PRELIMINARYCentral

Section 2 of The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 in hindi

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a)"accreditation agency" means an agency, whatever be its constitution, registered with the Authority under section 5;
(b)"actionable claim" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882);
(c)"Authority" means the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority established under sub-section (1) of section 24;
(d)"depositor" means a person who delivers goods to the warehouseman for storage;
(e)"endorsee" means the person to whom the warehouse receipt is negotiated;
(f)"endorsement" means signing on the warehouse receipt by the depositor or holder of the warehouse receipt for the purpose of its negotiation;
(g)"electronic form", with reference to information, means any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, microfilm, computer generated micro fiche or similar device;
(h)"fungible goods" means any goods of which any unit is, by nature or usage of trade, the equivalent of any other like unit and are received by a warehouseman as fungible goods;
1. (i)"goods" means all tangible movable goods (other than actionable claims, money and securities), whether fungible or not;
(j)"grade" means the quality standard of any goods as notified as grade designation by the Central Government under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 (1 of 1937) or any other law for the time being in force;
(k)"holder" means,--
1. (i)in relation to a negotiable warehouse receipt, a person who is in possession of such receipt and a right to goods endorsed on it; and
2. (ii)in relation to a non-negotiable warehouse receipt, a person named in it as the person to whom the goods are to be delivered or the assignee of that person;
(l)"member" means a member of the Authority and includes its Chairperson;
(m)"negotiable warehouse receipt" means a warehouse receipt under which the goods represented therein are deliverable to the depositor or order, the endorsement of which has the effect of transfer of goods represented thereby and the endorsee for which takes a good title;
(n)"non-negotiable warehouse receipt" means a warehouse receipt other than a negotiable warehouse receipt;
(o)"notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(p)"person" includes a firm, co-operative society or any association or body of persons, whether incorporated or not;
(q)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(r)"regulation" means a regulation made under this Act;
(s)"warehouse" means any premises (including any protected place) conforming to all the requirements including manpower specified by the Authority by regulations wherein the warehouseman takes custody of the goods deposited by the depositor and includes a place of storage of goods under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity;
(t)"warehousing business" means the Business of maintaining warehouses in storage of goods and issuing negotiable warehouse receipts;
(u)"warehouse receipt" means an acknowledgement in writing or in electronic form issued by a warehouseman or his duly authorised representative (including depository by whatever name called) of the receipt for storage of goods not owned by the warehouseman;
1. (v)"warehouseman" means any person who is granted a certificate of registration in respect of any warehouse or warehouses by the Authority or an accreditation agency for carrying on the business of warehousing.

Summary

An accreditation agency is an agency, regardless of how it is constituted, that is registered with the Authority under Section 5.
The Authority is the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority established under Section 24(1) of the Act.
A warehouseman is any person who is granted a registration certificate for one or more warehouses by either the Authority or an accreditation agency to carry on warehousing business.
A warehouse includes any premises, conforming to the manpower and other requirements specified by the Authority, where a warehouseman takes custody of goods for storage.
A negotiable warehouse receipt is a receipt under which the goods are deliverable to the depositor or order, and endorsing it transfers the title of those goods.
The warehousing business is defined as the business of maintaining warehouses, storing goods, and issuing negotiable warehouse receipts.

Practical examples

1Maya deposits 50 bags of wheat at Apex Warehousing on 5th April, 2021. Under the definitions, Maya is the depositor, Apex is the warehouseman, and the physical building is the warehouse.

2A commercial agency called SafeTrust obtains registration under Section 5. It is now defined as an accreditation agency and can issue certificates of accreditation to warehouses that want to issue negotiable receipts.

FAQ

1. What is the difference between a negotiable and a non-negotiable warehouse receipt?

A negotiable warehouse receipt allows the goods to be delivered to the depositor or their order, and endorsing it transfers the ownership title of the goods. A non-negotiable warehouse receipt is any receipt other than a negotiable one, where goods are delivered only to the person named inside it.

2. Who qualifies as a warehouseman under this Act?

A warehouseman is any person who receives a registration certificate for a warehouse from the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority or from an approved accreditation agency.

3. What physical premises can be considered a warehouse under the definitions?

A warehouse is any premises, including protected places and temperature-controlled storage, that meets the manpower and other standards set by the Authority.

4. Who is a depositor under this law?

A depositor is any person who delivers goods to a warehouseman for the purpose of storing them in a warehouse.

5. What does the term goods cover in this Act?

Goods includes all tangible movable goods, but it explicitly excludes actionable claims, money, and securities.

Test yourself

Q1.Under Section 2 of The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, which of the following is explicitly excluded from the definition of goods?

Q2.Under Section 2 of The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, who has the legal authority to grant a registration certificate that makes someone a warehouseman?

Q3.Under Section 2 of The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, what defines a warehousing business?

Q4.Under Section 2 of The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, how does the definition of an accreditation agency connect with other provisions of the Act?

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