Definition of Industry:-Industry means any business, trade, undertaking, manufactures or calling off employers and include any calling service, employment, handicraft or industrial occupation or avocation of workmen.It also means any systematic activity carried on by co-operation between an employer and his workmen for the production, supply or distribution of goods or services with a view to satisfy human wants or whether or not, -i. Any capital has been invested for the purpose of carrying on such activity; orii. Such activity is carried on with a motive to make any gain or profit. Case law:- Bangalore water supply and sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa, AIR 1978 SC 548

Objectives of Industrial Dispute Act:-The objective of the Industrial Dispute Act is to secure industrial peace and harmony by providing machinery and procedure for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes by negotiations. Various studies indicate that Indian labour laws are highly protective of labour, and labour markets are relatively inflexible. These laws apply only to the organized sector. Consequently, these laws have restricted labour mobility, have led to capital intensive methods in the organized sector and adversely affected the sectors long run demand for labour. Labour being a concurrent list, State-level labour regulations are also an important determinant. Evidence suggests that States, which have enacted more pro-workers regulations, have lost out on industrial production in general, Ministry of Finance, p.209 The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. 1Particular attention has been paid by an amendment in 2976, which required firms employing 300 or more workers to obtain government permission for layoff, retrenchment and closures. A further amendment in 1982 (which took effect in 1984) expended its ambit by reducing the threshold to 100 workers. It is argued that since permission is laws thus protect a tiny minority of workers in the organized sector and prevent the expansion of industrial employment that could benefit the mass of workers outside. It is also argued that the restriction on retrenchment has adversely affected workplace discipline, while the threshold set at 100 has discouraged factories from expanding to economic scales of production, thereby harming productivity. Several others sections of the IDA allegedly have similar effect, because they increase workers bargaining strength and thereby raise labour costs either directly through wages or indirectly by inhibiting work reorganization in response to changes in demand and technology.The Act also lays down:1. The provision for payment of compensation to the workman on account of closure or lay off or retrenchment.2. The procedure for prior permission of appropriate government for laying off or retrenching the workers or closing down industrial establishments3. Unfair labour practice on part of an employer or a trade union or workers.

2Introduction of Public Utility ServiceApublic utility is an organization that maintains theinfrastructurefor apublic service. Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies. The termutilitiescan also refer to the set of services provided by these organizations consumed by the public:-i. Any railway service;ii. Any transport service for the carriage of passengers or goods by air;iii. Any service in or in connection with the working of which the safety of the establishment or the workmen employed therein depends;iv. Any postal, telegraph or telephone service;v. Any industry which supplies power, light or water to the public;vi. Any system of public conservancy or sanitation;vii. Any industry specified in the first schedule which the appropriate Government may, it satisfied the public emergency or public interest so requires, by notification in the official gazette declare to be a public utility service for the purposes of this Act, for such period as may be specified in the notification:Provided that the period so specified shall not in the first instance, exceed six months but may, by a like notification, be extended from time to time, by any period not exceeding six months at any one time if in the opinion of the appropriate Government public emergency or public interest requires such extension.Typically a public utility has aMonopolyon the service it provides. It is more economically efficient to have only one business provide the service because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain. A consequence of this monopoly is that federal, state, and local governments regulate public utilities to ensure that they provide a reasonable level of service at a fair price.

3A public utility is entitled to charge reasonable rates for its product or service. Rates are generally established according to statutes and regulations. The utility usually files a proposed rate schedule with the state public utility commission for approval. The commission holds public hearings to help decide whether the proposed schedule is fair. The commission may also require increased levels of service from the utility to meet public demand.

HistoryHistorically, the widespread provision of public services in developed countries usually began in the late nineteenth century, often with themunicipaldevelopment ofgasandwater services. Later, other services such aselectricityandhealthcarebegan to be provided by governments. In most developed countries such services are still provided by local or national government, the biggest exceptions being theU.S.and theUK, where private provision is more significant. Nonetheless, such privately provided public services are often strongly regulated, for example (in the US) byPublic Utility Commissions.Indeveloping countriespublic services tend to be much less well developed. For example, water services might only be available to thewealthymiddle class. Forpoliticalreasons the service is oftensubsidized, which reduces the finance available for expansion topoorercommunities.

4Characteristics of Public UtilitiesA public utility concern possesses certain essential features which make it quite distinct from other types of business concerns. Some of the basic characteristics of public utilities are given below:1. Supply of essential services:Public utilities are engaged in the supply of products or services which are indispensable to the community. In the absence of these services, the normal life of the community is dislocated.For instance, any disruption in the supply of water or electricity would create a great inconvenience to the general public. Therefore, it is necessary that these services must be supplied regularly, adequately and efficiently.2. Inelastic demand:As the public utilities supply essential public services, the demand for their products or services is inelastic. In other words, the demand for their services, e.g. water or electricity, does not change substantially with a change in price.This is fully true about the direct demand, i.e. for immediate consumption. But the derived demand for industrial and commercial purposes may be elastic.3. Non-transferable demand:The demand for the services of public utilities is non-transferable. If a consumer is not satisfied with the services or rates charged by the concern, he cannot change over to another concern unless he shifts to another city. Due to regular demand, the earnings of a public utility concern do not fluctuate vary widely.

