Warehouse Registration-An Introduction

According to the WDRA, 2007 and the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Registration of Warehouse Rules, 2017, any person commencing or carrying on the warehousing business and also intending to issue Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) has to mandatorily get the warehouse registered with the Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority (WDRA) and also to comply with applicable warehouse legal requirements.

In the year 2007 the parliament of India enacted the Warehousing (development and Regulation) Act. It came into active effect throughout the county from 25^th of October 2010. The Act was incorporated with the objective of providing development along with regularizing the warehouse sector. The WDRA or the Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority comprised of 1 chairman and 2 full time members for the implementation of the Act.

As per the Act and the guidelines laid any individual interested in the warehousing business or intended in issuing Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) have to comply with the legal requirements as prescribed and compulsorily obtain warehouse registration with the WDRA. Warehousing has been seeing to play a very important role in promoting financing and banking. The NWRs issued by registered warehouses help farmers to engage with banks for loans against the NWR which avoids any distress sale of produce. This is turn is also a beneficial entity for financial institutes, commodities exchanges, banks, insurance companies and trade. The Warehouse Manual defines all rules and regulations for accreditation of warehouse, registration of warehouses along with registration of accreditation agencies who work on the registration of warehouses.Warehouse registration under Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) is mandatory for individuals instigating a warehouse business. Since its implementation that is on 1^st November 2017, a portal for registration is available. Besides that, the portal encompasses the guidelines, rules and responsibilities, alignments in the same, and the instructions for registration.

Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA) Registration – For Warehouse

Enactments of WDRA have framed the Investment in Warehouse sector more lucrative and create the alternatives sources of income. Before this, Renting of warehouse with Government Agencies was the main sources of income for a Warehouse. Now an owner of Warehouse can provide storage service in open market. WDRA has opened the Door to farmer, Traders, Primary Processing Units, Grading and Sorting units for storage of their Grain Stock with Registered Warehouse and take the bank loan on such storage items. Indirectly they can save the loss that occurred due to market competition and maintain the quality of stored item. Now they can sell their produce as per their convenient and can take the benefits of market price accordingly.

The WDRA is playing the role of advocacy to solve problems of the warehousing sector for the benefit of farmers. It is also pursuing with the government that the warehousing sector be given the infrastructure status, and crop loan facilities available to farmers at a cheaper rate of interest be extended to post-harvest loans on NWRs and to avoid distress sale during the harvesting season. The Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR) Regulation is in an advanced stage of drafting and once implemented, it will give a further boost to the warehousing sector.

Objectives of WDRA:

The Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA) was established under the Warehousing (Development and Regulations) Act, 2007. The Main Objectives of Forming WDRA are as:

To Protect the Interest of Farmers
To Ensure the Growth and Development of Warehousing Sector
To Ensure Easy Financing with low cost
Increase in Rural Employment
Encourage Scientific Warehousing of Agriculture Produce

Salient Features of the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007

Regulation of warehousing activities

Negotiability of Warehouse Receipt.

Uniform format for Negotiable Warehouse Receipts.

Constitution of Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority

Constitution of Warehousing Advisory Committee.

Powers of the Central Government.

Legal provisions for offences, penalties and appeals.

Registration of Warehouse with WDRA

Any Warehouse which has met out the Norms of WDRA, can registered itself with WDRA. The following are the major criteria for registration as:

The warehouse should be constructed as per specifications of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)/FCI/NABARD/CWC.
The warehouse should be storage-worthy with fool proof security agreements and insurance of warehouse and commodities, as well.
The warehouse should have adequate trained staff with expertise and knowledge for the scientific storage of goods.
The warehouse should have requisite equipment for weighing, handling, and sampling, grading and preservation as well as firefighting and insect / pest management.
The warehouse should have positive net worth certified by a Chartered Accountant or creditworthiness certificate from a scheduled bank for individual warehouse or for its organization.
Warehouse has its own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or adopts the model SOP of WDRA.
Insurance has taken for the stock against fire, flood, theft, burglary, misappropriation, riots, strikes or terrorism.
Deposits security as specified by the WDRA for securing the negotiable warehouse receipts (NWR) issued by the warehouse.
Exhibits compliance to local laws for carrying out the business of warehousing.
Ensure that it has a KYD process in place as prescribed by the Authority.

Objects and Reasons of Warehousing

Various Committees and Groups, such as, those appointed by the Reserve Bank of India in 1954 and 2005, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2001 and the World Bank in 2000 had recommended, inter alia, introduction of a negotiable receipt (NWR) system to facilitate institutional credit to farmers.

Reasons of Warehousing

The law that was enacted in 2007 in the form of the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act had taken into consideration that-

Warehousing receipts issued by the warehouses did not enjoy fiduciary trust of depositors and banks.
There was a fear that it was not possible to recover the loans in case of fraud, mismanagement, etc. by the warehousemen or insolvency of the depositor.
Format of warehouse receipts issued by various warehouses was not uniform.
There were considerable impediments in negotiability of warehouse receipts creating difficulties to farmers and other depositors of goods.
It was intended to make warehouse receipts a prime tool of trade, facilitate finance against it throughout the country and increase liquidity in rural areas.
It was also intended for banks to improve the quality of their lending portfolio and enhance their interest in lending in respect of goods deposited in warehouse.

Negotiability of Warehouse Receipts

The Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007: -

introduces NWR system to improve fiduciary trust of banks and depositors against fraud/ mismanagement.
intends to improve the lending portfolio of Banks and liquidity in rural areas.
establishes a Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).
makes it mandatory for warehouses to register with WDRA for issuance of NWRs.
provides for appointment of independent accredited agencies for accreditation of warehouses meeting norms specified by WDRA.
defines liabilities of warehousemen and prescribes statutory mechanism for enforcement of rights and obligations of the warehousemen and depositors.
provides for penalties and compensation against default/negligence/offence by warehouses.
empowers WDRA to make complaints for cognizance of offences by Courts, etc.

Points to remember

Only a warehouse registered with WDRA can issue negotiable warehouse receipts.
The process involves accreditation before registration with WDRA.
WDRA follows a rigorous process of scrutiny before registering a warehouse
The warehouse should apply to an accreditation agency of its choice for issuance of an accreditation certificate.
WDRA has appointed 16 accreditation agencies (9 in government sector and 7 in private sector) for the purpose.
The warehouse should apply for registration to the WDRA along with the accreditation certificate.
The fee structure for registration with differential rates for State capitals, district headquarters and rural areas has been prescribed @ 2.50, 1.50 and 1.00 per MT respectively with a minimum amount of 7500/-.
A similar amount has been prescribed for the security deposit.

The WDRA has notified 115 agricultural commodities including cereals, pulses, oil seeds, spices, dry fruits, tea, coffee and rubber etc. as per standards prescribed by Agmark, or other approved grading agencies for issuance of NWRs. Besides, 26 horticultural commodities have also been notified for issuance of NWRs by cold storages.

In order to help farmers to avail themselves of this financial benefit, the WDRA has simplified the process of registration of warehouses belonging to Primary Cooperative Societies (PCS) in close proximity to the farmers. The WDRA has approved less stringent norms for the accreditation of warehouses belonging to PCSs and also rationalized the fee structure by removing the minimum amount of 7500/- for both registration and security deposit.

Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWR)

NWR is a receipts issued by Warehouse that have the details of Name of Farmer/Depositor, Stored items Name, Quantity and Quality etc. These receipts can be used as a Negotiable Instruments and a bank loan can be raised against such NWR.

From September 2018 onward, electronic NWR has been launched and now all the registered warehouses are on boarded to Repository System for issuing e-NWR against the deposits. The depositor can use e-NWR to get loans against underlying commodities from banks.

The Government announced a Transformation Plan for WDRA to streamline its activities and introduce IT based platform for registration and monitoring of warehouses. Under the plan, WDRA has setup a portal for online registration of warehouses. It has also setup two Repositories, namely, M/s National Electronic Repository Limited (NERL) and CDSL Commodity Repository Limited (CCRL) for creation and management of electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWRs). The repositories have provided access to all stakeholders including warehouses, repository-participants, commodity exchanges and banks. All the registered warehouses are on boarded to Repository System for issuing e-NWR against the deposits. The depositor can use e-NWR to get loans against underlying commodities from banks and lien will be marked by the repository.

Advantages of Negotiable Warehouse Receipts

Trading in warehouse receipts would connect farmers and consumers electronically, which will go a long way in eliminating intermediaries and helping higher farm gate and lower consumer prices. The advantages of EWRs over paper warehouse receipts include reduction in manual handling, elimination of transportation of paper warehouse receipts, reduction in chances of forgery and quick access to information. The major benefits of EWRs are accessibility to a large number of buyers nationwide with better bargaining powers and realization of higher prices by selling graded produce. Also, farmers would be able to avoid distress sale during the harvesting time.

Better price risk management.
Higher returns to farmers and
Better services (quality) to the consumers.

Here the question remains as to how would the entire system of issuing and trading in NWRs function? A farmer/depositor will bring his farm produce to a warehouse registered with the WDRA and empanelled with a spot exchange. If he does not have an electronic account or he wants a paper receipt, the NWR will be issued in the physical form. NWRs have unique features, such as, anti copy, endless text, fine line pattern, micro printing with rainbow coloring, etc. If he wants an e-NWR (also called EWR), he will have to give details of his demat account, where the EWR will be credited. A warehousemen will do the quality assessment, measure the weight, etc, and pass on the details to the spot exchange and the depository. After receiving confirmation from the spot exchange, the depository will issue the EWR. Thereafter, the farmer/depositor can sell such EWRs on a spot exchange platform. Although, spot exchanges are not the only depository for EWRs, there shall be a separate depository, independent of spot exchanges, for trading in EWRs.

