. -
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act,
the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, frame Scheme
for
other beneficiaries and the members of their families for providing medical facility in any
hospital established by the Corporation
in any area which is underutilised on payment of
user charges.
73C. Collection of user charges. - The user charges collected from
the other
beneficiaries shall be deemed to be the contribution and shall form part of the
Employees' State Insurance Fund.
73D. Scheme
for other beneficiaries. - The Scheme may provide for all or any of
the following matters, namely:--
(i) the other beneficiaries
who may be covered under this Scheme;
(ii) the time and manner in which the medical facilities may be availed by the
other beneficiaries;
(iii) the form in which the other beneficiary shall furnish particulars about
himself and his family whenever required as may be
specified by the Corporation;
(iv) any other matter which is to be provided for in the Scheme or which may
be necessary or proper
for the purpose of implementing the Scheme.
73E. Power to amend Scheme. - The Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, add to, amend, vary or rescind
the Scheme.
73F. Laying of Scheme framed under this Chapter. - Every Scheme framed under
this Chapter shall be laid, as soon as may
be after it is made, before each House of
Parliament while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised
in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the
session immediately following the session
or the successive sessions aforesaid, both
Houses agree in making any modification in the Scheme or both Houses agree that the
Scheme
should not be made, the Scheme shall thereafter have effect only in such
modified form or to be of no effect, as the case may be;
so, however, that any such
modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything
previously done under
that Scheme.'.
19. Validation. -All things done, or, omitted to be done, and all actions or measures
taken or not taken during the
period beginning on or after the 3rd day of July, 2008 and
ending immediately before the date of commencement of the Employees' State
Insurance
(Amendment) Act, 2010, shall in so far as they are in conformity with the provisions of
this Act, as amended by the Employees'
State Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2010, be
deemed to have been done, or taken, or not taken, under the provisions of this Act, as
amended by the Employees' State Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2010, as if such
provisions were in force at the time such things were
done or omitted to be done and
actions or measures taken or not taken during the said period.
20. Amendment of section 87. - In section
87 of the principal Act, the following
provisos shall be inserted at the end, namely:--
"Provided that such exemptions may be granted
only if the employees in such
factories or establishments are otherwise in receipt of benefits substantially similar
or superior
to the benefits provided under this Act:
Provided further that an application for renewal shall be made three months
before the date
of expiry of the exemption period and a decision on the same shall be
taken by the appropriate Government within two months of receipt
of such
application.".
21. Amendment of section 91A. - In section 91A of the principal Act, for the words
"either prospectively or
retrospectively", the word "prospectively" shall be substituted.
22. Insertion of new section 91AA. - After section 91A of the principal
Act, the
following section shall be inserted, namely:--
"91AA. Central Government to be appropriate Government. - Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act, in respect of establishments located in the States
where medical benefit is provided by the Corporation,
the Central Government shall
be the appropriate Government.".
23. Amendment of section 95.- In section 95 of the principal Act, in
sub-section
(2),--
(i) after clause (ef), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:--
"(eff) the income of dependant parents
from all sources;";
(ii) after clause (eh), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:--
"(ehh) the conditions under which the
medical benefits shall be payable to
the insured person and spouse of an insured person who has attained the age
ofsuperannuation,
the person who retires under Voluntary Retirement Scheme
and the person who takes pre-mature retirement;".
24. Amendment of section
96. - In section 96 of the principal Act, in sub-section
(1), after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely: --
``(ee) the organisational structure, functions, powers, activities and other matters for
the establishment of the organisation;''.
25. Amendment of section 97. - In section 97 of the principal Act, in sub-section
(2), --
(i) in clause (xx), for the word "Inspectors",
the words "Social Security
Officers" shall be substituted;
(ii) after clause (xx), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:--
"(xxa) the constitution of the appellate authority and the interest on
amount deposited by the employer with the Corporation.".
V. K. BHASIN,
Secy. to the
Govt. of India.