72. Maintenance and production of reports, registers and other records.-(1) Every employer of establishment shall maintain: -

(i) employee register in FORM XIII;

(ii) attendance register-cum-muster roll in FORM XIV;

(iii) register for wages, over time and deduction in FORM XV;

(iv) registers under this rule shall be maintained electronically or otherwise;

(v) entries in the registers shall be made in English or Hindi and in local language;

(vi) every employer shall produce records and registers, on demand before the Inspector-cum-Facilitator or any person authorised by the Central Government;

(vii) all the registers and other records shall be preserved in original for a period of five calendar years from the date of last entry made therein.

(2) Every employer shall issue wage slips, electronically to the employees in FORM XVI on or before the day of payment of wages to the employee.

(3) In respect of establishment which are required to maintain register under the rules framed under the Code on Wages 2019, the above registers and wage slips required to be maintained by the employer of the establishment under Code on Wages, 2019 and rules made thereunder shall be deemed to be maintained by the employer under these rules.

(4) All registers and other records required to be maintained under the Code shall be maintained complete and up-to-date and unless otherwise provided for, shall be kept at an office or the nearest convenient building within the precincts of the work place or at a place within a radius of three kilometers.

(5) The employer to which the provisions of this Code applies, on or before the 28th or 29th day of February following the end of each Calendar year, upload a return in FORM-XVII and XVIII on the designated portal and provided that during inspection, the Inspector-cum-Facilitator may require the production of accounts, books, register and other documents maintained in electronic form.

Explanation – For the purposes of this sub-rule, the expression “electronic form” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (r) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).

(6) Where the employer to which the provisions of this Code applies sells, abandons or discontinues the working of the establishment, then such employer shall, within one month of the date of such sale or abandonment or four months of the date of such discontinuance as the case may be, upload online, on the designated portal , a further return in FORM-XVII and XVIII referred to in sub-rule

(5) in respect of the period between the end of the preceding year and the date of the sale, abandonment or discontinuance.

(7) In case of manual registers and other records,

(i) be legibly entered in ink in English, or Hindi and in local language and signed by employer;

(ii) be preserved in original for a period of five years after the date of the last report or entry: Provided that when the original record is lost or destroyed before the expiry of five years period, true copies thereof, if available, shall be preserved for a specified period;

(iii) be produced, electronically or by speed post, on demand before the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or an Inspector-cum-Facilitator or any person authorised in that behalf of the Central Government.

(8) Every establishment to which Chapter III (Employees’ Provident Fund ) and Chapter IV (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 applies shall submit a self-declaration in PART-IV of FORM- XVII electronically.