The exchange will guarantee payment to the farmer and delivery of EWR to the buyer. Banks can give finances against such receipts. In this transparent system, there is no question of multiple financing on NWRs. Premium and discounts on NWRs are decided by market-driven forces.The EWR trading would not add to inflation due to transparency in trading of agricultural produce and less physical movement of goods. This will ensure farmers get higher realization, as the number of intermediaries will come down. But this does not mean prices for the ultimate buyer will go up due to this trading mechanism, hence cannot add to the inflationary pressure.

The Authority has notified 123 agricultural commodities including cereals, pulses, oil seeds, spices, rubber, tobacco, coffee etc. for issuing negotiable warehouse receipts and also 26 horticultural commodities for cold storage. The WDRA in consultation with National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and National Horticulture Board (NHB) has introduced the NWR system in cold storages so that the growers/farmers producing horticulture produce may store these commodities in cold storages and may avail the benefits of loan on NWRs issued by the registered cold storages.

To discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to store their produce against warehouse receipts the benefit of interest subvention was made available to small and marginal farmers having Kissan Credit Cards for a period of six months @ 7% on negotiable warehouse receipts.

Benefits of WDRA Warehouse / Cold Storage Accreditation

Other Benefits of Warehouse Registration

Benefits to Farmer/Depositor of Food Grain Stock with Warehouse:

to avoid the post-harvest storage loss.Warehouses which are registered with WDRA, can issue NWR to the Farmers or Depositor of Food Grains in such Warehouse. With this NWR, farmer can avail loan from a Bank and can avoid distress sales of agricultural produce during the peak marketing season and to avoid the post-harvest storage loss.

Benefits to Warehouse Owner:

Open the market for more storage services
Reduce the dependency on Singly Renting Agencies
Increased the Standard of Scientific Storage
Reduce the risk of storage item

E-NWR System makes it wider accessibility and promote the branding of Warehouse.
Better liquidity due to having bank finance facility against NWR. It will indirectly reduce the loss of bad debts.
Better return on Investment.

Note: There are special relaxation for Farmer Producer Organization (FPO’s) and Primary Agriculture Co-operative Societies (PACS) in registration fees and security deposition along with relaxation in Required Net worth Norms. In case the applicant/ warehouseman are a Farmer Producer Organization or a Cooperative, the fee shall be 5,000 per warehouse.

Financial concessions available to Cooperative Societies and FPOs for registration of warehouse

Financial concessions are provided to Cooperative Societies and FPOs to encourage them for registering their warehouses:

The registration fee is only 5000/- as compared to 20000 to 30000 for others
Net worth is required to be only positive irrespective of the capacity, while for others it is specified with respect to the capacity of Warehouse
Security deposit is 50000/- per warehouse in the form of a BG or bank FD (fixed irrespective of the value of NWRs issued by it), while for others it is minimum 1 Lakh plus a percentage of value of NWRs issued.
Training of Warehouse Managers/ Supervisors by the WDRA

Relaxations provided to the small capacity warehouses operated by Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) for registration of their warehouses

Following relaxations have been provided for registration of small capacity warehouses operated by PACS:

In case the warehouse is located on a raised well drained site not liable for flooding / inundations and is away for a place likely to be affected by seepage water a plinth height of at least 30 cm may be accepted.
The minimum limit for capacity to be registered in case of PACS warehouses will be 100 MT.
Availability of parking and manoeuvring space for vehicles shall not be insisted upon.
The warehouse should have a stack plan drawn leaving reasonable space for alleyways.
Other than the Secretary of the society one more staff of the PACS shall be engaged (on full or part time basis) for storage and preservation of the goods in the warehouse.
Other than the Secretary of the society one more staff of the PACS shall be engaged (on full or part time basis) for storage and preservation of the goods in the warehouse.
Availability of security guards may be desirable but not insisted upon for registration of the warehouse.
Availability of a pucca boundary wall / barbed wire fencing shall not be insisted upon. However, the warehouse should have adequate arrangement for locking of godown and safety/security of stocks.
PACS warehouses up to 500 MT capacities shall have at least one fire extinguisher (of requisite type) and six fire buckets.

Net worth requirement for registration of a warehouse

Net worth requirement for different capacity of warehouses is as under:

Net worth Requirement
Storage capacity (in tons)	Net worth (Rupees in crores)
Less than 1,000	0.1
1,001 – 3000	0.25
3,001 – 5,000	0.50
5,001 – 7000	1.00
7,001 – 10,000	2
10,001 – 15000	5
15,001 – 25,000	10
25,001 – 75,000	20
75,001 – 1,50,000	30
1,50,001 – 5,00,000	50
5,00,001 and above	100

Where the applicant/ warehouseman are a Farmer Producer Organization or a Co-operative, the net worth should be positive.

Benefits of WDRA Warehouse / Cold Storage Accreditation

Documents Required Online Warehouse Registration/ License in India

The following documents are required to be attached with the application of online warehouse registration in India

Application in the prescribed form along with the photograph of an individual/authorized representative
Applicant's identity proof as mentioned in the Fifth Schedule of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules, 2017
Standard Operating Procedures
Document mentioning the net-worth as mentioned under Rule 18 (5) of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules, 2017
Insurance policies copy as mentioned under Rule 17 of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules, 2017
Layout Plan of the warehouse(s) for which the registration is desired
Basic Data Sheet (warehouse (cold storage))
Proof of technical standards according to which warehouse (cold storage) is constructed
Equipment list for assaying goods available at the warehouse
Equipment list for weighing goods available at the warehouse
Fire Safety arrangements at the warehouse
In case of owned warehouse: Copy of the Records of Rights or registered conveyance deed in respect land on which warehouse is located according to the Sixth Schedule of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules, 2017

Document showing effective control over the Warehouse, (as per the First Schedule of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules.
NOC from local authorities for smooth operations
Resolution passed by the Board
MOA and AOA
Certificate of Incorporation
Partnership deeds if applicable
Land deed or lease deed if any
Proof of ownership
Compliance certificate from accreditation agency
Financial credibility statement
Security deposit as prescribed by the authority
Registration fee as prescribed

Once all the documents are up to date and fee and security deposits arrangements done the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) can be followed for obtaining the registration of a warehouse.

Application fee for registration of a warehouse

The following documents are required to be attached with the application of online warehouse registration in India

Unit of registration	Fee (non refundable)
Each warehouse with a capacity of 10,000 Ton or less	20,000
Each warehouse with a capacity of more than 10,000 Ton but less than or equal to 25,000 Ton	25,000
Each warehouse with a capacity of more than 25,000 Ton	30,000

Things to know before Warehouse Registration

(1). The applicant needs to file an application in Form A1. If the same person desires to open more than one warehouse then a separate application for registration shall be required for each warehouse. The applicant needs to file FORM A1 separately for each warehouse registration request.

(2). Attach the prescribed list of documents to the form

(3). Pay the registration fee as mentioned. The fee shall be paid through a Bankers Cheque or a Bank Draft of a nationalized bank only. It shall be paid in favor of “Drawing and Distributing Officer, the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority payable at New Delhi”. The fee prescribed by the authorities is divided into 3 categories. The applicant needs to identify his category and pay accordingly

Rural and Other areas – 1.00 per MT
District Headquarters – 1.50 per MT
State Capital Cities – 2.50 per MT

The minimum payable fee for any warehouse registration is 7500. Although, there is a concession for a warehouse owner in the fee if he is a farmer producer organization or a cooperative society, the fee for them is 5000 for a warehouse.

(4). Along with the fee, a Security Deposit has to be paid as well at registration. This needs to be paid through bankers cheque or a bank draft of a nationalized bank and the categories which have been defined are

Rural and Other areas – 1.00 per MT
District Headquarters – 1.50 per MT
State Capital Cities – 2.50 per MT

The minimum amount deposited as security deposit for any warehouse at the time of registration is 7500

(5). Once all deposits and fee has been duly filed the authorities might make calls to the applicant inquiring about any information provided by the applicant in the FORM A1 and the documents.

(6). If all eligibilities are met, fee paid and documentation completed the authorities grant the non-transferable registration certificate to the applicant in FORM A3 within 3 months from date of receiving FORM A1

(7). Once the registration certificate has been received the warehouse owner needs to paste it for display in the principal place of business.

Any registration offered by the authority is only issued when it has been confirmed that

The warehouse is well equipped to store the specified goods for which the registration has been requested
The bureau of Indian Standards specifications have been applied properly during the construction of the warehouse
All handling, weighing, sampling, fire fighting, and pest control equipment are available as per the guidelines well in advance
Adequate insurance policies have been filed
The warehouse has enough skilled manpower and staff with scientific storage knowledge for the specified goods to be stored as per the certificate request.

If the Authority is satisfied that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements under these rules, it shall issue a written or electronic communication to the applicant asking it to submit the security deposit in accordance with rule 19 within a period of twenty - one working days. If the applicant fails to submit the security deposit within the period specified under sub-rule (1), the application shall be deemed to have been rejected.Provided that the Authority may, if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from submitting the security deposit within the said twenty-one working days, allow him to submit the security deposit. Authority shall issue a certificate of registration to the applicant in respect of the warehouse to the applicant within five working days in the form specified in the Fourth Schedule.

Once all the above compliances are assured the applicant receives the certificate of registration from the authority. The certificate holds validity of 3 years. There are constant inspections without providing any prior notice and if any of the prescribed compliances are not met the registration is suspended at any given time, although the authority does give an opportunity to the registration holder to be heard before suspension of the certificate.

Process for Warehouse Registration under WDRA

Even though the general framework for filling the application remains the same, there are certain variations in the form of Individual and Non- Individual registration. Further on the same is discussed in detail.

