The ASSAM EASE OF DOING BUSINESS ACT, 2016.(Single Document)
## ASSAM ACT NO. V OF 2016

 (Received the assent of the Governor on 29th June, 2016)


## THE ASSAM EASE OF DOING BUSINESS ACT, 2016.


## AN


## ACT


**Preamble.**


to provide for speedy processing of applications and issue of various
clearances required to be issued by various competent authority or
authorities of the State Government of Assam under various State
enactments for setting up industrial or service sector undertakings for
the promotion of economic development of the State and for an
investment friendly environment in the State of Assam and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Whereas it is expedient to provide for speedy processing of
application and issue of various clearances required to be issued by
various competent authority or authorities of the State Government of
Assam under various state enactments for setting up Industrial or
service sector undertakings for the promotion of economic
development of the State and for an investment friendly environment
in the State of Assam and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.

It is hereby enacted in the Sixty-seventh Year of the Republic of
India as follows :
(1) This Act may be called the Assam Ease of Doing Business
Act, 2016.


**Short title,**
**extent and**
**commencement.**


1.


(2) It extends to the whole of Assam.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 26th day of
February, 2016.

**Application.** 2. This Act shall apply to various clearances required under various
State enactments for setting up of industrial or service sector
undertakings in the State of Assam, but shall not apply to any
clearance required under any central enactment.

**Definitions.** 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) "Application" means application as mentioned in Sections 8
and 9 and the word "applicant" shall be construed
accordingly;

(b) "Board of Governor" means the Board of Governors of the
Bureau constituted under Section 5 ;


-----

(c) "Bureau" means Assam Bureau of Investment Promotion
established under Section 4 ;

(d) "Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer
of the Single Window Agency constituted under Section 7 ;

(e) "Clearance" means grant or issue of no-objection certificate,
allotment, consent, approval, permission, registrations

(excluding registration required under taxing Acts of the State
or the Centre), enrollments, licenses and like, by any
competent authority or authorities of the State Government,
required to be issued under various state enactments, in
connection with the setting up of an Industrial or Service
sector undertaking in the State of Assam and shall include all
such clearances required till the industrial or service sector
undertaking starts its commercial production or operation;

(f) "competent authority" means any department or agency or
instrumentality of the Government, Corporation, Board,
Panchayat, Municipality, Development Authority, Territorial
Councils or Councils or other local body, or authority which
are entrusted with the powers and responsibilities to grant or
issue clearances;

(g) "Executive Committee" means the Executive Committee of
the Single Window Agency constituted under section 7 ;


(h) "Government " means the Government of Assam;


(i) "industrial undertaking" means an undertaking engaged in
manufacturing or processing or both or providing service or
doing any other business or commercial activity as may be
specified by the Government by notification, for the purposes
of this Act;

(j) "Notification" means a notification published in the Assam
Gazette and the word " notified" shall be construed
accordingly ;


(k) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;


(l) "Single Window Agency" means a set up constituted under
Section 7 to provide all clearances to the investors under this
Act.

There shall be established a Bureau under the name and style the
Assam Bureau of Investment Promotion (ABIP) for the purpose of
overall supervision and administration of the speedy processing of
applications and issue of various clearances required to be issued by
various competent authority or authorities of the State Government
under various state enactments, for setting up of industrial or service
sector undertakings in the State of Assam, comprising of a Board of
Governors to be constituted under Section 5.

2


**Establishment of**
**Assam Bureau**
**of Investment**
**Promotion.**


4.


-----

The State Government may, by notification, constitute a Board of
Governors for the Assam Bureau of Investment Promotion (ABIP)
under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister of Assam. The
composition of the Board of Governors shall be as follows :
(a) The Chief Minister of Assam –          Chairman ;


(e) The Chief Executive Officer of the Single Window Agency
shall be the Member-Secretary of the Board.

(1) The Board of Governors which shall be the apex body for all
matters relating to Assam Bureau of Investment Promotion,
shall be responsible for,
(a) approving the regulation and procedures of the Bureau and the
Single Window Agency and entrustment of any other function
(s) to the Executive Committee and the Chief Executive
Officer in conformity with this Act ;

(b) creating, sanction, abolition and re-designation of posts
required for effective functioning of the Bureau;

(c) approving the annual budget, accounts and reports including
the audit reports of the Bureau.

(2)    (a) The Board of Governors shall meet at least once in a year

or  such other times as may be directed by the Chairman;

(b) The Board of Governors may invite any expert for any

meeting if so necessary;


**Constitution of**
**Board of**
**Governors.**

**Functions of the**
**Board of**
**Governors.**


5.

