Labour Commissioner 
THE PAYMENT OF WAGES ACT, 1936
INTRODUCTION
The technology revolution has brought electricity to the forefront. To regulate the generation, supply and use of electricity, the first legislation was the Electricity Act of 1887 which provided for the protection of person and property, from injury and risks, attendant to the supply and user of electricity for lighting and other purposes. This Act was repealed and replaced by the Indian Electricity Act, 1903 (3 of 1903). Many practical, electro technical and commercial difficulties were realized during the period of 1903 to 1909. To deal with these difficulties a Bill viz. the Indian Electricity Bill was introduced in the Central legislation to amend the law relating to the supply and use of electrical energy.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
When the Indian Electricity Act, 1903, was passed it was clearly recognized to be a somewhat tentative measure, and it Was anticipated that amending legislation would be called for at an early date. Having regard to the experience gained in the practical working of the Act, the Government of India in 1907 came to the conclusion that the time had arrived for undertaking this amending legislation, and they referred various difficulties which had arisen in its working to a Committee on which electro-technical and commercial interests were represented.
The Act as at present framed vests its administration in Local Governments, with whom rests the power to grant licenses; but the authority or the previous sanction of the Governor-General in Council is required in regard to so many matters that the practical result has been a dual administration. In the case of cantonments and similar "places in the occupation of Government for naval or military purposes" the administration of the Act, is by section 40 placed in the hands of the Governor-General in Council, but these places are situated within larger areas, in respect to which the Local Government is empowered to grant licenses, with the result that separate, and not necessarily consistent, licenses have been granted by the Governor-General in Council and the Local Government, respectively, to the same licensee for the same purpose, in one and the same place. The practical effect of the present system has been delayed, as it has hitherto been virtually impossible for a company to obtain a licence under two or three years. Delays of this nature are obviously most detrimental to the attraction of capital for the development of the resources of the country as the financial position may, and in fact frequently does, change completely between the date of the application and the granting of the license.
Under the Bill, as now drafted, the general administration of the Act, and subject to the control to the Governor-General in Council, the granting of all licenses are left in the hands of the Local Government. The rule-making power, and the delegation of the powers of the telegraph-authority to licensees are reserved to the Governor-General in Council.
Among the more important modifications in the Bill are the following-
(i) The existing provision making licenses compulsory has been taken out, the question of supply to the public without license being otherwise dealt with. It is by no means certain that licenses are either necessary or desirable in the case of industrial companies of certain classes.
(ii) Provision is made for the grant of licenses for "bulk supply", that is to say, to meet cases where the applicant company proposes to generate energy and supply it in large quantities to distributors, who would retail it under a separate license to small consumers.
(iii) The amendment of licenses has been provided for. At present it is necessary to revoke a license and grant a fresh one in order to effect this object.
(iv) The question of compulsory purchase has been dealt with, in regard both to the splitting up of undertakings and to those cases where purchase may he impracticable. The Act provides for the modification, but not for the omission from a license, of the purchase clauses. But these clauses, conceived as they are in the interests of the local authority concerned in a small area, are entirely out of place, and in Great Britain are regularly omitted, in the case of undertakings convering large areas in which various local authorities intervene. It is proposed, therefore, to modify the provision.
(v) Many difficulties have arisen owing to the hard and fast limits of the area of supply over which a license operates, consumers just outside the boundary being debarred from participation in the benefits conferred by the public supply. A new section is proposed to deal with the matter and remove obstacles which are likely to impose quite unnecessary hardships on individuals.
(vi) It is proposed to amend the provisions of Part III of the Act so as to make them applicable to mines and binding on the Crown. As regards railways and tramways, the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 3 in Part II and the first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 31 in Part III of the Act as it stands lay down that nothing in these parts respectively relating to the supply or use of energy shall apply to any railway or tramway subject to the provisions of the Indian Railways Act, 1890. The extent to which it is proposed to modify the latter of these provisions is explained in the Notes on Clauses (clause 30) while it is proposed, as already mentioned, to repeal the former.
(vii) A slight amendment of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, has been proposed with a view to facilitating its application to electrical works.
The examination of the provisions of the Act has brought to light many minor detects of substance or arrangement which it is desirable to correct, and the opportunity has, therefore, been taken to repeal and re-enact the Act with the necessary modification.
ACT 9 OF 1910
The Indian Electricity Bill was passed by the Legislative Council on 18th March, 19 10 and it became the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 (9 of 1910) and it came into force with effect from 1st January, 1911.
LIST OF AMENDING ACTS AND ADAPTATION ORDERS
1. The Repealing and Amending Act, 1914 (10 of 1914).
2. The Devaluation Act, 1920 (38 of 1920).
3. The Indian Electricity (Amendment) Act, 1922 (1 of 1922).
4. The Indian Electricity (Amendment) Act, 1923 (4 of 1923).
5. The Repealing and Amending Act, 1925 (37 of 1925).
6. The Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.
7. The Indian Electricity (Amendment) Act, 1937 (10 of 1937).
8. The Arbitration Act, 1940 (10 of 1940).
9. The Repealing and Amending Act, 1940 (32 of 1940).
10. The Indian Independence (Adaptation of Central Acts and Ordinances) Order, 1948.
11. The Adaptation of (Laws) Order, 1950.
12. The Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951 (3 of 1951).
13. The Adaptation of Laws (No. 2) Order, 1956.
14. The Indian Electricity (Amendment) Act, 1959 (32 of 1959).
15. The Delegated Legislation Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1983 (20 of 1983).
16. The Indian Electricity (Amendment) Act, 1986 (31 of 1986).
17. The Electricity Laws (Amendment) Act, 1991 (50 of 1991).
18. The Electricity Laws (Amendment) Act, 1998 (22 of 1998).