General Guidelines

Initially, log into the website for registration, renewal, any alignments, or even updating information

The home page provides the Register button on the right top corner, click on it

Fill the form duly with appropriate information such as name, email, and contact number. Subsequently, set a password with a minimum of 8 characters containing a capital letter, a numeral, and a special character

Following that, receive an OTP and proceed with the verification test

Ensuring verification, submit the duly filled application form

On submission, the applicant shall receive a confirmation from the registration portal

Further, the mail id and password will provide login access for WDRA portal from the moment of submission

Individual-Warehouse registration

General Information

Use the login details to log in and click on warehouse registration
Make sure to click on “Individual” for registration
Fill in the details on the application form as before
Following that, save the application by clicking on the ‘save draft’ option. (Note: the form can be saved a few times after updating or changing information when necessary)
In case of any changes, click on the edit application option
Notice that, the portal will generate a blank statement consisting of the applicant’s information.

Warehouse information

Next, fill out the warehouse details such as contact details, address (2 lines), State, and PIN code.
Upload the necessary documents (self-attested) regarding the warehouse and similarly the supporting documents for the warehousemen
Next, is uploading SOP (in case the applicant is devoid of one, the website will aid in generating his/ her SOP)

Insurance information

Once that is done, fill out the insurance details. (Note that, it is an obligation to provide at least three insurance policies like Stock insurance, Break-in insurance, Fidelity guarantee insurance)
Moreover, fill out the details of each policy separately by clicking on + (bottom left side)
Further, select the name of the insurance company
In case of, a stock insurance select either SFSP declaration or Non- SFSP declaration (if the applicant selects the Non- SFSP declaration category, he must produce the information about the commodities)
Furthermore, it is mandatory to provide the policy number, insured amount, total capacity of stocks, net worth of the warehouse.
Next, upload the documents supporting the details

Warehouse basic information

The applicant can register for more than one warehouse. However, he must provide ownership details (lease, own, rental, etc.) with their corresponding due dates
Note that the applicant title must have lasted at least three months to accept for registration
Following that, fill out the name of the warehouse and select the type of warehouse
Next, provide the address along with PIN code and contact details
Subsequently, provide the capacity of the warehouse
Finally, upload the supporting documents

Infrastructural information

Mention the year of establishment and select the construction standard (BIS, CWC, FCI, NHB, NHM, SHM, NCCD, MoFPI, APEDA, State government norms)
Next is the details regarding the security of the warehouse from watchmen (along with the number of guards) to alarm systems
Following that, State if Whether Lorry Weighbridge (WIB) is present or not. If present, disclose the entire detail regarding the WIB
Notify the presence or absence of fire extinguishers along with the number

Surrounding Details

It is mandatory to provide details regarding the jurisdiction police station, distance from the police station, its contact number and STD code
Provide the complete plan of the fence surrounding the warehouse

Size of the

Here, mention the number of the godown for storage. Further, provide the length, height, breadth of each godown. Also, the total capacity of the godown must be specified

Commodities

List of all the goods and commodities that the warehouse will provide storage to

Equipment and staff details

List all the assaying and preservation equipment in the warehouse/li>
List the employee’s ad their designations

Declaration

Provide a declaration that suggests compliance with the laws regarding the warehouse/li>
By choosing the TICK option, the applicant agrees to the terms and conditions
Finally, make a payment of the application fee and the registration process is complete

Non- Individual Warehouse registrati

Except for an initial few variations, the registration is similar to Individual- Warehouse registration. Hereon, the initial few variations are mentioned:

Initially, instead of opting for Individual, select non- individual registration
Further, add warehouseman ID
Here, the authorized representative provides all the necessary details same as above and upload the supporting documents.
Additional details such as name and objectives of the establishment must be disclosed Further on the protocol for filling the application like warehouse information, infrastructure, staff, equipment, surrounding, security, declaration, and the application fee will be in the same manner

Note:

The Warehouse registration certificate is nontransferable
Further, the authority has the right to inspect the unit at any desirable moment without prior notice. Additionally, any fault will lead to cancellation of the certificate
The certificate is valid until suspended or revoked. Moreover, the form is available on the website in case of loss.
It has clearly been stated in the warehouse manual Chapter V by the government that “a person desirous of carrying business of a warehouse in more than one warehouse shall submit a separate application for registration in respect of each warehouse”. A warehouseman under the Act is not allowed to store his/ her own goods in the warehouse registered by the said person.

The insurance coverage requirement for completing warehouse legal requirements

The insurance coverage requirement for getting warehouse License in India with respect to the goods deposited in the warehouse(s) must be against at least:

Fire- Fire safety equipment's arrangement for Warehouse Registration in India includes number & type of fire extinguishers, fire buckets, water arrangements, fire safety alarms and any other measures etc available in warehouse infrastructure.
flood,
burglary,
SFSP(standard fire and special perils) policy is a traditional cover that covers against fire and allied perils to indemnify the financial loss in the event of damage to buildings and its contents
misappropriation and
riots and strikes.

GST Registration for Transporters, Godown and Warehouse

According to the GST Act, all owner or operator of the warehouse, godown or any other place used for storage of goods and every transporter shall maintain the records of the consigner, consignee and other relevant details of the goods stored or transported. It applies irrespective of whether the individual registered for GST or not.Hence the godown, warehouse or transport should opt for GST registration by filing Form GST ENR-01. On filing and verification of the GST registration through the application form for unregistered godown, warehouse or transporter, the portal shall generate a unique enrollment number for the godown, warehouse or transporter.Any person engaged in the business of transporting goods in India should maintain the records of goods transported, delivered and goods stored in transit by the concerned person. The records shall also include GSTIN of the registered consigner and consignee for each of the individual’s branches.All owners and operators of a warehouse or godown are required to maintain books of accounts with respect to the period for which particular goods remain in the warehouse, including the particulars relating to dispatch, movement, receipt, and disposal of such goods. Further, an owner or operator of godown is required to store the goods in a manner that they can be identified item wise and owner wise and is required to facilitate any physical verification or inspection by the proper officer on demand.

Suspension or Cancelation of Warehouse Registration

The issuing authority of the registration certificate for a warehouse also has full rights to suspend, cancel or revoke either temporarily or permanently any registration if

The warehouse owner has failed to comply with any of the provisions in the Act or that stated in the certificate of registration

There has not been a regular audit of the warehouse

Any fraud has been proved in the warehouse and its functioning

If the owner has lost control or has stopped conducting business in the warehouse

The owner has passed the business of the warehouse to any third party

On inspection the authority finds the warehouse incompetent to continue business due to any reason.

The authority in any such condition issues a “show cause notice”. On further investigations by the authority the final decision is taken and worked upon accordingly.

Renewal of registration

The WSP/Warehouseman will need to apply for renewal of registration three months (90 days) prior to the expiry of registration to ensure to retain the same registration number.In case the time limit of 90 days is not adhered and the remaining period· of registration is less than 90 days then the warehouseman will need to submit application for fresh registration of that warehouse.In order to facilitate fresh registration in case of warehouses which have not adhered to the renewal time schedule of 90 days prior to expiry of registration a provision has been made in registration application to mention the old registration number of the existing warehouse. It is, therefore, mandatory for all such warehouseman to invariably mention the old registration number while applying again for registration instead of renewal.

Once fresh registration number is issued the old registration number will be deactivated.The e-NWRs issued against the old registration number will required to be processed and recorded by the warehouseman as delivered and then re-deposited afresh against the new registration number. Though, re assaying, weighment etc. may not be mandated at this point of time, WSP/Warehouseman shall exercise care to keep the validity of the new e-NWR issued as replacement be restricted to the balance of shelf life period and the slab for initial and extended validity prescribed by the WDRA.The repository shall ensure that their records as well as exchange/clearing corporation records shall be updated accordingly.

The submission of application for renewal of registration by warehouseman is allowed only prior to 90 days of expiry of registration. Any violation of the instructions shall be liable to penal action by WDRA as per the Act and rules, regulations and guidelines issued there under. In case, the renewal application is not submitted within stipulated time, the applicant will have to apply for fresh registration of warehouse and will lose the registration number issued previously. Concerns have been raised by the repository (NeRL) and Warehouse Service Providers (WSPs) that in cases where registration of the warehouse has not been expired but balance registration period is less than 90 days, and that fresh registration of the same warehouse is approved, in that event, the warehouse will have both the old registration number as well as new registration number. It was decided that after the fresh registration number is allotted for such warehouses the old registration number will be deactivated. With regard to the valid e-NWRs issued against old registration number (which has now been deactivated), it is reiterated that as per provisions of the W(D&R) Act and Rules, in the event of deactivation/expiry/suspension/cancellation of a warehouse registration, the pending e WRs can only be delivered and no other action like, transfer, trade settlement, pledge etc. can be performed. Warehouseman will need to apply for renewal of registration three months (90 days) prior to the expiry of registration to ensure to retain the same registration number.It is, therefore, mandatory for all such warehouseman to invariably mention the old registration number while applying again for registration instead of renewal. Once fresh registration number is issued the old registration number will be deactivated. The e-NWRs issued against the old registration number will required to be processed and recorded by the warehouseman as delivered and then re-deposited afresh against the new registration number.

Modification of registration

Modification of the certificate of registration in this rule shall be permitted for the following, namely:-

errors in the certificate of registration; and
a change in the goods to be stored in the warehouse.

Penalty for non compliance

If the procedure for registration of warehouse is not duly complied in accordance to the applicable provisions of Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007or not fulfilling the warehouse legal requirements then there are penal provisions in the form of hefty monetary fines or imprisonment or both.

Offenses By Warehouseman

Any warehouseman knowingly issuing a negotiable warehouse receipt without taking the actual physical delivery of the goods in his warehouse or a warehouseman or an agent or servant of the warehouseman who issues a warehouse receipt without reasonably satisfying himself that the goods for which such warehouse receipt is issued have actually been received or the number, weight or grade of the goods corresponds to the number, weight or grade specified in the warehouse receipt or the goods are under his actual control at the time of issuing such warehouse receipt, commits an offence and shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to four times the value of the goods or with both.

Offences by companies

Where an offence under this Chapter is committed by a company, every person, who at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of the company or was responsible for making the deposit, as the case may be, 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 punishment if he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention.

