LexThe UTTARAKHAND ENTERPRISES SINGLE WINDOW FACILITATION AND CLERANCE ACT
Uttarakhand · state statute
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The Uttarakhand Enterprises Single Window Facilitation and Clearance Act, 2012
[Uttarakhand Act No. 05 of 2013]
INDEX
Sections Particular Page No.
1. Short title, extent and Commencement
2. Definitions
3. Constitution and Jurisdiction of State Empo wered Committee and
District Empowered Committee
4. Nodal Agency
5. Powers and functions of Nodal Agency
6. Combined Application form
7. Self Certification
8. Procedure for Filing and Disposal of application
9. Deemed approval
10. Time limits for processing of application
11. Appointment of a Nodal Officer by Competent Authority
12. Obligations of concerned department or authority
13. Delay in processing the applications for clearance
14. Grant of customized packages, concessions, exem ptions or
relaxations
15. Recovery of concession
16. Appeal
17. Penalty
18. Offences by companies etc.
19. Revision
20. Protection of action taken in good faith
21. Confidentiality
22. Transitional Provisions
23. Act to override other laws
24. Power to remove difficulty
25. Power to make rules
The Uttarakhand Enterprises Single Window Facilitation and Clearance Act, 2012
[Uttarakhand Act No. 05 of 2013]
An
Act
for provide necessary time bound licence, permissions and sanctions t o the establishment of
industry in the State of Uttarakhand;
Be it enacted by the Uttarakhand State Legislative Assembly in the Sixty -third Year of the
Republic of India, as follows :-
Short title,
extent and
Commencement
1. (1) This Act may be call ed the Uttarakhand Enterprises Single Wi ndow
Facilitation and Clearance Act, 2012.
(2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Uttarakhand.
(3) It shall come into force with effect from the date of notification in the official
Gazette.
Definitions 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires :-
(a) “Act” means the Uttarakhand Enterprises Single Window Facilitation a nd
Clearance Act, 2012;
(b) “Government” means the State Government of Uttarakhand;
(c) “Enterprise” means an industrial undertaking or a busi ness concern or any
other establishment, by whatever name called engaged in the manufacture or
production of goods, in any manner, or engaged in providing or rendering of
any service or services;
(d) “District Empowered Committee” means the District Empowered
Committee constituted under section 3;
(e) “State” means the State of Uttarakhand;
(f) “State Empowered Committee” means the State Empowered Committee
constituted under section 3;
(g) “Nodal Agency” means the Nodal Agencies referred to in section4.
(h) “Investor” means any person who invests capital in any new enterprise or in
an existing enterprise for expanding, modernizing or diversifying for securing
income or profit or common social good;
(i) “Notification” means a notification published in the Uttarakhand Gazette and
the word ‘notified’ shall be construed accordingly;
(j) “Permission” means grant or issue of permission, no -objection certificate,
clearance, allotment, consent, approval, registration, enrolment, license and
the like, by any Competent Authority in connection wit h the setting up of an
enterprise in the State of Uttarakhand and shall include all such permissions
as are required under any Uttarakhand law until the enterprise commences its
operation;
(k) “Prescribed” means prescribed by the rules made under this Act;
(l) “concession” means the facility or incentive, g iven by the State Government
to an industrial undertaking or group of industrial undertakings;
(m) “Competent Authority” means any department or agency of the
Government, Local authority, statutory body, State owned Corporation, Gram
Panchayat, Municipalities, or any authority or agency under administrative
control of the Government which is entrusted with the powers and
responsibilities to grant or issue permissions for setting up or commencement
of operations of an enterprise in the State.
-----------------------------------------
1{(n) “In-principle approval” means the in -principle approval given by the State
Empowered Committee or, as the case may be, the District Empowered
Committee, on the application made by the Investor u nder section 8(1)(a) of
the Act.}
Constitution
and
Jurisdiction
of State
Empowered
Committee and
District
Empowered
Committee
3. (1) The Government may by notification constitute a State Empowered Committee
at the State level and Distri ct Empowered Committee for each District of the
State consisting of such members as may be specified therein.