6.


(b) The Minister-in -charge,


Industries and Commerce-           Vice Chairman;


(c) The Ministers and Seniormost


Secretaries of all the line departments -     Members ;


(d) At least 3 (three) representatives


from the Industries and Trade


Association of the State nominated


by the respective Association for a term


of every one year -                    Members;


(c) The Board of Governors may co-opt any members, if so

required for assistance of the Board in any matter for
proper and effective discharge of its functions.

3


-----

(3) In absence of the Chairman, in any meeting of the Board of

Governors, the Vice Chairman shall preside over the meeting.

The Government may, by notification, constitute a Single Window
Agency (SWA) for speedy clearances, for investment promotion in
the State of Assam comprising of an Executive Committee of the
Single Window Agency with the following members:

**Constitution of**
**Single Window**
**Agency and**
**Executive**
**Committee.**


7.


(1) Chief Secretary to the Government-of

Assam



- Chairman;


(2) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


Assam, Revenue and Disaster
Management Department.

(3) Seniormost Secretary to the Government

of Assam, Finance.


(4) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


of Assam, Industry and Commerce
Department.

(5) Seniormost Secretary to the Government

of Assam, Power Department.


(6) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


of Assam, Labour and Employment
Department.


(7) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


of Assam, Environment and Forest
Department.


(8) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


of Assam, Home and Political
Department.


(9) Seniormost Secretary to the Government


-Member;

-Member;

-Member;

-Member;

-Member;

-Member;

- Member;

- Member;

- Member

of Assam, Panchayat and Rural
Development Department.


(10) Chief Executive Officer


Secretary


4


-----

(1) The single Window Agency shall,

(2) The Single Window Agency shall exercise its functions under

this Act upto the stage/date of commencement of production
or operation of the undertaking or the service as the case may
be. Any Additional clearances as may be necessary thereafter,
shall be accorded by the competent authority.

(i) The applicant seeking any clearance shall register through the

Single Window portal created by the Single Window Agency
for the purpose and on registration, applicant shall be given a
unique ID and password for future reference;

(ii) The application form along with prescribed attachment shall

be submitted/uploaded online, wherever feasible. Other
attachments, wherever necessary, shall be sent to the
concerned competent authority through courier, and can be
tracked online through a built-in system as per guidance
available in the Single Window Portal;

(iii) On receipt of the application form online, the system shall

automatically forward it to the concerned competent authority.
The Single Window Agency shall hand over hard copy or
copies of such application/s to the officer under the disposal of
the Chief Executive Officer to follow up and get the clearance
within the stipulated time;

5


**Functions of the**
**Single Window**
**Agency.**

**Procedure for**
**online**
**application for**
**obtaining**
**clearance.**


8.

9.


(i) be responsible for creation of a dedicated Centralized

Web Portal with connectivity, so that the investors may
submit application form/s online, as required by them for
obtaining various clearances;

(ii) be headed by a Chief Executive Officer to be appointed

by the Government;

(iii) prepare a combined application form for online

submission by the investors for obtaining various
clearances, which shall consist of,
(i) forms under the relevant Central enactments without

any change; and


(ii) existing forms or new forms in lieu of the existing

forms under the relevant state enactments;

(iv) publish downloadable application form/s, comprehensive

check lists, etc. covering all activities in their Portal;


(v) follow the required procedures to be observed under

section 9;

(vi) perform any other functions as entrusted to them by the

Bureau for carrying out the provisions of this Act.


-----

(iv) All competent authorities shall be provided online access to

the Single Window Portal through a secured user ID and
password, to process the applications forwarded to them ;

(v) For additional attachments despatched by courier to respective

competent authority, the concerned competent authority shall
enter the date specific to clearance in their record;

(vi) In case the competent authority does not acknowledge the

receipt of attachment within 3 (three) working days of
despatch, as noted initially in the system, the fourth working
day from despatch shall be construed as reference date specific
to clearance;

(vii) The competent authority may ask for additional information

from the applicant only once, within first 3 (three) days of
application which may be extended up to a maximum of
7(seven) days in case of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation,
under intimation to the Chief Executive Officer;

(viii) The competent authority shall process the application and

communicate the decision regarding approval or rejection of
the request alongwith comments and upload the same in the
system within the prescribed time limit. Approval or rejection
letter shall bear the digital signature of the competent
authority. A hard copy of the approval shall be forwarded to
the applicant as well as to the Chief Executive Officer ;

(ix) Once the request is approved by the concerned competent

authority, the applicant can take a print out of the approval;

(x) The applicant/s may file online for Multiple clearances.