54. Heavy fixed investment:A large amount of capital expenditure is required for the establishment and operation of a public utility concern. For instance, an electricity undertaking has to install a generating plant, build up a network of cables and other apparatus for the distribution of electricity to the public.Purchase and maintenance of plant, machinery and equipment need huge fixed capital. Overheads constitute the major proportion of the operating costs of a public utility concern.Therefore, it is necessary to make the best and maximum use of the installed capacity. A public utility concern has also to maintain extra capacity to meet peak and uneven demand.5. Local area of operation:A public utility concern is usually allowed to operate within a defined and limited market area. For instance, a water supply concern provides services to a particular city or town and its operations are confined to that particular area. Therefore, there is little scope for the expansion of market.6. Monopoly position:A public utility concern enjoys a natural monopoly due to the essential nature of its services. As competition is not desirable in the supply of essential public services, only one concern is allowed to operate in a particular area.If there is competition between two public utility concerns, efficiency will not be high and neither of the concerns will be able to operate at the optimum level.Therefore, it is usually an essential condition of public utilities that one undertaking should have monopoly in one particular area. As there is only one supplier in one area, consumer cannot transfer his demand to another supplier.

67. Public regulation and control:Public utility concerns are subject to strict regulation and control by the State. As these concerns enjoy a monopoly power and their services are of an essential nature, the Government regulates their policies and working in public interest.The object of public regulation and control is to ensure that services of reasonable quality at fair rates are regularly and adequately available to the public.These concerns are not allowed to exploit consumers. A public utility concern is clothed with public interest and, therefore, the public authority that owns it exercises public regulation which may take the following forms:(a) Regulation of rates, prices and service charges so that the public utility concern does not misuse its monopoly power to exploit consumers by charging unreasonably high prices for the services supplied by it.(b) Regulation of the quality of service to protect public health, e.g., regulation of water supply to ensure supply of wholesome water to public.(c) Regulation to ensure that there is minimum possible inconvenience to the public by the installation of services. For example, the laying of pipelines" for water should cause minimum possible dislocation of traffic

8. Special Franchise:Since the public utilities are recognized as natural monopolies, a franchise is generally granted to protect them from competition. A franchise is a charter containing special powers, privileges and immunities.

7Under the franchise, a public utility concern is permitted to make use of public property like roads, streets, etc. The franchise may be perpetual or for a period of say 50 to 99 years.

Sectors:Public services tend to be those considered to be so essential to modern life that formoralreasons their universal provision should be guaranteed. They may be associated with fundamentalhuman rights(such as the right to water). The Volunteer Fire Dept. and Ambulance Corps. are institutions with the mission of servicing the community. A service is helping others with a specific need or want. Here, service ranges from a doctor curing an illness, to a repair person, to a food pantry.In modern,developed countries, the term public service often includes:Electricity, Education, Environmental protection,Fire service, Gas, Health care, Law enforcement, Military, Public broadcasting,

8Public library, Public security, Public transportation, Public housing, Social services, Telecommunications, Town planning, Waste management, Water supply network.

NationalizationNationalization really took off following theWorld Warsof the first half of the twentieth century. AcrossEurope, because of the extreme demands on industries and the economy, central planningwas required to make production maximally efficient. Many public services, especially electricity, gas and public transport are products of this era. Following the Second World War, many countries also began to implementuniversal health careand expandededucationunder the funding and guidance of the state.

PrivatizationThere are several ways to privatize public services. A free-market corporation may be established and sold to private investors, relinquishing government control altogether. Thus it becomes a private (not public) service. Another option, used in theNordic countries, is to establish a corporation, but keep ownership or voting power essentially in the hands of the government.9 For example, theFinnish stateowned 49% ofKemirauntil 2007, the rest being owned by private investors. A 49% share did not make it a "government enterprise", but it meant that all other investors together would have to oppose the state's opinion in order to overturn the state's decisions in the shareholder's meeting. Regulated corporation can also acquire permits on the agreement that they fulfill certain public service duties. When a private corporation runs anatural monopoly, then the corporation is typically heavily regulated, to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Lastly, the government can buy the service on the free market. In many countries,medicationis provided in this manner: the government reimburses part of the price of the medication. Also, bus traffic, electricity, healthcare and waste management are privatized in this way. One recent innovation, used in the UK increasingly as well as Australia and Canada ispublic-private partnerships. This involves giving a long lease to private consortia in return for partly funding infrastructure.

Cases related to public utility service:In Saxby & Farmer (India) v. Workmen, the Appellant Company was a unit of Engineering Industry engaged in production of equipments for the railways. It was declared a public utility service. The management curtailed unpaid festival holidays as the system of unpaid holidays was no longer followed in any major industry of the region. It was held that there should be more concentration on increase of production and efficiency than enjoying the holidays if the country is to march ahead on the road o prosperity. As such there was no reason or justification for unpaid holidays not being curtailed.

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