By industry · Small manufacturers
Factory registration, pollution consent, the labour codes, package labels and your right to be paid on time — what a small factory in India owes.
Check what applies to your business — free Compliance calendar| What | Applies to | What it involves | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register the establishment, and license the factory | 10 or more workers makes an establishment; a factory is 20 or more workers with power, or 40 or more without — unless your state kept a different number | Apply online for registration within 60 days of the OSH Code applying to you. A factory also needs a licence from the state, deemed issued if not decided within 45 days; forms and fees are in your state's rules. | OSH Code, 2020, ss. 2(1)(v), 2(1)(w), 3 & 119 |
| Make sure your contractors are licensed | A contractor employing 50 or more contract workers | The contractor needs a licence, valid for five years. | OSH Code, 2020, ss. 47 & 48 |
| Set up a grievance committee, and standing orders at 300 | 20 or more workers for the committee; 300 or more for standing orders | A grievance redressal committee with equal employer and worker members, ten at most; certified standing orders on conditions of service once you reach 300 workers. | Industrial Relations Code, 2020, ss. 4 & 28–30 |
| Hold pollution consent before you build and before you run | Units discharging effluent, or operating in an air pollution control area | Prior Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate from the State Pollution Control Board. White-category units (pollution index under 25) are exempt but must still intimate the Board. Operating without consent can lead to imprisonment. | Water Act, 1974, s. 25; Air Act, 1981, s. 21; G.S.R. 702(E) & 703(E) of 2024 |
| Register for plastic packaging EPR | Producers, importers and brand owners using plastic packaging | Register on the CPCB EPR portal and file the annual return by 30 June after each financial year. | Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, Sch. II |
| Register as a packer, and label every retail package | Anyone pre-packing or importing packaged goods for retail sale | Register with the Legal Metrology Director or Controller within 90 days of starting, and print the mandatory declarations on every retail package. | Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, rr. 6 & 27 |
| Issue e-invoices and e-way bills | E-invoices once aggregate turnover crossed ₹5 crore in any year since 2017-18; e-way bills for consignments over ₹50,000 | B2B invoices must be reported to the invoice portal, or they are not valid invoices. An e-way bill is generated before goods worth more than ₹50,000 move. | CGST Rules, 2017, rr. 48(4) & 138; Notification 10/2023-Central Tax |
| Use the tax rule that makes buyers pay you on time | Udyam-registered micro and small enterprises selling to businesses | A buyer cannot claim a tax deduction for what it owes you beyond the 45-day limit until it actually pays — the lever to raise when an invoice is overdue. | Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 37(2)(g) (formerly s. 43B(h) of the 1961 Act) |
| What | Applies to | What it involves | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set up a POSH Internal Committee | 10 or more employees — of any kind, including interns and part-timers | Constitute the committee by written order, with an external member, adopt a POSH policy, and file an annual report. | POSH Act, 2013, s. 4 |
| Register for PF and ESI when you cross the threshold | PF from 20 employees; ESI from 10, for staff within the wage ceiling | Deduct and deposit contributions by the 15th of each month for the wages of the month before. | Code on Social Security, 2020 |
| Handle personal data the DPDP way | Any business that collects personal data of customers or employees | A clear notice, valid consent, reasonable security safeguards and breach reporting — enforceable from 13 May 2027. | DPDP Act, 2023, ss. 5, 6 & 8 |
| Get paid within 45 days as a micro or small enterprise | Udyam-registered micro and small enterprises supplying goods or services | A buyer must pay within 45 days of acceptance; after that, compound interest at three times the bank rate runs by law. | MSMED Act, 2006, ss. 15 & 16 |
20 or more where a manufacturing process runs with power, or 40 or more without, counted on any day of the previous twelve months (s. 2(1)(w)). Where a state's law set a different number before the Code, that number applies.
No Consent to Establish or Operate since the November 2024 notifications — but it must still intimate the State Pollution Control Board.
Not without cost, if you are a Udyam-registered micro or small enterprise: s. 15 of the MSMED Act caps credit at 45 days, s. 16 adds compound interest at three times the bank rate, and the buyer cannot claim the expense for tax until it pays (Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 37(2)(g)).
A checklist, not advice for your business. Several of these duties are set by each state, and most depend on your size and how you are registered — confirm with your CA before relying on any one of them.