Applicant/s shall be given an option to file for all clearances at
one time or multiple time, as the case may be ;

(xi) At each stage of the application, an e-mail and SMS alerts

shall be sent to the applicant ;


(xii) The application shall be submitted with the prescribed fee in

the prescribed manner to the Single Window Agency ;

(xiii) The Single Window Agency shall keep all records of

clearances, etc. for future record ;


(xiv) The Single Window Agency shall submit a report to the

Bureau, the Government as well as to the Chairman of the
Executive Committee about the status of application received,
disposal, pending and reasons for pending on monthly basis ;

(xv) There shall be a dedicated helpline number to provide helps to

the investors while filing application form online ;

6


-----

**Self** 10.
**Certification.**


(xvi) Competent authority or authorities having its own web portal

with facilities of online submission, tracking, etc. shall
continue with the existing portal till such time as deemed fit
and proper in consultation with the Single Window Agency.
These web portals shall be hyperlinked with the portal created
under the Single Window Agency. However competent
authority shall take initiative to interlink with the web portal
created by the Single Window Agency.

(1) Every applicant shall furnish a "Self Certificate" at the time of
Submitting Online application to the Single Window Agency
in the format attached with the application form.

(2) The Self Certificate furnished by the applicant shall be taken
into consideration and accepted by the competent authority as
a reliable document to which the applicant shall be fully
responsible.

Explanation: The word "applicant" mentioned in Sections 8
and 9 of this Act shall also mean Registered Technical
Personal (RTPs) through whom the Building permission
proposals are submitted in respect of Guwahati Metropolitan
Development Authority (GMDA).

(1) There shall be a permanent set up of the Single Window
Agency in an appropriate location as may be decided by the
Government in the Industries and Commerce Department, with
all basic required infrastructure, officers and staff as may be
prescribed :

Provided that no posts of the Single Window Agency shall

be created without prior approval of the Bureau and the
Government.

(2) The State Government shall appoint a Senior All India
Services Officer as the Chief Executive Officer for carrying
out the day to day functions of the Single Window Agency.

(3) The staffing pattern, qualifications, salary and allowances and
other conditions of service of the officers and staff of the
Single Window Agency shall be such as may be prescribed .

(4) Initially, to start with its functions till the completion of the
recruitment process on a regular-basis, the concerned
departmental staffs. and officers of the Industries and
commerce Department shall be placed under the disposal of
the Chief Executive Officer by the Government by
notification, for such time as may appear to it to be necessary
for smooth functioning of the Single Window Agency:

Provided that such officers and staff shall draw salaries
and allowances from the parent department as admissible to
them.

7


**Office, Officers**
**and staff of the**
**Single Window**
**Agency.**


11.


-----

**Power to engage**
**or outsource**
**persons.**

**Functions of the**
**Executive**
**Committee.**


(5) Subject to such condition and for such time as may be ordered
from time to time, the competent authorities involved in the
Single Window Clearance system under this Act shall place at
least one Senior Officer and such other staff including Grade III and Grade-IV staff under the disposal of the Chief
Executive Officer initially and they will draw their salary and
allowances from the competent authority concerned :

Provided that such officers and staff shall not be entitled
to any additional financial benefit except the traveling
allowances admissible to them as per Government norms.

12. The Single Window Agency may engage or outsource any person or
persons while performing its activities with the approval of the
Executive Committee.

13. The Executive Committee,
(a) shall regularly monitor, supervise and review the functioning
of the Single Window Agency set up under this Act ;

(b) shall sit at least once in a quarter or such other times as may
be directed by the Chairman of the Committee ;

(c) shall be responsible for recommending to the Board of
Governors of the Bureau regarding any critical clearance or
relaxation in any matter of investment proposals and
activities of the Single Window Agency ;

(d) shall be responsible for organizing campaign, events,
conferences and meetings both in India and abroad for
promoting Assam as an investment destination ;

(e) may refer any matter or issue to the Government or the
Board of Governors with its recommendation or suggestions,
if considered necessary;

(f) may invite the concerned administrative Head or Secretary
or any other officer of a competent authority as a special
invitee to discuss and finalize any specific proposal/s or
issue/s of such competent authority ;

(g) may co-opt any other member/s if so required, for assistance
of the Executive Committee for proper and effective
discharge of its functions ;

(h) may appoint from time to time, such sub-committee and/or
special committee as may be considered necessary, to assist
it in carrying out its functions and facilitate investment in the
State ; and

8


-----

**Functions of the**
**Chief Executive**
**Officer.**

**Time limit for**
**issue of different**
**clearances.**


(i) Shall be responsible for carrying out any other functions as
may be entrusted to it by the Board of Governors.