Offenses By Warehouseman

A warehouseman or an agent or servant of the warehouseman, who knowingly issues a duplicate negotiable warehouse receipt without substantially following the procedure for the issue of a duplicate warehouse receipt, commits an offence and shall be punishable for such offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
A warehouseman or an agent or servant of the warehouseman, who, knowingly that the negotiable warehouse receipt in respect of such goods is outstanding and is not cancelled, delivers the goods without obtaining possession of such negotiable warehouse receipt at or before the time of such delivery and thereby causes unlawful loss or gain to any person, commits an offence and shall be punishable for such an offence by imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
A warehouseman who fails, on surrender of a negotiable warehouse receipt by the depositor or endorsee and payment of all his lawful charges and cancellation of encumbrances endorsed on the receipt, within the declared shelf-life of the goods, as mentioned therein to deliver the goods represented by the receipt commits an offence and shall be punishable for such offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to three times the value of the goods or with both.
Any depositor, who declared as the value of the goods delivered by him for storage with a warehouseman an amount which he does not believe to be the proper value, commits an offence and shall be punishable for such an offence with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.

Offences by companies

Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Chapter has been committed by a company and it is proved that such an offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly

Compliances for the warehouses

Attain the requirements laid down for registration

This includes maintaining operative control over the warehouse while following the criteria set in registration rules. Besides, it is necessary to maintain the minimum net worth. Also, update to advanced infrastructure and equipment from time to time. That apart, maintaining appropriate standard procedure, insurance compliance and updating security deposit are mandatory.

The compulsions of a warehouse

Retaining the quantity and quality of the goods
Issuing NWR for the goods and deliver to the holder. Emphasize the holder to acknowledge the NWR as well as state the receival of goods
Maintain complete records to uphold transparency
Cooperate and provide complete assistance during the inspection
Resolve any loss effectively
Avoid selling and misusing of goods at all costs

The revelation of necessary Information

In case the warehouse is subjected to any of the following scenarios, a written letter must be submitted to the authority specifying the reason.
Submit a letter within 15 days if any managerial person has opted out or been replaced.
Submit a letter within 15 days if any change in ownership
Any change in the net worth of the establishment
In case of a dispute of goods
Problem with the NWR
In case of a change in the location of the warehouse

Disclosure of warehouse receipt information

It is important to submit the report of overall transactions with receipts to the authority. Accordingly, the receipts must cover:
The total number of receipts
An account of all the goods in the warehouse
Approximate market value the goods present along with their receipts from the warehouse
The NWR linked with the bank and financial establishments

Further, Additional functions of the warehouse are to issue warehouse receipts and register under e-negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR) repository.

Compliance with standard operating procedure

A warehouseman shall comply with its standard operating procedure submitted under rule 21 in respect of registered a warehouse at all times.
A warehouseman shall ensure that it takes measures to monitor its internal compliance with the standard operating procedure.
A warehouseman may modify, update or revise the standard operating procedure in respect of registered warehouse at any time, except when the Authority has directed the warehouseman of an inspection or investigation.
The warehouseman shall submit the standard operating procedure that is modified, updated or revised to the Authority immediately after such modification, updation or revision.
Any modification, updation or revision of standard operating procedure shall have no effect, unless it has been submitted to the Authority.
The Authority may reject any modification, updation or revision, unless it meets the minimum standards provided under sub-rule (4) of rule 21.
The Authority may specify the form and manner of modification, updation or revision of the standard operating procedure.

Know your depositor requirements

As per the registration rules, the warehousemen will oblige to Know Your Depositor (KYD) rule.
The Authority may from time to time, specify-
the persons responsible, which may include the warehouseman, for collecting the documents to be submitted by the depositor for proving his identity and address before he can deposit goods with the warehouseman, and for the opening of any accounts or maintaining any records of the goods deposited against the name of such depositor; and
the manner in which such information shall be collected, and any other relevant requirements for depositors and persons responsible for collecting such information.
The list of documents that may be accepted as proof of the identity and the address of the depositor shall be such as are specified in the Eighth Schedule.
The Authority may, by guidelines, specify the form and manner of collecting such information, and allow for additional documents or information that shall be regarded as acceptable proof of identity and address of a depositor.

Mandatory registration with e-negotiable warehouse receipt repository

With effect from such date as may be specified by the Authority, no warehouseman shall issue any negotiable warehouse receipts in physical form, and shall register with one or more repositories registered with the Authority for issuing negotiable warehouse receipts in electronic form.
The Authority shall provide sufficient time to the warehouseman to comply with the requirements of this rule.

General obligations of a warehouseman

In the conduct of its warehousing business, a warehouseman shall -

issue a negotiable warehouse receipt only in respect of such goods that have been specified by the Authority from time to time;
deliver the goods referred to in a negotiable warehouse receipt, to the holder of the negotiable warehouse receipt on demand made by the holder after satisfying the warehousing lien;
ensure that the negotiable warehouse receipt holder, on receiving the goods from the warehouseman, acknowledges the receipt of the goods in a form and manner required by the Authority;
take necessary actions to maintain the quality and quantity of goods stored in the warehouse;
maintain and record a complete and accurate set of records and accounts of all transactions pertaining to the operation of a registered warehouse as per the requirements that the Authority may specify from time to time;
ensure that the physical inventory tallies exactly with the record;
maintain effective control of all registered warehouse storage space;
provide necessary assistance in the execution of inspections and audits by the Authority;
resolve grievances efficaciously;
not differentiate among depositors regarding use of and access to a warehouse;
not store goods belonging to itself in a registered warehouse; and
not sell, remove or dispose of the goods deposited in a registered warehouse except as permitted under the Act.

A warehouseman must ensure that all warehouse receipts issued by it, negotiable or otherwise, comply with the requirements of section 11 of the Act and the rules, regulations and notifications made thereunder.

A warehouseman shall submit monthly reports to the Authority in such form and manner, including in electronic form, as may be specified by the Authority in this behalf.
The monthly reports to be submitted under this rule shall contain the following details of warehouse receipts in respect of the preceding month, namely:-

the total number of warehouse receipts (negotiable and non-negotiable) issued, redeemed, or canceled;
the total number of un-issued negotiable warehouse receipts in his possession, if any;
the commodity wise stock position of all goods against which the warehouseman has issued warehouse receipts (negotiable and non-negotiable);
the aggregate market value of all goods against which the warehouseman has issued warehouse receipts (negotiable and non-negotiable) as on the last day of the preceding month; and
the negotiable warehouse receipts pledged with banks and financial institutions;

The Authority may require additional information regarding the negotiable warehouse receipts issued by the warehouseman, or the goods stored by the warehouseman in registered warehouses.

Every warehouseman shall keep in a place of safety a complete and accurate set of records and accounts of all transactions pertaining to the operation of a warehouse including records and accounts of all goods received in the warehouse and withdrawn there from, of all un issued receipts in his possession, of all receipts issued, returned to, or cancelled, by him i.e. the warehouseman shall keep all the records and accounts of the warehouse business in numerical sequence separate and distinct from the records and accounts of any other business in such form and in such manner and for such period as the Authority may, by regulations, specify and shall make available to the Authority for inspection the records and accounts of the warehouse business at any time as may be desired by the Authority.

Special powers of warehouseman to deal with perishable and hazardous goods

If the goods are of a perishable or hazardous nature, or their keeping shall deteriorate greatly in value or damage other property, the warehouseman may give notice that is reasonable and possible under the circumstances to the holder of the receipt for the goods, if the name and address of the holder is known to the warehouseman or if not known to the warehouseman, then, to the depositor, requiring that person to satisfy the lien on the goods and to remove them from the warehouse.
If the person, to whom a notice under sub-section (1) is given, fails to satisfy the lien and remove the goods within the time specified in the notice, the warehouseman may sell the goods at public or private sale without advertising. The notice referred to in sub-section (1) may be given by sending it by electronic mail, speed post or registered post or telegraphically addressed to the person to whom it is to be given at the last known address of the person and the notice is deemed to be given on the third day of the mailing.
If the warehouseman after a reasonable effort is unable to sell the goods, the warehouseman may dispose of them in such other manner as he deems proper and shall incur no liability for that reason.
From the proceeds of any sale or disposal of goods made under this section, the warehouseman shall, after satisfying his lien, hold the balance in trust for the holder of the receipt.
No notice shall be necessary if the warehouseman is satisfied on reasonable grounds that in the
If, at any time, the warehouseman is satisfied that the quality of any fungible goods or any part thereof has so deteriorated or is so deteriorating that it is necessary to do so, to protect the holders of negotiable warehouse receipts from loss and time is not sufficient for him to seek their instructions, he may, subject to the regulations in this behalf, dispose off the goods or any part thereof and keep the sale proceeds after satisfying his lien in an escrow account for the benefit of the holders of receipts.In case of disposal of fungible goods under sub-section (7), the warehouseman shall, at the choice of the holder of the receipt, either pay the sale proceeds or deliver equivalent goods of the same grade, quality and quantity to him.
Any endorsee shall have the right to intimate the address for service recorded with the warehouseman.

Lien of warehouseman on goods

Every warehouseman has a lien on goods deposited with him for storage, whether deposited by the owner of the goods or by his authority, or by any person entrusted with the possession of the goods by the owner or by his agent.
The lien of the warehouseman is for the amount of the storage and maintenance charges including—

all lawful charges for storage and preservation of the goods;
all reasonable charges for—
any notice required to be given under the provisions of this Act;
notice and advertisement of sale;
sale of goods where default is made in satisfying the lien of the warehouseman; and
compliance of statutory provisions.

In case of any endorsement on the face of a negotiable warehouse receipt, by a bank or the warehouseman, such endorsement shall be evidence of a pledge and the pledgee shall have priority over the interest of the holder of the receipt.

In case of any pledge referred to in sub-section (3), the warehouseman shall not deliver the goods unless the endorsement of the pledge has been duly got cancelled.