(2) Jurisdiction of the State Empowered Committee and the District Empowered
Committee- The class of investment for which or investment limits up to
which the State Empowered Committee or a District Empowered Committee
shall have jurisdiction to consider and dispose off applications for permission
shall be such as may be prescribed by State Government.
(3) Member of the Committee shall personally attend the meeting and in case he is
unable to attend the meeting, he shall depute a senior level officer to attend
the meeting with a written authorization to take appropriate decision in the
meeting.
(4) (a) The State Empowered Com mittee, or as the case may be, District
Empowered Committee, shall examine the proposals for setting up any
enterprise and shall take a decision and communicate its decision to the
entrepreneur and the concerned departments or authorities within such
time as may be prescribed by State Government.
(b) The Committee shall meet at such times and in such places and shall adopt
such procedure to transact its business as may be prescribed;
(c) The State Empowered Committee shall examine the applications for
giving concessions or grant exemption or relaxation from the provisions
of any State law, take into consideration the comments of the
departments, if any, hold discussions with the investors, wherever
necessary and make recommendations to the Government.
2{(d) The committee shall be the final authority for giving approval to the
projects placed before it. The approvals given by the committee shall be
binding on all the concerned departments and authorities and such
departments or authorities shall issue necessary licenses within the
stipulated time subject to the compliance of the provisions of the Central
or State Act and the rules made therein by the entrepreneur.
(e) If the competent authority fails to process and dispose of such applications
within the period prescribed under secti on 10, notwithstanding anything
contained in any Uttarakhand law, the State Empowered Committee or the
District Empowered Committee, as the case may be shall have the power
to consider and dispose of applications for permission under the
Uttarakhand Law. For this purpose, reference to the Competent Authority
in such law shall be construed as including the reference to the State
Empowered Committee or the District Empowered Committee, as the
case may be:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- Inserted by section 2 of Uttarakhand Act no.08 of 2022.
2- Ins. by section 3 (i) of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
Provided that where the Committee is unable to meet forthwith or
otherwise consi der the application, the Chairman of the Committee
concerned may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, decide the application
and submit a report of the action taken to it at the next meeting of the
Committee and Subject to any decision of the Committee, the decision of the
Chairman on such application shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the
decision of the Committee concerned under this section.}
1{(5) The State Empowered Committee or the District Empowered Committee, as
the case may be, shall revie w the status of the applications of Joint
Application Form-2 and, if necessary, on such cases, where the Competent
Authority fails to dispose of the Joint application Form -2 within the
prescribed time limit under section 10 of the Act, it may take a decisi on
regarding the deemed acceptance under section 9 of the Act.}
Nodal Agency 4. (1) The State Udyog Mitra cell in the Directorate of Industries shall be the Nodal
Agency for the State Empowered Committee.
(2) The District Industries Centers shall be the Nodal Agency for the District
Empowered Committee.
Powers and
functions of
Nodal Agency
5. (1) Subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the Government and
the State Empowered Committee or the District Empowered Committee, as
the case m ay be, the powers and functions of the Nodal Agency shall be as
follows:-
(a) 2[***]
(b) 2[***]
(c) to assist the investors in completing the application forms, to
acknowledge completed applications and forward such application to
the concerned Competent Authorities f or processing and disposal
within the period specified under section 10;
(d) to monitor the status of applications and place the report of the status of
applications before the State Empowered Committee or the District
Empowered Committee, as the case may be;
(e) to place the application of the investor before the State Empowered
Committee or the District Empowered Committee, as the case may be,
for its decision, where the concerned Competent Authority has failed to
consider and dispose off the application within t he period prescribed
under section 10;
(f) to receive applications for relaxations, exemptions and concessions as
mentioned at section14 from the investor;
(g) to seek comments of the concerned departments or authorities on the
application for relaxations, exemptions and concessions as mentioned at
section 14 received from the investor;
(h) to submit the comments of the concerned department or authority, if
any, to the State Empowered Committee within such period prescribed
under section 10;
(i) to submit the application f or relaxations, exemptions and concessions
as mentioned at section 13, received from the investor to the State
Empowered Committee within such period prescribed under section 14,
in case no comments are received from the concerned department
authorities in the prescribed time period;
-------------------------------------------------------------
1- Inserted by section 3(ii) of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
2- Omitted by section 4 of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
(j) to provide secretarial support to the State Empowered Committee, or as
the case may be, District Empowered Committee;
(k) to promote environment friendly and cleaner technology and
production practices;
(l) the State Empowered Committee and the District Empowered
Committee may be assigned such other functions as may be prescribed.