14. The functions of the Chief Executive Officer shall be as follows :
(a) he shall receive and process all investment proposals
including new investment as well as proposal of
modernization, expansion of existing industries ;

(b) he shall be responsible to run the Web Portal of Single
Window Agency efficiently, liaise with all competent
authorities, preparation of monthly report and get clearances
from the competent authority in time ;

(c) he shall coordinate with all efforts of the State Government
to encourage new investment and its actual implementation
in the state in respect of all sectors of trade, commerce and
industry ;

(d) he shall receive or cause to be received applications online
for new investment from Private and Public sector, and
examine and process the same for all necessary statutory and
other approvals ;

(e) he shall issue notices to the competent authority, in case of
their failure to provide necessary clearances within the
stipulated time and same be intimated to the concerned
administrative departments for taking necessary action ;

(f) he shall review the process with the team of officers under
him at least twice in a month and sort out any problem faced
by them . In case of any critical issue/s, the matter may be
referred to the Executive Committee for a suitable solution.

(g) He shall be responsible for carrying such other functions as
may be entrusted to him by the Board of Governors.


15.


Notwithstanding anything contained in any state law for the time
being in force, the Government may prescribe time limits for
processing of applications and issuance of clearance/s by different
competent authorities under this Act.

(1) In the event of failure of the respective competent authority
to issue the clearance within the time limit prescribed, the
requisite clearance shall be deemed to have been accorded to
the concerned applicants under various State enactments,
provided the applicants have paid requisite fees if any, the
applications are complete in all respects and they are free
from any material defect:

9


**Deemed** 16.
**Clearance.**


-----

Provided that provisions of this section shall not be
applicable in the matter of allotment of land, approval for
change of land use for industrial purpose and registration of
land documents under the Revenue and Disaster

Management Department of the State Government:

Provided further that the deemed clearance under this
section shall not guarantee issue of subsequent statutory
documents unless the entire process of enquiry required for
the same is complete.

(2) The Single Window Agency shall inform to the applicant
the date on which the application was received by the
competent authority and the date on which it was deemed to
have been cleared under sub-section (1) of this section .

(3) The applicant may proceed to execute the work or take other
necessary action after receiving the information from the
Single Window Agency under sub-section (2) of this section.
but not so as to contravene any of the provisions of the
relevant Acts, rules or bye-laws made thereunder applicable
to such clearances .

(4) The Single Window Agency shall prepare a list of applicants
receiving deemed clearances on monthly basis and inform
the respective competent authority from time to time for
their information and record.

**Exemption.** 17. The State Government may, by notification for good and sufficient
reasons to be recorded in writing, exempt any clearance from the
purview of this Act.


**Fund.** 18.


(1) For smooth functioning of the Single Window Agency,
entire fund shall be provided by the Government through
budgetary support.

(2) The Single Window Agency shall maintain a separate Bank
Account of its receipts and expenditures in a Scheduled
Bank.

(3) The Fund under sub-section (1) shall be utilized for the
following :
(a) Procurement of IT Hardware/Software, cost towards

development of software, maintenance of

Hardware/Software, payment towards connectivity
charges, Annual charges of leased land, furniture and
fixtures, procurement of electrical equipments, printing
paper, postage and stamps, contingencies, mid term
study, preparation of Request for Proposal (RFP) and to
defray any other statutory dues etc.

(b) Salary for the officers and staff of the Single Window

Agency including outsourced and contractual staff
engaged by the Single Window Agency ;

10


-----

**Account and** 19.
**Audit.**


(c) Cost towards payment of rent, Travelling allowances for

the Chief Executive Officer and other officers and staff.

(d) Cost towards printing and stationery, payment of

electricity bills, telephone bills, mobile bills, bill for
helpline telephone number, etc. and any more head of
expenditure approved by the Executive Committee.

(1) The Single Window Agency shall cause to be maintained
proper books of accounts and other books as may be
prescribed and prepare an annual statement of accounts.

(2) The Single Window Agency shall cause its accounts to be
audited annually by the statutory and Government auditors.
The auditors shall have the right to demand the production of
books, accounts, connected vouchers, documents and to
papers and inspect the office of the Single Window Agency.

(3) As soon as the accounts of the Single Window Agency have
been audited, the Single Window Agency shall send a copy
thereof together with a copy of the report of the auditor
thereon to the State Government.