In case the goods are not taken back within the declared period of storage, the warehouseman shall have the right to recover his charges, selling the goods by public auction, or in any other manner provided in this section any goods upon which he has a lien.

The warehouseman shall give a notice in writing of his intention to sell the goods to the person liable as debtor for the charges for which the lien exists or to the owner or person owning the right of property of the goods.

The notice under sub-section (6) shall—

contain all the details about the goods, the location of warehouse, date of deposit, the name of depositor and a statement of lien claimed by the warehouseman for the goods stored in the warehouse; and
state that unless the charges are paid within the stipulated time mentioned in the notice, the goods shall be advertised for sale and sold by public auction at a time and place as specified in the notice.

If the charges are not paid on or before the day mentioned in the notice, then, unless any other mode of sale is specified by the Authority, by regulations, an advertisement of the sale shall be published in a leading newspaper having circulation in the locality where the sale is to be held as well as where the owner of the goods is located and the sale shall be held not less than fourteen days from the date of first publication of the advertisement.

The warehouseman shall, from the proceeds of the sale, satisfy his lien and shall pay over the surplus, if any, to the person entitled thereto.

If the surplus is not demanded by the person entitled thereto within ten days after the sale of goods or if there are different claims, the warehouseman shall seek instructions from the Authority and act as per the orders of the Authority.

Warehouse receipts

A warehouse receipt, which may be either in writing or in electronic form, shall be a document of title to goods in writing if it contains all the following particulars, namely:—

receipt number;
warehouse registration number and date up to which it is valid;
name of the warehouse and its complete postal address;
name and address of the person by whom or on whose behalf the goods are deposited;
date of issue of the warehouse receipt;
statement that the goods received shall be delivered to the holder thereof, or that the goods shall be delivered to the order of a named person;
rates of storage charges and handling charges;
description of the goods or of the packages containing them with particulars of quantity and quality or grade;
market value of the goods at the time of deposit;

private marks of depositor on the goods or packages, if any, except in the case of fungible goods;
name of the insurance company indemnifying for fire, flood, theft, burglary, misappropriation, riots, strikes or terrorism;
whether the warehouse receipt is negotiable or non-negotiable;
statement of the amount of any advance made and of any liability incurred for which the warehouseman claims his lien;
date and signature of the warehouseman or his authorized agent;
declared shelf-life of goods;
the fact that the warehouseman holds the lien on the goods deposited for his storage and handling charges; and
that the receipt would be valid only till the date of expiry of declared shelf- life of the goods for which it is issued.

In case a warehouseman willfully omits from a negotiable warehouse receipt any of the particulars set out in sub-section (1), he shall be liable for damages caused by such omission. No warehouse receipt shall, by reason of the omission only of any of the particulars set-forth in sub-section (1), be deemed to be invalid for the purpose of settlement of disputes or claims. Authority may, with the prior approval of the Central Government, add, delete or modify any particulars as specified in sub-clause (1) for all or any commodity or class of commodities or for any class of warehouses.

Negotiability of warehouse receipts

A negotiable warehouse receipt may be negotiated by its delivery if, by the terms of the receipt, the warehouseman undertakes to deliver the goods to the order of a named person, and that person or a subsequent endorsee has endorsed it. Where a negotiable receipt is transferred for valuable consideration by delivery, and the endorsement of the transferor is essential for negotiation, the transferee acquires a right against the transferor to compel him to endorse the receipt, unless a contrary intention appears, and the negotiation takes effect as of the time when endorsement is made. A person who, for valuable consideration, negotiates a negotiable warehouse receipt by endorsement and delivery, including one who assigns for valuable consideration, a claim secured by a receipt, unless a contrary intention appears, warrants the following:—

that the receipt is genuine;
that the person has a legal right to negotiate or transfer it;
that the person has no knowledge of any fact that would impair the validity of the receipt;
that the person has a right to transfer the title to the goods; and
that the goods are merchantable or fit for a particular purpose when those warranties would have been implied, if the contract of the parties had been to transfer without a receipt the goods represented by it.

The endorsement of a receipt does not make the endorser liable for any failure on the part of the warehouseman or previous endorsers of the receipt to fulfill their respective obligations.The validity of the negotiation of a receipt is not impaired by the fact that—

the negotiation was a breach of duty on the part of the person making the negotiation; or
the owner of the receipt was induced by fraud, mistake or duress to entrust the possession or custody of the receipt to that person, if the person to whom the receipt was negotiated or a person to whom the receipt was subsequently negotiated, paid value for it without knowing of the breach of duty, fraud, mistake or duress.

If a person having sold, mortgaged or pledged goods that are in the custody of a warehouseman and for which a negotiable receipt has been issued, continues in possession of the negotiable receipt, the subsequent negotiation of it by that person under any sale or other disposition of the goods to any person receiving the receipt in good faith, for valuable consideration and without notice of the previous sale, mortgage or pledge, has the same effect as if a previous purchaser, mortgagee or pledgee of the goods, as the case may be, had expressly authorized the subsequent negotiation.

When a negotiable warehouse receipt has been issued in respect of any goods, the warehouseman shall not deliver the goods to the depositor or endorsee, until the due charges are paid to the custodian from the date of initial deposit till delivery is made and the warehouse receipt is surrendered for cancellation. A non-negotiable warehouse receipt may be transferred by the holder by delivery to a purchaser or donee of the goods in writing executed by the holder.

A person to whom the goods covered by a non-negotiable warehouse receipt is transferred acquires—

the title of the transferor to the goods; and

the right to deposit with the warehouseman the receipt or duplicate thereof or to give notice in writing to the warehouseman of the transfer.

The transferee shall acquire the benefit of the obligation of the warehouseman to hold goods in storage for him according to the terms of the receipt upon deposit of the transfer of the goods and on giving notice in writing of the transfer and upon the warehouseman having a reasonable opportunity of verifying the transfer.In the hands of a holder who has purchased a negotiable warehouse receipt for valuable consideration, it shall be conclusive evidence of the goods described in it as against the warehouseman or any person claiming through him.

A warehouseman who issues a non-negotiable warehouse receipt shall cause to be plainly marked upon its face the words “non-negotiable” or “not negotiable” in English or in the language in which it is issued. In case of non-compliance of sub-section (2), a holder of the warehouse receipt who purchases it for valuable consideration believing it to be a negotiable warehouse receipt may, at his option, treat the receipt as vesting in him all rights attaching to a negotiable warehouse receipt and imposing upon the warehouseman the same liabilities which he would have incurred had the receipt been a negotiable warehouse receipt and the warehouseman shall be liable accordingly. A negotiable warehouse receipt shall be valid for delivery till the date of expiry of the declared shelf-life of the goods for which it is issued.

Presumption in certain cases

In a dispute between an endorser of a negotiable warehouse receipt and his endorsee unless it is proved otherwise, it shall be presumed that—

the endorsement has been made voluntarily;
the endorsement has been made for full consideration;
the endorser had full legal title in the goods represented by the receipt; and
the endorsement has extinguished all the rights, title and interest of the endorser in the goods.

Issue of duplicate receipt

No warehouseman shall issue a warehouse receipt without actually receiving the goods of the quantity, quality or grade and other particulars as may be mentioned in the receipt.
No warehouseman shall issue more than one receipt for the same goods deposited by any person:
Provided that in case of a loss or destruction, a duplicate receipt may be issued in such manner as may be specified by the Authority by regulations.
If a warehouseman fails to comply with the provisions of sub-section (2), he would be liable for all such damages caused by the failure to any person who has transacted on such receipt for valuable consideration, believing it to be an original, even though the transaction is after the delivery of the goods by the warehouseman to the holder of the original receipt.
A receipt on the face of which the word “duplicate” is plainly marked is a representation and warranty by the warehouseman that it is an accurate copy of a receipt properly issued and not cancelled on the date of issue of the duplicate warehouse receipt.

Guidelines for Insurance

The 3 Types of Insurance Policies namely Standard Fire and Standard Perils (SFSP) Policy, Burglary Policy and Fidelity Guarantee Insurance Policy are mandatory for warehouse owner and details will be entered for each policy by warehouseman in warehouse license application.

The risk covered in SFSP should include all risks related to Fire, Flood, Riots & strikes, malicious damage and Earth quake etc. (for information Std. SFSP covers - Fire, Lightning, Explosion/ Implosion, Riot, Strike, Malicious Damage, Storm, Flood and Inundation, Impact damage, Subsidence and landslide including Rock slide, Bursting and overflowing of water tanks, Bush Fire etc.)

Under SFSP-100 % stock (in one / all godowns across various locations) should be covered with all above risks. Type of policy could be Floater Declaration or Non-Declaration.Burglary and Fidelity Guarantee Insurance Policy should cover the 100% stock for such risks considering the rider as minimum first loss 10% basis criteria.

It is mandatory for warehouseman to take necessary value of all above mentioned insurance for stored agricultural produce prior to 48 hours of storage in the warehouse and will immediately be reported to the Corporation / Directorate. Warehouseman shall be fully responsible to ensure necessary value of insurance of stored agricultural produce.Warehouseman has to furnish the Self declaration format as available in on home page of wlms.mp.gov.in and get it notarized on adequate value of non-judicial stamp paper. Scan copy of the same will be submitted through online application and original copy need to be submitted to the concerned District Food Controller office immediately.

Standard operating procedure

An applicant shall not be granted a certificate of registration in respect of a warehouse unless he submits standard operating procedures in respect of all the warehouses.
The applicant may submit the same standard operating procedures in respect of more than one or all warehouses.
The standard operating procedures shall provide for the following aspects -

procedure for deposit and delivery of goods;
procedure for weighing, sampling of goods to be deposited as per industry standards;
procedure for verification of quality of goods and communication to depositor;
procedure for maintaining details of persons who may act as authorized representatives of the warehouseman for issuing negotiable warehouse receipt;
procedure for ensuring the safety of the goods from fire, theft, burglary, etc.;
procedure for scientific storage of goods, including stacking;
procedure for clear identification of stored goods up to the lowest common factor (for example lot size);
procedure for determining losses caused due to fire, flood, burglary, misappropriation, fraud, negligence and force majeure events;
procedure for internal verification of stock;
procedure for grievance redressal; and
roles and responsibilities of employees (including outsourced employees).