(2) The State level Nodal agency shall also perform functions referred to in sub -
section (1) and in addition prepare and regularly update an entrepreneurs
guide providing complete particulars relating to:-
(a) State and Central Industrial policies.
(b) Procedure to obtain the required clearances from the department and
authorities.
(c) Information on industrial status and advantages existing in the State.
(d) Salient features of Act and the rules made there under applicable to an
industrial undertaking, and
(e) Any other information useful to the entrepreneurs.
Combined
Application
form
6. 1{(1) It shall be competent for the Government to prescribe Form -1 and
Application Form-2, either in physical or electronic form, which shall
be Formed including:-
(a) Forms under Central Laws, and
(b) Existing Forms or new Forms in lieu of existing Forms or modified
Forms under Uttarakhand laws.
The joint application Form prepared as above shall be called Joint
Application Form -1 and Joint Application Form -1 shall be filled by
the entrepreneurs willing to set up the enterprise. After obtaining the
approval (in principle approval) from the State Empowered Committee
or District Empowered Committee, as the case may be, on Joint
Application Form -1, the applicant may submit physical or electronic
Forms for physical approvals/licenses etc. on Joint Application Form -
2 shall apply to various departments through the nodal agency, as may
be prescribed.}
(2) All departments or authorities con cerned shall accept such application form
for processing and issue of required permission.
Self
Certification
7. (1) Every entrepreneur shall furnish a ‘Self Certification’ duly attested by Notary
Public at the time of submitting Application Form to the Nodal Agency, in
such form as may be prescribed, that he shall comply with the applicable
provisions of the relevant laws. The undertaking shall be furnished in such
form as may be prescribed by the Government.
(2) The self certification furnished by the entrepreneur shall be accepted by the
departments and authorities for the purpose of issuing and granting clearance
and giving other benefits to the entrepreneur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- Subs. by section 5 of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
Procedure for
Filing and
Disposal of
application
8. (1) Application form and fee for clearance:--
(a) any applicant, who desires to set up an enterprise in the State of
Uttarakhand, shall apply in Combined App lication Form along with a
fee, as may be prescribed by the Government, to the Nodal Agency;
(b) the fee, prescribed as above, shall be in addition to the fee, if any,
prescribed under any Central law by any authority or department, and
shall be submitted alo ng with the form, prescribed by any such
authority under that law;
(c) suitable exemption from fee may be notified by the Government for
applicants belonging to SC/ST/Women/ Physically Handicapped
categories and Micro Enterprises may also be exempted from p aying
the fee.
Rates for fee:--
Small : Rs. 1000/-
Medium : Rs. 5000/-
Large/Heavy : Rs. 10000/-
(2) After the receipt of application for clearances, the authorized representative
of the Nodal Agency shall satisfy himself that the application given by the
applicant is complete in all respect. If it is so, he shall give an
acknowledgement in token of the receipt of the application.
(3) After an acknowledgement is given by the authorized representative of the
Nodal Agency, he shall enter the application for clearances in the register of
applications. The register of applications shall be checked up and certified to
be correct by the Head of the Nodal Agency at the end of each working day.
