4[(1) An Inspector shall, for carrying out the purposes of the Act, have power to do all or any of the following acts, namely:-
(i) to photograph any motor transport worker, to inspect or sketch, as the case may be, any motor transport vehicle, building, room, appliance, apparatus, register or document, which is under the use, occupation or possession of any undertaking, or anything provided for the purpose of securing health and welfare of motor transport worker; and
(ii) to require any employer to furnish or send any return or information relating to the provisions of the Act, or of these rules.
1Subs. for the words “rupees thirty”, by G.O. Ms. No. 258, Labour and Employment (H-1), dated the 5th November, 2013 (with effect from 27th November, 2013).
2Subs. by G.O. Ms. No. 1067, Labour, dated the 23rd May, 1988
3Subs. by G.O. Ms. No. 3466 (Labour), Industries, Labour and Housing Department, dated the 22nd August, 1966.
4Rule 15 re-numbered as sub-rule (1) vide G.O. Ms. No. 2713, Labour and Employment, dated the 2nd December, 1981.
6 1[(2) Registers or documents or portions thereof seized by an Inspector by virtue of powers conferred on him under section 5 (1) (d) of the Act shall be retained by him only for so long as may be necessary for their examination and for any inquiry or proceeding under the Act. He shall give the employer a receipt for the same :
Provided that such registers or documents or portions thereof shall not be retained for more than thirty days at a time except with the permission of the next higher authority.]
CHAPTER IV WELFARE AND HEALTH *16. Canteens. – (1) The employer of every undertaking shall provide in or near every place wherein not less than one hundred motor transport workers ordinarily call on duty during every day an adequate canteen:
Provided however, that motor transport undertakings which are situated within reasonable distances from one another may, with the approval of the Chief Inspector, combine and provide joint canteens and share their expenses. For this purpose, the undertakings concerned shall submit to the Chief Inspector particulars regarding the location of the joint canteens, the unit or units of undertakings served, the distances between each of the undertakings from the place where the canteen is proposed to be located, the number of workers employed in each of the undertakings, the manner in which the canteen is to be managed and such other particulars as may be called for by the Chief Inspector.
(2) The employer/employers shall submit for the prior approval of the Chief Inspector, plans and site plans in duplicate of the building/buildings to be constructed or adapted for use of a canteen/joint canteen/canteens.
(3) The canteen/joint canteen/canteens building shall be situated not less than
15.2 metres from any latrine, urinal, or any other source of dust, smoke or obnoxious fumes:
Provided, the Chief Inspector may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, relax the provisions of this sub-rule subject to such conditions as he may deem fit and may require the employer to take such measures to secure the essential purpose of this rule.
(4) The canteen/joint canteen/canteens building shall be constructed or adapted in accordance with the plans approved by the Chief Inspector and shall accommodate at least a dining hall, kitchen, store room and pantry and also washing places separately for workers and for utensils.
(5) In every canteen/joint canteen/canteens, the floor and all inside walls up to a height of 1.2 metres from the floor shall be made of smooth impervious material ; the remaining portion of the inside walls shall be made smooth by cement plaster or in any other manner approved by the Chief Inspector.
1Ins. by G.O. Ms. No. 2713, Labour and Employment, dated the 2nd December, 1981.
* w.e.f. 21st July, 1971.
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(6) The doors and windows of a canteen/joint canteen/canteens building shall be of fly-proof construction and shall allow adequate ventilation.
(7) The canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be sufficiently lighted at all times when any person has access to it.
(8) (a) In every canteen/joint canteen/canteens :
(i) all inside walls of rooms and all ceilings, passages and staircases shall be lime-washed, colour-washed or painted, as the case may be. Lime-washing or colourwashing shall be carried out once in every year and painting shall be carried out once in every three years;
(ii) all wood work and all internal structural iron or steel work shall be varnished or painted once in every three years :
Provided that inside walls of the kitchen shall be lime-washed once in every four months.
(b) Records of dates on which lime-washing, colour-washing, varnishing or painting, as the case may be, is carried out shall be maintained in a register in Form No.IV.
(9) The precincts of the canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Waste water shall be carried away in suitable covered drains and shall not be allowed to accumulate so as to cause a nuisance. Suitable arrangement shall be made for the collection and disposal of garbage.
*17. Canteen hall.- (1) The dining hall shall accommodate at least thirty percent. of the motor transport workers likely to call on duty during every day:
Provided that in any particular undertaking or in any particular class of undertakings, the State Government may, by notification in this behalf in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, alter the percentage of workers to be accommodated.
(2) The floor area of the dining hall, excluding the area occupied by service counter and any furniture, except tables and chairs, shall not be less than 0.9 square metre per diner to be accommodated under sub-rule(1).
(3) Sufficient tables, chairs or benches shall be available for the number of diners to be accommodated under sub-rule(1).
(4) (i) Wash basins with adequate water supply shall be provided in the dining hall for the use of the workers.
(ii) Soaps and towels shall be provided at the washing places in the dining hall.
* w.e.f. 21st July, 1971.