The standard operating procedure shall meet such minimum requirements in regard to the matters specified under sub-rule (3), as may be specified by guidelines by the Authority.

Suspension of registration

The Authority may suspend the registration of a warehouse belonging to a warehouseman for any violation of the provisions of the Act, or rules, regulations or guidelines made or any notifications issued thereunder, after issuing a show cause notice to the warehouseman.
The show cause notice shall include the following details -

the specific requirements of the Act, or of the rules or regulations made under the Act, that the warehouseman or the warehouse violates;
the action the warehouseman is required to take to rectify such violation; and
the time limit within which such corrective action may be taken.

Effect of suspension-

The Authority may by order in writing prevent the warehouse from issuance of any negotiable warehouse receipt during the period of suspension in respect of such warehouse.
The warehouseman shall, during the period of suspension of registration of the warehouse, continue to discharge its obligations in respect of negotiable warehouse receipts already issued by it.
The Authority may, during the period of suspension of a warehouse, conduct or cause to be conducted through an external person, an inspection of such warehouse to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act, rules, regulations and guidelines made and any notification issued thereunder.

Revocation of Suspension–

The Authority may revoke the suspension of registration in respect of the warehouse if it is satisfied that the warehouseman has fulfilled the requirements mentioned in the show cause notice issued under sub-rule (2) of rule 30 and shall immediately communicate such decision to the warehouseman.
A warehouseman, whose suspension in respect of the warehouses has been revoked, may commence the warehousing business from such warehouse after the revocation of suspension.

Inspection of warehouse

The Authority may, by itself or through an external person, conduct a physical inspection of the warehouse.The Authority shall require a physical inspection of the warehouse listed in the application by sending a written or electronic communication to such effect to the applicant. The written or electronic communication under sub rule (2) shall include the details of -

the warehouse to be inspected;
if external person has been assigned to perform the physical inspection, details of such external person; and
any other details as may be required to be communicated to the applicant.

The Authority, through guidelines, shall specify the procedure for empanelment of the external person to conduct inspections. The Authority shall, by order, specify the amount of inspection fee and the manner of payment of such fee to the external person for carrying out the inspection of the warehouse and warehouseman, as the case may be.

Process of physical inspection for registration-

The Authority or the external person shall conduct the physical inspection and collect information of physical parameters of the warehouse as per the requirements under rule 20 and any other requirement specified by the Authority, to the satisfaction of the Authority, and submit an inspection report to the Authority in such form as may be determined by the Authority through guidelines from time to time.The external person shall complete the physical inspection of the warehouse of the applicant within twenty one working days of issuance of letter by the Authority.The Authority shall send a copy of the inspection report to the applicant within ten working days of the date of receipt of the physical inspection report from the external person.

Examination of physical inspection report

The Authority shall, within ten working days, examine the inspection report submitted under rule 9.If the Authority is satisfied on the basis of application and the physical inspection report, that the warehouse does not meet the eligibility criteria under these rules, it shall reject the application, subject to the provisions of rule 11.

Process for rejection of application -

The Authority shall issue a notice to the applicant if it proposes to reject its application.
The notice shall provide at least fifteen working days to such applicant to make representations to the Authority.
The opportunity to make representations to the Authority under sub-rule (2) shall include a hearing before the concerned officer of the Authority, either in person or through written or electronic communication, as required in the notice.
The Authority may allow an applicant to whom a notice has been issued, reasonable time as specified by the Authority to undertake corrective measures, and to revise its application, so that the applicant may meet the eligibility criteria as provided under these rules.
If the Authority deems that an additional inspection of the warehouse is required to satisfy itself with respect to such corrective measures, it may cause a second physical inspection that shall be conducted at the cost of the applicant.
If the applicant has been given time for corrective measures under this rule, and fails to satisfy the Authority about the corrective measures undertaken, the Authority shall reject the application.
If the applicant has failed to reply to the notice within the period specified under sub-rule (2), the Authority shall, -
reject the application; or
allow additional time for replying to the notice.
The Authority, after following the procedure provided under sub-rule (6) or clause (a) of sub-rule (7) , shall issue an order to the applicant stating reasons for rejecting the application, which shall also include details of the specific discrepancies between the application and the eligibility requirements under sub-rule (4) of rule 4 or rule 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 or 21.

Cancellation of registration

(1).The Authority may cancel the registration of a warehouse if, -

the warehouse is in violation of the infrastructure requirements set out in rule 20;
the warehouseman is no longer able to demonstrate ownership of, or effective control over, the warehouse;
the warehouseman is no longer a fit and proper person as per rule 16;
warehouseman violates the net worth requirements under rule 18;
the warehouseman has been repeatedly suspended for a violation of any of the provisions of these rules;
the registration of the warehouse has been suspended and the warehouseman fails to comply with the requirements specified in the show-cause notice issued to it under sub-rule (2) of rule 30;
the warehouseman does not cooperate in any enquiry, inspection or audit conducted by the Authority or external person;

the warehouseman fails to comply with any corrective action required as a result of any enquiry, inspection or audit conducted by the Authority or external persons; or
the order suspending the registration of the warehouse has been issued more than once.

(2).The Authority shall not cancel the registration of a warehouse, except after holding an enquiry in accordance with this rule.

(3).The Authority, or the enquiry officer appointed by the Authority, under this rule, shall issue a show cause notice to the warehouseman which includes the following details -

the specific requirements under the Act or these rules that the warehouseman or the registered warehouse violates;
the information which would enable the Authority to satisfy itself regarding the violation; and
the time limit within which the notice must be replied to.

(4).The Authority or the enquiry officer making any enquiry under sub-rule (3) shall allow the warehouseman -

access to all the material considered in taking the decision to issue a show cause notice;(a).access to all the material considered in taking the decision to issue a show cause notice;
access to any material that was collected in the course of any inspection or investigation under the Act used in taking the decision to issue the show cause notice; and
access to any recorded conclusions or findings that the Authority drew based on material collected during any inspection or investigation under the Act used in taking the decision to issue the show cause notice.

(5).The Authority or the enquiry officer may conduct, or cause to be conducted by an external person, an inspection of such warehouses, to examine the compliance with the provisions of this Act, or rules, regulations or guidelines made or any notifications issued thereunder.

(6).Where an enquiry officer is appointed, such officer shall submit an enquiry report to the Authority after considering all the facts and the submissions made by the warehouseman.

(7).The enquiry report submitted by the enquiry officer under sub-rule (6) shall include the following -

copy of the show cause notice;
all material considered in taking the decision to issue the show cause notice;
copy of all communications and submissions made by the warehouseman to the enquiry officer in respect of the show cause notice;
copy of all material considered during the investigation;
findings of the investigation;
specific violations by the warehouseman under this Act or these rules which make him liable for action; and
name of the enquiry officer, or official of the Authority if an enquiry officer is not appointed.

(8).The Authority shall issue an order on the basis of the enquiry report or on the basis of all the facts and the submissions made by the warehouseman before it and communicate to the warehouseman.

(9).The order issued by the Authority shall contain the following information, namely:-

the decision taken by the authority;
the materials on which the Authority has relied upon to arrive at such decision;
the reasons to take such decision; ;
any right that the applicant may have to get the matter referred to the Appellate Authority; and
the procedure of such reference.

(10).The Authority shall issue an order in respect of each warehouse whose registration is cancelled.

Effect of cancellation

(1). On and from the date of cancellation of the registration of the warehouses, the warehouseman shall,

cease to conduct the warehousing business in respect of such warehouses; and
continue to discharge its obligations in respect of negotiable warehouse receipts issued by it.

(2).The Authority may prevent the issuance of any negotiable warehouse receipts by a warehouse whose registration has been cancelled.

Surrender of the certificate of registration

(1).If a warehouseman wishes to surrender his registration to conduct warehousing business in respect of one or more registered warehouses, he may make a request for such surrender to the Authority in such manner as may be specified by the Authority.

(2).While disposing a request under this rule, the Authority may require the warehouseman to satisfy it with respect to the following factors -

the warehouseman has no pending obligations to deliver goods in respect of which it has issued negotiable warehouse receipts from such registered warehouse; and
there are no pending disputes in relation to the goods deposited in the registered warehouse in respect of which a request has been made.

(3).The Authority may call for information from such warehouseman in such form and manner as may be determined by it from time to time.

(4).The Authority may accept the surrender of registration if it is satisfied that the requirements under this rule have been met.

(5).If the Authority accepts the surrender of registration, it shall inform the warehouseman, and all other stakeholders in the manner as may be specified by it from time to time.

(6).If the warehouseman continues to conduct the warehousing business from other warehouses after the surrender of the certificate of registration of one or more warehouses, the Authority shall return the security deposit only in respect of such warehouse whose certificate of registration has been surrendered.

(7).The warehouseman shall not issue any negotiable warehouse receipt from the registered warehouse in respect of which it requests surrender, on and from the date of submitting the request under this rule, and until it receives a rejection order under this rule.

Grants by Central Government

The Central Government may, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, make to the Authority grants of such sums of money as the Government may think fit for being utilized for the purposes of this Act. There shall be constituted a fund to be called the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority Fund and there shall be credited thereto--

The fund shall be applied for meeting-

the salaries, allowances and other remuneration of the members, officers and other employees of the Authority;
the other expenses of the Authority in connection with the discharge of its functions and for the purposes of this Act.