(4) The releva nt parts of the application form shall be sent to the concerned
Competent Authority within a period as prescribed under section 10.
(5) The concerned Competent Authority shall process application form and
communicate its decision to the Nodal Agency withi n the period, as
prescribed under section 10.
(6) The concerned department or authority shall provide comments sought by the
Nodal Agency, within the period as prescribed, and, if the concerned
department or authority fails to provide comments within the aforesaid
period, it shall be deemed that the concerned department or authority has no
objection regarding the application for clearance.
(7) Power of Competent Authority to call for additional information:-
(a) before communicating its decision, if the Compe tent Authority deems it
necessary to ask for any additional information from the applicant, it may
seek the same within a period as prescribed under section -10 after the
receipt of application for clearances under intimation to the Nodal
Agency;
(b) the addit ional information, sought, shall be furnished by the applicant
direct to the Competent Authority under intimation to the Nodal Agency
within the period, specified in this regard by the competent authority.
However, such additional information would be sought once only, and not
time and again in piecemeal;
(c) in the case of seeking any additional information, the period, specified for
communicating the decision by the competent authority to Nodal Agency,
shall be counted from the date of receipt of additional information;
(d) in case, it is found by the Nodal Agency that the additional information,
sought by the Competent Authority, is uncalled for or the same is sought
after the expiry of the period, specified under clause (a) above, then it
shall be construed tha t the additional information was not required at all,
and the period for communicating the decision in this regard, shall be
reckoned from the date, the application for clearances was originally
submitted;
(e) the status report of the applications for clearanc es shall be placed before
The State Empowered Committee, or as the case may be, District
Empowered Committee by the respective Nodal Agencies;
(f) the State Empowered Committee, or as the case may be, District
Empowered Committee shall respectively, communicat e its decision of
approval or rejection;
(g) the status report of the applications for clearances shall be monitored by
The State Empowered Committee, or as the case may be, District
Empowered Committee once in a month.
1{ Effect of in
principle
approval
8A Approval (in-principle approval) issued by the State Empowered Committee or
District Empowered Committee, as the case may be, in accordance with
section 8(7)(F) of the Act, except to the approvals/licenses
/permissions/acknowledgment to be issued at the l evel of the Central
Government or any of its departments/ organizations and appropriate
Government or Competent authority under Central Laws as laws related to
environment conservation Labour Industry etc. shall be effective for all
purposes except for mic ro and small enterprises as if it were an
approval/licenses /permission/acknowledgment as defined in section 10(1) of
the Act for a period of three years from the date of its issue. The approval (in -
principle approval) shall be effective for all purposes for medium enterprises as
if it were an approval/licenses/permission /acknowledgment as defined in
section 10(1) of the Act for a period of three years from the date of its issue or
the date of commencement of commercial production, whichever o ccurs
earlier:
Provided that within the said period of three years, the applicant shall
has to obtain the requisite approvals licenses/permissions/acknowledgments as
defined under section 10(1) and if applicable under the Central Acts for the
establishment/operation of the concerned enterprise.
It shall be mandatory for the applicant to attach a self -attested affidavit of
fulfilling the standards of the Uttarakhand Building bye laws in force for the
time being after getting the map of the project checked t hrough an authorized
architect or online software along with the Application Form:
Provided further that during the said period, the applicant shall have to
ensure necessary compliance for obtaining the necessary approvals licenses
/permissions/ acknowledgments for the establishment/operation of the
enterprise concerned. In case the necessary compliance is not ensured, legal
action shall be taken against him:
Provided also further that the letter of approval (in -principle approval)
shall not entitle any person/institution or organization to use land other than the
land use specified in the master plan, wherever such plan is in force. It shall
also not be entitled to use a restricted category as specified in section 132(a) of
the Uttar Prade sh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950
(Adaptation and Modification Order, 2001) i.e. pasture or such land on which
water is used and which is used to grow water chestnut or other produce or
such land which is not covered by riverbed and occasio nally used for
agricultural purposes.}
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1- Inserted by section 6 of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
Deemed
approval
9. Every department or authority notwithstanding anything contained i n any
other law shall issue clearance within the stipulated time limit. If the cases in
which application fulfills all prescribed eligibility and terms, the concerned
Departments or authorities have delayed issuing approval/clearance, in that
case such clearances shall be deemed to have been issued. In such cases total
transparency would be ensured by the Department.
