Ch. III · §6
Chapter III
Local Committee
Section
Chapter III · Local Committee
Section 6
Constitution and jurisdiction of Local Committee
Transcribed from the official India Code source for reading and comparison. PIH plain-language guidance is editorial and separate; this page is not legal advice.
Plain Language
The Local Committee (LC) is the complaint forum for two situations: workplaces with fewer than ten workers where no IC exists, and complaints where the respondent is the employer.
The District Officer is responsible for constituting the LC. This is not optional — it is a statutory duty once the District Officer is notified.
The District Officer must designate a nodal officer in the specified rural, tribal and urban local areas to receive complaints and forward them to the concerned LC within seven days. This intake mechanism is established by Section 6(2).
Why It Matters
Without the Local Committee, workers in small establishments and those complaining against their employer would have no statutory complaint forum. The LC fills this critical gap.
The explicit coverage of complaints against the employer ensures that the employer cannot use the IC mechanism — which they control — to adjudicate complaints against themselves.
This section is the jurisdictional gateway. If the LC receives a complaint that should have gone to an IC, or vice versa, procedural challenges can follow.
Practical Example
Scenario: A woman working at a small retail shop with five employees is harassed by the shop owner.
Outcome: The shop has fewer than ten workers and the complaint is against the employer. The Local Committee is the appropriate forum. The woman can approach the Nodal Officer or the LC directly.
Scenario: An employee at a large company wants to complain against the managing director who is also the employer.
Outcome: Even though the company has an IC, the complaint against the employer goes to the Local Committee, because the IC is constituted by the employer and cannot impartially adjudicate a complaint against the person who appointed it.
Who Must Act
district officer
- Constitute the Local Complaints Committee for the district.
- Ensure the LC is functional and accessible for complaints from small establishments and against employers.
employee
- Know whether your workplace has fewer than ten workers or whether the complaint is against the employer — in either case, the Local Committee is the forum.
- Use the nodal-officer mechanism under Section 6(2) when it is the appropriate route for receiving and forwarding a complaint.
Compliance
Constitute the Local Complaints Committee to receive complaints from small establishments and against employers
Actor: District Officer · Rule: Section 6(1)
Designate one nodal officer in each specified rural, tribal and urban local area to receive complaints and forward them to the concerned LC within seven days
Actor: District Officer · Rule: Section 6(2)
Common Mistakes
Assuming the IC can handle a complaint against the employer — such complaints must go to the Local Committee.
Believing that workplaces with fewer than ten workers have no complaint forum — the LC exists precisely for this situation.
Confusing the District Officer's role with the LC's role — the District Officer constitutes and supports the LC, while the LC receives and inquires into complaints within its jurisdiction.
Source & Status
- Official source
- India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
- Source version
- India Code PDF — last updated 31 August 2021
- Source location
- India Code PDF, pp. 6–7
- Retrieved
Statutory blocks are kept separate from PIH plain-language and operational guidance. The reading copy is not legal advice.
Legal review status: counsel-reviewed. All sections have valid documentary counsel evidence and publication signals are enabled.
Judicial material: no verified judicial interpretation is published in this reading copy. Judicial analysis is a separate layer from the statutory transcription and PIH editorial guidance.