8 *18. Equipment.- 1[(1) There shall be provided and maintained sufficient utensils, crockery, cutlery, furniture and any other equipment necessary for the efficient running of the canteen/joint canteen/canteens.]
(2) The equipment referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be maintained in a clean and hygienic condition. A service counter, if provided, shall have a top of smooth and impervious material. Suitable facilities including an adequate supply of hot water shall be provided for the cleaning of utensils and other equipments.
*19. Prices to be charged.- (1) Food, drink and other items served in the canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be sold on a non-profit basis and the prices charged shall be subject to the approval of the canteen managing committee constituted under rule 21. In the event of the committee not approving the price list or where the committee are equally divided on the issue, the price list should be sent to the Chief Inspector for approval.
(2) The charges per portion of food stuffs, beverages and any other items served in the canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be conspicuously displayed in the canteen/joint canteen/canteens, *20. Accounts.- (1) Proper accounts pertaining to the canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be maintained. All books of accounts, registers or any other documents used in connection with the running of a canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be produced before the Inspector on demand.
(2) The accounts pertaining to the canteen/joint canteen/canteens shall be audited once in every twelve months by registered accountants and auditors. The balance sheet prepared by the said auditors shall be submitted to the canteen managing committee not later than two months of the closing of the audited accounts:
Provided that the accounts pertaining to the canteen/joint canteen/canteens in any public sector undertakings having its own Accounts Department may be audited in that Department.
*21. Canteen managing committee.- (1) The employer and in the case of a joint canteen, the employers of the undertaking concerned shall constitute a canteen managing committee which shall be consulted from time to time as to-
(a) the quality and quantity of food, drink and other items served in the canteen ;
(b) the arrangement of menus ;
(c) time of meals in the canteen ; and
(d) any other matter as may be directed by the committee.
* w.e.f. 21st July, 1971.
1Subs. by G.O. Ms. No. 3466 (Labour), Industries, Labour and Housing Department, dated the 22nd August, 1966.
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(2) The canteen managing committee shall consist of equal number of persons nominated by the employer, or the employers concerned in the case of joint canteen and elected by the motor transport workers of the undertaking or of all the undertakings concerned in the case of a joint canteen as the case may be. The number of elected workers shall be in the proportion of one for every five hundred workers employed in the undertaking or undertakings as the case may be :
Provided that in no case shall there be more than five or less than two motor transport workers on the committee and in cases where the workers refuse to elect their representatives, the employer or the employers concerned shall nominate the workers’ representatives.
(3) The employer/employers shall appoint, from among the persons nominated by him/them a chairman of the canteen managing committee.
(4) The employer/employers shall determine and supervise the procedure for election to the canteen managing committee
(5) The chairman and members of canteen managing committee shall hold office for a period of two years from the date on which it is constituted:
Provided that such members shall notwithstanding the expiration of their term, continue to hold office until the constitution of the next canteen managing committee.
*22. Rest rooms.- (1) The employer of every undertaking shall provide a rest room which shall conform to the following standards –
(a) The building shall be soundly constructed or adopted and all the walls and roof shall be of suitable heat resisting materials and shall be waterproof. The floor and walls to the height of 0.9 metre shall be so laid or finished as to provide a smooth, hard and impervious surface.
(b) The height of every room in the building shall be not less than 3.7 metres from the floor level to the lowest part of the roof and there shall be atleast 4.6 square metres of floor area for every motor transport worker required to halt at night.
The Chief Inspector may, for reasons to be recorded in writing relax the provisions of this sub-rule subject to such conditions as he may deem fit and may require the employer to take such measures to secure the essential purpose of this subrule.
(c) Effective and suitable provisions shall be made in every room for securing and maintaining adequate ventilation by the circulation of fresh air and there shall also be provided and maintained sufficient and suitable natural or artificial lighting.
(d) Every rest room shall be adequately furnished with cots.
(e) Every rest room building and precincts thereof shall be kept in a clean and tidy condition:
* w.e.f. 12th June, 1973, vide G.O. Ms. No. 409, Labour and Employment, dated the 12th June,
1973.
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Provided, however, that motor transport undertakings which are situated within reasonable distances from one another may, with the approval of the Chief Inspector, combine themselves and provide a joint rest room conforming to the above standards.
For this purpose, the undertakings concerned shall submit to the Chief Inspector a joint application showing particulars of the location of joint rest room, the unit or units of undertaking for whom rest room is provided, the distances of each of the undertaking from the place, where the rest room is to be located and such other particulars as may be called for by the Chief Inspector :
Provided that where the Chief Inspector is satisfied that in respect of any particular place the provision of rest rooms to the above standards is not reasonably practicable, he may by order in writing approve any suitable alternative accommodation subject to such conditions as he may specify.
(f) A latrine and a bathroom shall be provided adjacent to the rest room
(2) The employer or the employers in the case of a joint rest room shall submit for the approval of the Chief Inspector, plans and site plans in duplicate of the building/buildings to be constructed or adapted, for use as a rest room/joint rest room, as the case may be.