Time limits
for processing
of application
10. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any Uttarakhand law, Policy or
Orders for the time being in force, the Government may prescribe time limit
for processing and disposal of applications by the competent authority.
(2) The Government may prescribe time limit for nodal agency to process the
application and the comments from the competent au thority, and
submissions of the same to the State Empowered Committee and District
Empowered Committee, as the case may be.
(3) The Government may prescribe time limit for the State Empowered
Committee for submitting its recommendations to the Council of Ministers.
Appointment
of a Nodal
Officer by
Competent
Authority
11. With a view to furnish information on any matter relating thereto, every
competent authority shall appoint a Nodal Officer at its Head Office and also
at the District level in each District.
Obligations of
concerned
department or
authority
12. (1) The Competent Authority shall consider and dispose off the application
forwarded to it by the Nodal Agency within the period prescribed under
section 10.
(2) The concerned department or a uthority shall provide comments sought by the
Nodal Agency under clause (g) of section 5, within the period as prescribed,
and, if the concerned department or authority fails to provide comments
within the aforesaid period, it shall be deemed that the concerned department
or authority has no objection or suggestion regarding the requisite
relaxations, exemptions and concessions as mentioned at section 14.
Delay in
processing the
applications
for clearance
13. (1) In case, it comes to the notice of The State Empowered Committee, or as the
case may be, District Empowered Committee, that any officer or official of
the conce rned Competent Authority has delayed in disposing of the
application for clearances without any reasonable ground or on any frivolous
or malicious ground, it may pass an appropriate order in this regard for
initiating departmental proceedings against such officer or official by the
concerned Competent Authority and for taking disciplinary action under
relevant rules.
(2) After an order is passed under sub -section (1) of this section, the concerned
Competent Authority shall initiate disciplinary proceedings against the
delinquent officer or official within a period of fifteen days from the date of
receipt of the order.
Grant of
customized
packages,
concessions,
exemptions or
relaxations
14. The Government may, with a view to facilitate investment in the State, grant
customized packages, concessions, exemptions or relaxations to any
enterprise or category of enterprises in the State, su bject to such conditions
as it may deem fit, where the Government, or any other authority
subordinate to it, is empowered under any Uttarakhand law to grant such
customized packages, concessions, exemptions or relaxations.
-----------------------------------------
1{Exemptions
from
Inspection
14A. (1) No inspection of the enterprise shall be made for the purpose of or in relation
to any approval or permission as defined under section 10 of this Act within
the period prescribed under section 8.A of the Act:
Provided that, the above provision shall not apply to the Central
Government or any of its departments/organizations and appropriate
Government or competent authority under central laws as laws related to
environment conservation, labour, industry etc.
(2) Where the State Government or any authority there under is empowered to
grant any approval/permission or inspection to any enterprise or exemption
from any provisions of the Central Act or laws relating thereto, the
Government or any s uch authority, as the case may be, subject to the
provisions of the Central Act, may exercise such power for granting such
exemption to an enterprise to be established in the State for a period of not
less than three years from the date of issue of the let ter of approval (in -
principle approval) issued under section 8(7)(f) of the Act.}
Recovery of
concession
15. (1) In case any enterprise contravenes any of the conditions of the letter of intent
or agreement, under which the concession was granted to it, the amount of
the concession so granted, shall be recovered. However, no recovery under
this sub-rule shall be made, unless an order in this regard is passed by the
Director of Industries.
(2) Before passing an order, referred to in sub -section (1) of th is section, the
Director of Industries shall give an opportunity of being heard to the
defaulting enterprise.
