Section 2 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The OSH Code takes over three sector Acts: the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 and the two Working Journalists Acts. Section 2(1) therefore defines plantation (clause (zx)), motor transport undertaking (clause (zn)) and motor transport worker (clause (zo)), and newspaper and newspaper establishment (clauses (zp) and (zq)). All of these are State-sphere establishments under section 2(1)(d)(ii).
A plantation is land of five hectares or more used for tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona or cardamom (other plants only if the State Government notifies with Central approval), plus connected offices, hospitals, dispensaries and schools, but not a factory on the premises. A motor transport undertaking carries passengers or goods by road for hire or reward (and includes a private carrier) and employs a motor transport worker. A newspaper establishment covers producing or publishing newspapers or running a news agency, and some establishments are deemed to be one. Each becomes an "establishment" at ten or more workers.
Plantation: section 2(1)(zx)
"Plantation" means:
(a) any land used or intended to be used for
- growing tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona or cardamom which admeasures five hectares or more; or
- growing any other plant which admeasures five hectares or more and in which persons are employed, or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months, if, after obtaining the approval of the Central Government, the State Government, by notification, so directs.
The Explanation deals with small plots: where land under such a plant is less than five hectares and contiguous to other land not so used but capable of being so used, and both pieces are under the same employer's management, the smaller piece is deemed a plantation if the total area of the two admeasures five hectares or more.
(b) any land which the State Government may, by notification, declare and which is used or intended to be used for growing a plant referred to in (a), even if it admeasures less than five hectares. The proviso says no such declaration can be made for land that admeasured less than five hectares immediately before the commencement of the Code.
(c) offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools and any other premises used for any purpose connected with a plantation under (a) and (b), but not a factory on the premises.
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Named crops | Tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona, cardamom |
| Area test | Five hectares or more |
| Other crops | Only if the State Government notifies, after Central approval |
| Small adjoining plots | Deemed plantation if total with contiguous usable land reaches five hectares and the same employer manages both |
| State declaration of smaller land | Allowed by notification, but not for land under five hectares immediately before commencement |
| Connected premises | Offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools and other connected premises; a factory on the premises is excluded |
| Establishment threshold | Ten or more workers (section 2(1)(v)(ii)) |
Plantation operators can check which of their estates, factories and welfare premises fall under which provision with our labour law compliance service. The plantation-specific provisions on facilities and safety are in sections 92 and 93; see sections 92 and 93 and, for the Central Rules, rules 42 and 43.
Motor transport undertaking and motor transport worker
Motor transport undertaking (clause (zn)) means a motor transport undertaking employing motor transport workers and engaged in carrying passengers or goods or both by road for hire or reward, and includes a private carrier.
Motor transport worker (clause (zo)) means a person employed in a motor transport undertaking, directly or through an agency, whether for wages or not, to work in a professional capacity on a transport vehicle or to attend the duties in connection with the arrival, departure, loading or unloading of such a vehicle. The list includes a driver, conductor, cleaner, station staff, line checking staff, booking clerk, cash clerk, depot clerk, time-keeper, watchman or attendant. The definition excludes a person:
- employed in a factory; or
- to whom any other law regulating the conditions of service of persons employed in shops or commercial establishments applies.
The Code's welfare provisions for motor transport workers include medical facilities at operating centres and halting stations, uniforms, raincoats and similar amenities, and shelters or rest-rooms where an employee is required to halt at night (section 24(2)(ii) and (iii)). Operators can see how these work in practice in rules 36 to 38. The State Government is the appropriate Government for a motor transport undertaking under section 2(1)(d)(ii); the Central Rules, 2026 apply only where the Central Government is the appropriate Government.
Newspaper and newspaper establishment
Newspaper (clause (zp)) means any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news, and includes any other class of printed periodical work that the Central Government notifies.
Newspaper establishment (clause (zq)) means an establishment under the control of any person or body of persons, incorporated or not, for the production or publication of one or more newspapers or for conducting any news agency or syndicate. The following are deemed to be one establishment:
- two or more newspaper establishments under common control;
- two or more newspaper establishments owned by an individual and his or her spouse, unless the spouse is shown to be a sole proprietor, partner or shareholder of a corporate body on the basis of individual funds;
- two or more newspaper establishments publishing newspapers with the same or similar title and in the same language anywhere in India, or the same or similar title in different languages in the same State or Union territory.
Explanation 1 describes common control: common owners, firms with a substantial number of common partners, bodies corporate where one is a subsidiary of the other or both are subsidiaries of a common holding company (or a substantial number of shares are owned by the same person or group), a body corporate and a firm linked through partners' shareholdings, or functional integrality between the establishments. Explanation 2 says different departments, branches and centres are parts of the establishment, and a printing press is a newspaper establishment if its principal business is to print a newspaper.
Working journalists are defined separately in clause (zzm); see employer, employee, worker and occupier. Rules 65 and 66 of the Central Rules set working hours and leave for them (where the Central Rules apply; newspaper establishments are otherwise under the State's rules), see rule 65.
Example. A publisher runs a daily in Hindi from Lucknow and another daily with the same title in Hindi from Kanpur, each with 12 staff. Under the deeming rule for same or similar title in the same language anywhere in India, the two are one newspaper establishment, so the headcount is counted together (24), which is above the ten-worker threshold for an establishment.
Need help with sector definitions?
Plantations, transport operators and publishers often run several units, and the deeming and contiguity rules can pull them together for counting and registration. Our labour law compliance team can review your units and workforce against these definitions. Share your unit list and headcount.
Key takeaways
- A plantation needs five hectares or more of tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona or cardamom; other crops and smaller land need a State notification (with Central approval for other plants).
- Offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools and connected premises are part of a plantation, but a factory on the premises is not.
- A motor transport undertaking carries passengers or goods by road for hire or reward and includes a private carrier; workers in a factory or under a shops law are excluded from "motor transport worker".
- Newspaper establishments under common control, or of spouses, or with the same or similar title in the same language, are deemed one establishment.
- Each of these sectors is an establishment at ten or more workers, and the State Government is the appropriate Government.
Read next
- Section 2: wages
- Sections 92 and 93: facilities and safety for plantation workers
- Rules 36 to 38: motor transport undertaking cleanliness, ventilation and dust
- Factory vs shop: which labour laws apply
Disclaimer: Based on the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026), as on 30 September 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; some provisions may be notified later, and State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government. Verify the current position before acting.