Competition Commission for revamp of labour laws

The country’s archaic labour laws might fail the test of the evolving competition regime. A study by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has underscored the need to revamp the labour rules in the country to remove the operational difficulties for small industrial establishments, which suffer more. While the competition law advocates a market-operated economy, the labour sector has suffered from several inflexibilties acting as entry barriers for small industrial bodies. The government, which finds it hard to push forward labour reforms, has left small industrial bodies suffer at the hands of lengthy adjudications. These inflexibilities hamper the competitiveness in the labour economy. This definitely goes against the basic guidelines of the competition law, which calls for a market-determined way of operation. While the move to bring in key amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act by introducing market-guided regulations was welcomed by the corporate sector, the reform process got stuck on political debate. The amendments would ease the functional climate for enterprises on several counts. With the Left parties parting their ways from the Congress-led UPA, experts feel that the government might try to speed-up labour reforms in the country. Lack of harmonisation in the country’s regulatory framework, comprising about 50 labour related statutes at the union level, has lead to an uncertainty of key legal concepts and definitions of labour, factory and industry. NK Jain, secretary, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) says that many of the terms used under various labour laws use same words in different meanings, thereby leading to conflicting interpretations. He says that such ambiguities have resulted in long-drawn litigations. "Compliance of labour laws has acquired a different dimension in the new economic scenario. It is not only necessary for ensuring harmonious industrial relations in the industry but also for harmony in the society at large," Mr Jain said, adding that his institute has recently forwarded a proposal to the labour ministry to quickly introduce market-friendly labour reforms. By Ms.Bobby Aanand, Metropolitan Jury.

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