Appeal 16. Any investor aggrieved by the orders of :-
(1) The Competent Authority may appeal to the State Empowered Committee.
(2) The District Empowered Committee may appeal to the State Empowered
Committee.
(3) The State Empowered Committee may appeal to the Government.
Within thirty days from the date of the receipt by the investor of the
order appealed against.
Penalty 17. (1) Any entrepreneur who fails t o comply with the conditions or undertaking in
the self certification given to the Nodal Agency or other department or
authorities shall on conviction be punishable with fine which may extend to
five thousand rupees for the first offence and for the second or subsequent
offence with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
(2) For the delay in implementing the provisions of this Act, there would be
punishment action against concerned responsible officers.
---------------------------------------------------------------
1- Ins. by section 7 of Uttarakhand Act no 08 of 2022.
Offences by
companies etc.
18. (1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a company, the company,
as well as every person in charge of and responsible to, the company f or the
conduct of its business at the time of the commission of the offence shall be
deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub -section shall render any
such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was
committed without his knowledge or that he exercise all due diligence to
prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -section (1) where an offence
under this Act has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or
that commission of the offence is attributable to any neglect on the part of
any director, manager secretary or other officer such Director, Manager,
Secretary or other office r shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence
and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation:- For the purposes of this section:
(a) “Company” means anybody, corporate and includes a firm or other
association of individuals; and
(b) “Director” in relation to a firm means a partner or proprietor in the
firm.
Revision 19. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any Uttarakhand law, the Government
may, either suo moto or on an application made to it in this behalf, call for
the record of any proceeding before any Competent Authority or the State
Empowered Committee or a District Empowered Committee and examine
the propriety of the proceedings or orders passed therein so as to ensure that
the orders are not against public policy nor against the provisions of law and
make therein such orders as it may think fit within one year of issuance of
the orders being so revised in cases of rejection of the application for
permissions and within three months in cases of grant of permissions.
(2) The orders passed by the Government under this section shall be final and
shall be binding on all concerned.
Protection of
action taken
in good faith
20. No suit, prosecution or legal proceedings shall lie against the Chairperson
or other memb ers of State Empowered Committee or District Empowered
Committee or any employee of the Government Act under the direction of
such committee in respect of anything which, in good faith, is done or
intended to be done under this Act or any rules made thereunder.
Confidentiality 21. No agency or authority of the Government or, any local authority, including
any functionaries thereunder, shall disclose to any other investor or to a
person not duly authorized, any information forming the intellectual
property of the investor without the consent of such investor :
Provided that all information in respect of the terms and conditions of
the investment is made in the State and the facilities, if any, provided to the
investor by the Government or any of its agencies or authorities, or by any
local authority, shall be notified by the Government for information of the
public.
Transitional
Provisions
22. The provisions of this Act shall apply to all investment proposals that have
been under consideration of th e Government or any of its agencies,
authorities or undertakings on the date of commencement of this Act, if the
concerned investor so opts by submitting an application to the Nodal
Agency in the prescribed form and manner.
Act to
override other
laws
23. Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of this Act shall have
overriding effect, notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained
in any other Uttarakhand law, for the time being in force, or any custom or
usage or any instrument having effect by virtue of any such law.
Power to
remove
difficulty
24. (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the
Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make
provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as appears to it to
be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:
Provided that no order under this section shall be made after the expiry
of a period of two years from the commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it
is made, before the House of the State Legislature.
Power to
make rules
25. (1) The Government may, by notification, make rules generally for carrying out
the purposes of this Act.
(2) All rules made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after they are
so made, before the House of the State Legislature, while it is in session, for
a period of not less than fourteen days, which may be comprised in one
session or in two successive sessions and, if before the expiry of the session
in which they are so laid or of the session immediately following, the House
of the State Legislature makes any modification in any of such rules or
resolves that any such rule should not be m ade, such rule shall thereafter
have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may
be, so however that any modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
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