15. Competent authority.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, appoint the Protector
General of Emigrants or any other officer of that Government of a rank higher than that of a Protector of
Emigrants to be the authority (hereinafter referred to as the competent authority) for issuing permits under
this Chapter.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Central Government may, by
notification, authorise any person who is employed under that Government in any country or place
outside India to exercise the powers of the competent authority, and issue permits under this Chapter to
employers who are not citizens of India for the purpose of recruiting any citizen of India for employment
in such country or place and a person so authorised shall endorse a duly certified copy of every permit
issued by him under this Chapter to the Protector General of Emigrants.
16. Recruitment by employers to be through recruiting agent or under permit.—Save as
otherwise provided by or under this Act, no employer shall recruit any citizen of India for employment in
any country or place outside India except—
(a) through a recruiting agent competent under this Act to make such recruitment, or
(b) in accordance with a valid permit issued in this behalf under this Chapter.
17. Procedure for obtaining permits.—(1) An employer desiring to obtain a permit under this
Chapter may make an application in that behalf in the prescribed form to the competent authority.
(2) On receipt of such application, the competent authority shall, subject to any rules made in this
behalf, make such inquiry as he may deem necessary and grant the permit applied for or reject the
application:
Provided that before granting a permit the competent authority may require the applicant to comply
with such conditions as may be prescribed, including conditions as to furnishing of security and such
other conditions as that authority may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, deem necessary in the
interests of the citizens of India likely to be recruited by the applicant.
(3) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the competent authority may reject an application
under sub-section (1) on any one or more of the following grounds and on no other ground, namely:—
(a) that the application is not complete in all respects or that any of the material particulars
furnished in the application are not true;
(b) that the terms and conditions of employment which the applicant proposes to offer to persons
recruited or proposed to be recruited by him are discriminatory or exploitative;
(c) that the employment which the applicant proposes to offer involves work of a nature which is
unlawful according to the laws of India or offends against the public policy of India or is violative of
norms of human dignity and decency;
(d) that having regard to the antecedents of the applicant, his financial standing, the facilities at
his disposal, the working and living conditions of persons employed by him in the past, it would not
be in the public interest or in the interests of the persons who may be recruited by him, to issue a
permit to him;
(e) that having regard to the prevailing circumstances in the country or in the place where the
applicant proposes to employ the persons recruited by him, it would not be in the interests of any
citizen of India to emigrate for taking up such employment.
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(4) Where the competent authority makes an order under sub-section (2) rejecting an application, he
shall record in writing a brief statement of his reasons for making such order and furnish the applicant, on
demand, a copy of the same:
Provided that if the competent authority is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the
interests of friendly relations with a foreign country or in the interests of the general public so to do, he
may refuse to provide such copy or, as the case may be, furnish a copy of only such parts of the statement
as he may deem fit.
18. Period of validity of permit.—A permit issued under section 17 shall be valid till the expiry of
such period, not exceeding one year, as may be prescribed, from the date of issue thereof, or till the
recruitment or the persons for whose recruitment such permit is issued is completed, whichever is earlier:
Provided that where the holder of the permit has been unable for sufficient cause, to complete such
recruitment before the expiry of the prescribed period, the prescribed authority may, subject to rules made
in this behalf, extend the period of validity of the permit by such further period or periods, not exceeding
three months at a time.
19. Registration of certain permits.—Any permit obtained from a person authorised under
sub-section (2) of section 15 shall not be valid unless a certified copy thereof is filed in the prescribed
manner with the Protector General of Emigrants.
20. Cancellation or suspension of a permit.—The provisions of section 14 relating to cancellation
and suspension of a certificate referred to therein shall, subject to such modifications as may be necessary
(including modifications for construing the references in that section to registering authority as references
to competent authority under this Chapter), apply for the cancellation or suspension of a permit.
21. Power to exempt.—The Central Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so
to do in the public interest, by notification and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in
the notification, exempt any class or classes of employers from the requirement of obtaining a permit
under this Chapter.