Accounts and audit

The Authority shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
The accounts of the Authority shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Authority to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and any other person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Authority shall have the same rights, privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General generally has in connection with the audit of the Government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books of account, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the Authority.
The accounts of the Authority as certified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the Central Government and that Government shall cause the same to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Furnishing of returns, Annual Report, etc., to Central Government

The Authority shall furnish to the Central Government at such time and in such form and manner as may be prescribed, or as the Central Government may direct to furnish such returns, statements and other particulars in regard to any proposed or existing programme for the promotion and development of the warehousing industry as the Central Government may, from time to time, require.
Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), the Authority shall, within nine months after the close of each financial year, submit to the Central Government an Annual Report giving a true and full account of its activities including the activities for promotion and development of the warehousing business during the previous financial year.
Copies of the reports received under sub-section (2),shall be laid, as soon as may be after they are received, before each House of Parliament.

Exemption from tax on wealth and income

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957), the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) or any other enactment for the time being in force relating to tax on wealth, income, profits or gains, the Authority shall not be liable to pay wealth-tax, income-tax or any other tax in respect of their wealth, income, profits or gains derived.

Appeals to Appellate Authority

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Authority made under this Act, or any rules or the regulations made thereunder may prefer an appeal to such person or authority appointed by the Central Government (hereafter referred to as the Appellate Authority) within sixty days from the date of such order:
Provided that an appeal may be admitted after the expiry of the said period of sixty days but not beyond a total period of ninety days if the appellant satisfies the Appellate Authority that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the said period.
Every appeal made under this section shall be made in such form and manner and shall be accompanied by a copy of the order appealed against and by such fees as may be prescribed.
The procedure for disposing of an appeal shall be such as may be prescribed: Provided that before disposing of an appeal, the appellant shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
An appeal filed before the Appellate Authority shall be heard and disposed of as expeditiously as possible and endeavor shall be made to finally dispose of the appeal within a period of ninety days from the date of its filing.

System established by WDRA to address concerns of Stakeholders

WDRA has established/plans to establish following system to protect integrity of NWRs:

WDRA-approved accreditation agencies are required to make annual visits to the registered warehouses to ensure continued compliance with prescribed requirements. WDRA plans to establish an inspection system on an ongoing basis for verification/accounting of NWRs issued by registered warehouses. WDRA’s rigorous process of registration and inspection will substantially mitigate the risks of duplicate/forged receipts.
WDRA is in the process of setting up an IT-enabled MIS for issuance of NWRs, online access by banks to NWRs, online endorsement/transfer, pledge, delivery, discharge of receipts, etc. This will meet the requirement of the central electronic registry of NWRs issued by warehouses, and prevent chances of duplicate/forged receipts.
The Act makes the warehouseman liable for loss of, or injury to, goods caused by his failure to exercise such care and diligence in regard to the goods as a careful and vigilant owner of the goods and also provides for compensation to the depositor of the goods
The Act also provides for punishment if the warehouseman knowingly issues a negotiable warehouse receipt without taking the actual physical delivery of the goods or without reasonably satisfying himself that the number, weight or grade of the goods corresponds to the number, weight or grade specified in the warehouse receipt

IT-based NWR System to Protect Stakeholders’ Interests

WDRA has initiated the process to put in place and IT platform for an end-to-end solution for the NWR system.
The objective is to protect the integrity of the NWR system and safeguard interests of all stakeholders - farmers, depositors, pledgees, Banks/FIs, etc., and also to bring in transparency in the system.
This system is designed to promote an environment of secured and easy financing for the farmer community of the country.

The IT application will enable on-line registration of accreditation agencies and registration of warehouses, generation of warehouse registration certificates, printing of warehouse receipts, user-defined MIS and reply to queries.
The online system also would cover the entire NWR lifecycle – from issuance to disposal - and contain all information regarding underlying assets and clearly establish ownership of the NWR at all times.
The receipts would be issued only from a computerized system with a unique number even when there is lack of on-line connectivity.
All mandatory fields have to be filled in and no information can be omitted.
The MIS disables multiple printing of NWR and all duplicate prints are clearly watermarked as “duplicate”.
The real-time validation of the information contained in the NWR (owner, quantity, quality, etc.) ensures that any forged/fraudulent receipts are not presented to Banks as collateral.
It will enable online access by Banks to NWRs, online pledge, delivery and discharge of receipts, system generated SMSs to stakeholders.

This system thus provides features similar to CERSAI (Central Electronic Registry of Securitization Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India) database so as to ensure that multiple pledges are not possible for one NWR at any time.
Once an NWR is pledged by a Bank, no further transactions on NWR are allowed by the MIS till the NWR is de-pledged by the Bank. This ensures that the collateral for the loans is safe against multiple pledge or fraudulent sale.
SMS based updates regarding the shelf life of goods and any deterioration in quality shall be provided to the concerned Bank manager so that suitable action could be initiated by the Banker to protect the Bank’s interest.
The proposed system would in essence make each registered warehouse responsible for the quality assaying, scientific storage, and prevention of losses – thus making the NWRs issued by such warehouses a commercial paper of trust among the banking and financial community.
Additionally, WDRA would ensure safeguard against any fraudulent NWR and provide greater comforts to banks through: regulatory oversight accompanied with the robust system and stringent guidelines for accreditation/registration, mandatory insurance of the warehouse and goods against natural and man-made calamities including misappropriation, ongoing system for physical inspection of stored

Functioning of warehouse

Conclusion

The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) was setup by the Government of India on 26.10.2010 to ensure implementation of the provisions of the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007. The main objective of WDRA is to implement Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) System in the country, which would help farmers to store their produce in scientific storage godowns near by their farms and to seek loan from banks against their NWR. The main functions of the Authority are to make provisions for the development and regulation of warehouses which inter-alia includes negotiability of warehouse receipts, registration of warehouses, promotion of scientific warehousing of goods, improving fiduciary trust of depositors and banks, enhancing liquidity in rural areas and promoting efficient supply chain.
The Government announced a Transformation Plan for WDRA to streamline its activities and introduce IT based platform for registration and monitoring of warehouses. Under the plan, WDRA has setup a portal for online registration of warehouses. It has also setup two Repositories, namely, M/s National Electronic Repository Limited (NERL) and CDSL Commodity Repository Limited (CCRL) for creation and management of electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWRs). The repositories have provided access to all stakeholders including warehouses, repository-participants, commodity exchanges and banks. Both the repositories and the portal have started functioning w.e.f. 26.09.2017. In the transformed system, the process of warehouse registration with WDRA and pledge financing against the deposited goods have been made simpler, safer and more transparent.All registered warehouses are mandated to issue only e-NWRs w.e.f 1^st August 2019.
The Recognized Stock Exchanges like National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE/ICEX) are using e-NWRs for settlement of derivative contracts. The e-NWR has been integrated with electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform by providing interface between e-NAM and repositories.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Warehouse Registration/License in India?
According to the WDRA, 2007 and the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Registration of Warehouse Rules, 2017, any person commencing or carrying on the warehousing business and also intending to issue Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) has to mandatorily get the warehouse registered with the Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority (WDRA) and also to comply with applicable warehouse legal requirements.
2. Who is eligible for warehouse registration?
A person who wants to carry on the business of warehousing may submit only one application for registration in respect of all the warehouses.
3. What is the registration fee for applicant/ warehouseman who are Farmer, Producer Organization or a Cooperative?
In case the applicant/ warehouseman is a Farmer Producer Organization or a Cooperative, the fee shall be 5,000 per warehouse.
4. What is the mode of submission of application?
The application of online warehouse registration in India can be submitted online vi https://wdra.gov.in/web/wdra/home
5. What is the insurance coverage requirement for completing warehouse legal requirements?
The insurance coverage requirement for getting warehouse License in India with respect to the goods deposited in the warehouse(s), must be against at least:
1. (a).fire,
2. (b).flood,
3. (c).burglary,
4. (d).SFSP policy
5. (e).misappropriation and
6. (f).riots and strikes.
6. What is the Fire safety equipment's arrangement to be mentioned in application of online Warehouse Registration in India?
Fire safety equipment's arrangement for Warehouse Registration in India includes number & type of fire extinguishers, fire buckets, water arrangements, fire safety alarms and any other measures etc available in warehouse infrastructure.
7. What is the eligibility requirement of an applicant for granting warehouse license in India?
The eligibility requirements of an applicant for granting warehouse license in India are as follows:
- Identity of applicant
- Fit and proper person
- Insurance coverage
- Minimum net worth as mentioned in the 7th schedule on the basis of the sum total of the capacity of the warehouses concerned.
- Security deposit during the period of registration of the warehouse.
- Complete infrastructure requirements for a warehouse
- Comply standard operating procedure

8. What are the requirements for registration of a warehouse?
The requirements to get a warehouse registered are
- Proof of land deed and ownership
- Poof of partnership if applicable
- Proof of Worthiness of the warehouse to store the specified material
- Proof of compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards while construction
- Proof of skilled manpower with staff having scientific knowledge on storage of specified product
- Proof of existence of required equipment, handling, weighing grading apparatus, firefighting equipment and pest control system
- Adequate security arrangements
- Proof of adequate insurance policy
9. What is the insurance coverage needed for a warehouse registration?
The insurance should cover instances of riots and strikes, misappropriation, burglary, floods, fire and SFSP policy.
10. How does a person get a warehouse registration in India?
The warehouse registration is a simple step of procedure as prescribed by the authorities.
1. (1). File FORM A1 from the web portal wdra.gov.in
2. (2). Attach all documents and pay the security deposit and the fee
3. (3). Wait for review and inspection
4. (4). Once all needs are met the authority grants certificate of registration in FORM 3 with a maximum validity of 3 years.
11. How long does it take to obtain a registration for a warehouse?
The authorities take a maximum time of months to grant the registration certificate for a ware house from the date of submission of application to the authority.
12. What is the fee prescribed for registration of a warehouse?
The fee structure of registration of a warehouse in India has been prescribed as
- Rural and Other areas – 1.00 per MT
- District Headquarters – 1.50 per MT
- State Capital Cities – 2.50 per MT
The minimum payable fee for any warehouse registration is 7500. Although there is a concession in the above prescription of fee if the owner is a farmer producer organization or a cooperative society, the fee for them is 5000 for a warehouse.
13. What is the provision if a warehouse owner commences business in a warehouse without registration?
If a warehouse owner does not comply with the mandatory registration policy by the authority then he/she shall face hefty monetary penalties or in more sever default it may end up in imprisonment or both.
14. If a single owner desires to do business in more than one warehouse then hall a single registration is enough?
It has clearly been stated in the warehouse manual Chapter V by the government that “a person desirous of carrying business of a warehouse in more than one warehouse shall submit a separate application for registration in respect of each warehouse”. The registration certificate issued is warehouse specific and is non- transferable and non- sharable. Neither is the person who is a warehouseman under the Act is allowed to store his/ her own goods in the warehouse registered by the said person.
15. What is warehouse register?
The Warehouse Register is a register of all your company's warehouses. In it you can create warehouses and locations in these warehouses. You can also link products to warehouses and locations. The actual stock updating is done during stocktaking and when performing warehouse related transactions.