(4) The Single Window Agency shall comply with such
directions as the State Government may, after the perusal of
the report of the auditor thinks fit to issue.


**Fees.** 20. The State Government may by notification, impose such fees or
charges in respect of any service provided under this Act, if so
desired.

**Delegation of** 21. The delegation of Financial power of different authorities for
**Financial power.** making expenditure under this Act shall be as under :
(a) Board of Governors             Full power


(b) Executive Committee           Upto Rs. 1 Cr.


(c) Chief Executive Officer level     Upto Rs. 20 lakh.


Any clearance issued by the competent authority or any deemed
clearance shall be liable to be suspended or cancelled at any time
by the competent authority if it is detected at any point of time that
the clearance has been obtained by false self certification, corrupt
use of false or fabricating documents, use of forged certificates or
documents etc., after giving a reasonable opportunity of being
heard, in addition to taking appropriate penal action under
Section 23.

(1) Any applicant who makes an application for obtaining clearance

under Section 9 and signs and furnishes a Self Certificate to the
Single Window Agency under Section 10 by corruptly using or
attempting to use false or fabricating documents or by issuing or

11


**Suspension or**
**cancellation of**
**clearance.**


22.


**Penalty.** 23.


-----

signing such Certificate knowing to be false and fabricated and
using or attempting to use such certificate as true knowing to be
false and/or indulge in any activities of forgery in order to get
clearance under this Act, he shall be liable to be prosecuted and
punished under appropriate section/s of the Indian Penal Code, Central Act
1860. No.48 of 1860

(2) Any entrepreneur who fails to comply with the conditions or

undertaking in the self certification given to the Single Window
Agency or the competent authority as the case may be, be
punishable with fine which may extend to twenty thousand
rupees for the first offence and for the second or subsequent
offences with fine which may extend to thirty thousand rupees.

(3) The relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Central Act

1973 shall apply in case of the offences committed under   No.2 of 1974
sub-section (1) and (2) of this section.

**Offences by** 24. (1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a company,
**Companies, etc.** the company as well as every person in charge of and

responsible to the company for the conduct of its business at the
time of commission of the offence, shall be deemed to be guilty
of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and
punished accordingly :

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall

render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves
that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that
he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such
offence.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where

an offence under this Act has been committed with the consent
or connivance of, or that commission of the offence is
attributable to any neglect on the part of any Director, Manager,
Secretary or other Officer, such Director, Manager, Secretary or
other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence
and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.


Explanation :- For the purpose of this section,

(a) "Company" means any body Corporate and includes a firm

or other association of individuals ; and


(b) "Director" in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.


Any officer or staff working under the Single Window Agency or
under the competent authority as the case may be, who fails or
neglects to discharge his duty or deliver service/s under this Act
shall be liable for disciplinary action under the relevant rules
applicable to him.

12


**Action against**
**Officer and**
**Staff.**


25.


-----

Assam
Ordinance
No.1 of 2016


**Power to remove** 26.
**difficulty.**

**Power to** 27.
**delegate.**

**Appeal.** 28.

**Power to make** 29.
**rules.**

**Repeal and** 30.
**savings.**


If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of
this Act, the Chief Executive Officer shall make a reference to the
Executive Committee with its suggestions/proposals to remove
such difficulty and the decision of the Executive Committee in this
regard shall be final and binding, subject to ratification by the
Board of Governors.

The Board of Governors may delegate any of its powers to the
Executive Committee or the Chief Executive Officer, as the case
may be, through a specific resolution in this respect.

Any person aggrieved by the decision of any competent authority
or the Single Window Agency on any clearance, may file an appeal
before the Government in the Industries and Commerce
Department within 30 (thirty) days from the date of receipt of such
clearance or any information or communication rejecting the
application, as the case may be, and the decision of the Government
thereon shall be final and binding on all concerned.

(1) The Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying

out the provisions of this Act.

(2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may

be after it is made before the Assam Legislative Assembly while
it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be
comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions
and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or
the session immediately following, the Assam Legislative
Assembly agree in making any modification in the rule or the
Assam Legislative Assembly agree that the rule should not be
made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified
form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any
such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done under that rule .

(1) The Assam Ease of Doing Business Ordinance, 2016 is hereby

repealed.


(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken

under the Ordinance so repealed shall be deemed to have been
done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act, as
if this Act had come into force on the date on which the said
Ordinance came into force.

# s.M. BUZAR BARUAH,
### Secretary to the Government of Assam,
 Legislative Department, Dispur.

13


-----