16.What is the composition of Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA)?
The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority was established under the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 and it consists of one Chairperson and two full time Members.
17.What is the Mission and Objectives of WDRA?
The mission of the WDRA is to ensure that the interests of the farmers are protected through the growth and development in the warehousing sector. The main objectives are to improve the fiduciary trust of depositors and banks, increase liquidity in rural areas, encourage scientific warehousing of goods, lower the cost of financing, promote shorter and efficient supply chains, enhance reward for grading and quality and ensure better price risk management.
18.How the NWR are helpful to farmers?
The negotiable warehouse receipts issued by the WDRA will help the farmers to seek loans from banks against the NWRs to avoid distress sales of agricultural produce during the peak marketing season and to avoid the post harvest storage loss.
19. Number of commodities notified under the Act?
The Authority has notified 123 agricultural commodities including cereals, pulses, oil seeds, spices, rubber, tobacco, coffee etc for issuing negotiable warehouse receipts and also 26 horticultural commodities for cold storage.
20.How many godowns have been registered under The W(D & R) Act,2007?
1902 warehouses of 105.5 lakh MT capacity have been registered with WDRA since inception. Out of which 274 warehouses are of CWC, 194 of SWC, 1164 are Private Warehouses, 261 are PACS/FPO and 9 are Cold Storages. As of now, 745 warehouses having storage capacity of 62 lakh MT have valid registration.
21. Whether the facilities for post harvest storage loan on NWRs is available?
To discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to store their produce against warehouse receipts the benefit of interest subvention was made available to small and marginal farmers having Kissan Credit Cards for a period of six months @ 7% on negotiable warehouse receipts.
22. What are the Rules and Regulations notified under the W(D & R) Act, 2007 so far?
The following rules and regulations have been notified under the Warehousing (Development and Regulations) Act, 2007:-The following rules and regulations have been notified under the Warehousing (Development and Regulations) Act, 2007:-
RULES
- Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses (Amendment) Rules, 2017.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Registration of Warehouses Rules, 2017.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority, appointment of Chairperson and other members (Amendment) Rules, 2013.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority, appointment of Chairperson and other members Rules, 2013.
- Salaries, Allowances and other Terms & Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members of Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority Rules, 2010.
- Salaries, Allowances and other Terms & Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members of Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority (Amendment) Rules, 2012.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority Annual Reports Returns Rules, 2010.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulatory) Authority Annual Statement of Accounts and Records Rules, 2010.
- Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Appellate Authority Procedure Rules, 2010.
REGULATIONS
- Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts) Regulations, 2017.
- Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Meetings) Regulations, 2012.
- Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (Conditions of service of the Officers and other Employees) Regulations, 2016.
23. How electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt is issued?
The Authority has launched electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt from 26^th September 2018 and thereby migrating to IT based eNWR ecosystem, by licensing two Repositories namely, M/s CCRL (sponsored by CDSL) and M/s NeRL (sponsored by NCDEX). All the registered warehouses are on boarded to Repository System for issuing eNWR against the deposits. The depositor can use eNWR to get loans against underlying commodities from banks and lien will be marked by the repository.
24. Who are the Members of Warehousing Advisory Committee of WDRA?
- Chairman, Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority
- Members, Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority
- Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Department of Food & PD
- Chairman, Forward Market Commission
- Joint Secretary (Storage), Department of Food & Public Distribution
- Joint Secretary/Agricultural Marketing Advisor, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
- Joint Secretary, (Consumer Affairs), Department of Consumer Affairs
- Managing Director, Central Warehousing Corporation
- Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards
- Managing Director, Agriculture Insurance Company of India
- Representative of State Bank of India
- Representative of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Not below the rank of General Manager
- Representative of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
- Representative of Confederation of Indian Industry
- Representative of Farmer’s Association
- Representative of Cooperatives
- Director, Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority as Member/Secretary.

25. What are the functions of advisory committee?
As per section 34 (1) of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, WDRA may constitute a Warehousing Advisory Committee for the following are:-
1. To advise the WDRA on the matters of Regulation under Section 51.
2. To make recommendations for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act.
3. To advise the Authority on such matters are may be referred by the Authority.
26. Who is required to register with the WDRA?
Section 3 sub section (1) and (2) of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 provides that no person shall commence or carry on the business of warehousing issuing negotiable warehouse receipts unless he has obtained a registration certificate after fulfilling the prescribed norms in respect of the concerned warehouse or warehouses granted by the Authority under this Act.
27. What is the application fee for registration of a warehouse?

Details of registration fee for different capacity of warehouses are as under:

Unit of registration	Fee (non refundable)
Each warehouse with a capacity of 10,000 Ton or less	20,000
Each warehouse with a capacity of more than 10,000 Ton but less than or equal to 25,000 Ton	25,000
Each warehouse with a capacity of more than 25,000 Ton	30,000

Where the applicant/ warehouseman is a Farmer Producer Organization or a Co-operative, the fee shall be 5,000 per warehouse.

28. What is the networth requirement for registration of a warehouse?

Net worth requirement for different capacity of warehouses is as under:

Net worth Requirement
Storage capacity (in tons)	Net worth (Rupees in crores)
Less than 1,000	0.1
1,001 – 3000	0.25
3,001 – 5,000	0.50
5,001 – 7000	1.00
7,001 – 10,000	2
10,001 – 15000	5
15,001 – 25,000	10
25,001 – 75,000	20
75,001 – 1,50,000	30
1,50,001 – 5,00,000	50
5,00,001 and above	100

Where the applicant/ warehouseman is a Farmer Producer Organization or a Co-operative, the net worth should be positive.

29. What are the financial concessions available to Cooperative Societies and FPOs for registration of warehouse?
Following financial concessions are provided to Cooperative Societies and FPOs to encourage them for registering their warehouses:
- The registration fee is only Rs. 5000/- as compared to Rs 20000 to 30000 for others
- Networth is required to be only positive irrespective of the capacity, while for others it is specified with respect to the capacity of Warehouse
- Security deposit is Rs. 50000/- per warehouse in the form of a BG or bank FD ( fixed irrespective of the value of NWRs issued by it), while for others it is minimum Rs 1 Lakh plus a percentage of value of NWRs issued.
- Training of Warehouse Managers/ Supervisors by the WDRA
30. What are the relaxations provided to the small capacity warehouses operated by Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) for registration of their warehouses?
Following relaxations have been provided for registration of small capacity warehouses operated by PACS:
- In case the warehouse is located on a raised well drained site not liable for flooding / inundations and is away for a place likely to be affected by seepage water a plinth height of at least 30 cm may be accepted,
- The minimum limit for capacity to be registered in case of PACS warehouses will be 100 MT.
- Availability of parking and manoeuvring space for vehicles shall not be insisted upon.
- The warehouse should have a stack plan drawn leaving reasonable space for alleyways
- Other than the Secretary of the society one more staff of the PACS shall be engaged (on full or part time basis) for storage and preservation of the goods in the warehouse.
- Availability of security guards may be desirable but not insisted upon for registration of the warehouse.
- Availability of a pucca boundary wall / barbed wire fencing shall not be insisted upon. However, the warehouse should have adequate arrangement for locking of godown and safety/security of stocks.
- PACS warehouses up to 500 MT capacity shall have at least one fire extinguisher (of requisite type) and six fire buckets.

Required Document and Information for Applying License

SN Information Required

Mobile No - Warehouseman
email- Warehouseman
Scan Copy of Warehouseman PAN card (Max size -300 KB)
Photograph of Warehouseman5 Aadhaar Number
Mobile number (which is linked with Aadhaar) to get OTP during Aadhaar Authentication
Scan Copy of Ownership details (If rented/ leased/Partnership) then deed papers scan copy) (Max size 2.5 MB)
Warehouse office address and pin code
village and khasra no on which warehouse built
Area of whole warehouse and open area (in Sq.Ft)
Nearest weighbridge information (name, location, address etc)
Available Fire extinguisher information in warehouse
Authorized person details (Aadhar no / Virtual ID****/ PAN / Mobile no/ email)
Each Godown details (Length / Width/ Height/ & other design parameter) & development std
Scan Copy of Layout plan (Non-Mandatory)
Scan Copy of Fitness Certificate
Scan Copy of Self-declaration
Scan Copy of Sampler and Grader certificate
Scan Copy of SFSP, Burglary and Fidelity Insurance Policy (Max size - 300 KB)
Online signing of documents by Warehouseman through Aadhar +OTP based eSign facility
Location geo -Coordinate (latitude and longitude)
License Fee – Online Payment through Net Banking/Debit Card/ Credit Card or any other available online payment mode.
Scan Copy of GSTIN copy for Non-individual Category user