What are Statutory Bodies?
Statutory bodies are those established by acts that can pass by the Parliament and State Legislatures. These bodies are organisations created by an Act of Parliament or state legislatures and established up by the government for appraising the data and make judgements in some area of activity.
In general, a statutory body is a government organization which is not divided in the Constitution of India, however, it has authority, service rules, eligibility by an act of parliament or state legislatures. It has the right to perform particular functions which a government seems effectively performed outside a conventional departmental executive structure.
It gets the authority to operate independently of the government. It is liable to arrange funds that are not dependent on the annual appropriations procedures.
Statutory bodies are basically established up in countries which are governed under the parliamentary democratic form of the political setup.
For businesses, Statutory bodies work as monitoring the activities of a business as well as keeping an eye to confirm that these are obeying the official rules as per prescribed to them by law. For instance, the General Medical Council is the statutory body which oversees doctors.
Accordingly the legislation, the meaning of ‘statutory body’ may change. For instance: a local council will not consider as a statutory body for the purposes of the Financial Accountability Act, however, it has the authority to check the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act.
Kindly note that all statutory bodies are set up as well as work under the provisions of their own enabling legislation which further establishes the purpose and particular powers of the agency. Furthermore, the enabling legislation has the authority to set the levels of fees to charge for the products and services given by the statutory body.
Moreover, the statutory bodies may be set up to grant a specific level of independence from the government. In this, the government is still liable to guarantee that taxpayers funds disbursement in the tasks of statutory bodies is spent in the worthwhile, accurate, and cost-effective way.
These bodies are liable to altering degrees of ministerial control which are recognized in the statutory body’s enabling legislation. Moreover, ministers are answerable to Parliament about all the operation or tasks one by all government boards and agencies within their portfolios.
They are liable to showcase all the details or annual report in the Parliament. Furthermore, the state representatives have the power to make amendments for many reasons such as accountability, effectiveness, transparency, and bipartisanship.
Example of Statutory bodies
There are many examples of statutory bodies such as The University Grants Commission. It is a statutory organization established by an Act of Parliament in 1956. The vital intention to make this body is to coordinate, determining, and supervising the standards of education provided in the universities.
Besides, offering the grants to eligible colleges and universities, this commission also suggests the State and central government on the measures which are significant for the development and progress of Higher Education. The main head office is established up in New Delhi. Apart from this, it has six other offices that are located in Bhopal, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, and Kolkata.
List of important Statutory Bodies
- National Commission for Minorities
- National Commission for Backward Classes
- National Green Tribunal
- National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
- National Law Commission
- National Human Rights Commission
- National Commission for Women
- Armed Forces Tribunal
What is the Regulatory Body?
The term regulatory body also named as. It is a government or public authority agency or body which is liable for creating or amending autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a supervisory or regulatory capacity.
Regulatory Body is set by a legislative act with an intention to create standards in a particular field of activity in the private sector of the economy. Kindly note that regulatory interventions, perform outside executive observation as the rules and regulations that assigned, have the force of law.
Some of these agencies’ tasks are essentially legislative as these pass judgements concerning adherence to their rules. It also employs a judicial function which is frequently performed before a quasi-judicial official called an administrative law judge (which is not part of the court system).
Moreover, some independent regulatory agencies are established to perform audits or investigations while others have the power to regulate the important parties and assign certain measures.
When was Regulatory Body established?
The conviction of the regulatory agency was initiated in the USA. It was basically established in America. The name of the first agency was the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which set by the efforts of Congress in 1887 to control over the railroads. But later, this commission was terminated.
Moreover, during the work on this committee, it was served only as an advisory body to Congress and the courts. This committee was the first who took steps to control industries rather than considering each on a case-by-case basis.
Because of the ruling of government in other industries resulted in the establishment of many other regulatory agencies modeled upon the Interstate Commerce Commission, named as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, 1934), Federal Trade Commission (FTC, 1914), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, 1934). In addition, regulatory powers were ruled upon the ordinary executive departments.
The tasks of the Federal Trade Commission illustrate regulatory agencies in general. It managed the packaging, labelling, and marketing of customers’ goods and services. It had the right to assign the broadly stated legislative policies to explicit cases of trade competition by a process patterned after that of the courts.
It has the eligibility to grant licenses to those having an interest in an export business where the goods and services are supplied to other countries). Moreover, it regulates the collection and communication of credit information. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies indulge in a commission system of administration where its terms of office are fixed and most of the time, very long.
Kindly note that all nations that are outside the USA, the responsibility of regulatory agencies is taken by the regular administrative departments of government. In the case of public transportation, it is taken state ownership. All regulatory agencies or bodies are a part of the executive branch of the government.
They have statutory authority to regulate their rules and regulations with oversight from the legislative branch. Their tasks and actions are basically open to legal review, Furthermore, these bodies are also eligible to regulate standards and safety of public goods as well as the functioning of the businesses.
List of important Regulatory bodies
- Advertising Standards Council of India
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation
- Forward Markets Commission
- Inland Waterways Authority of India
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
- Competition Commission of India
- Biodiversity authority of India
- Press Council of India
- Reserve Bank of India
- Securities and Exchange Board of India
- Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
- Medical Council of India
- Pension fund regulatory and development authority
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- The central pollution control board
- Financial Stability and Development Council
What are Quasi-Judicial Bodies?
Quasi-judicial bodies are organisations having authority similar to that of the law imposing bodies however these are not courts. Its main tasks rely upon overseeing the administrative zones. Kindly note that the courts have the eligibility to control all types of disputes, however, the quasi-judicial bodies are framed with an authority to impose laws on administrative agencies.
Quasi-judicial bodies are like the helping hand of courts as these use to lessen the burden on the courts. But these bodies are restricted to the queries that concern the specific administrative agency. But its actions may appeal to a court of law.
Moreover, Quasi-judicial bodies are liable to settle down the issues such as breach of discipline and other matters.
But its authority is restricted to a specific area of expertise, such as financial markets, public standards, immigration, employment laws, or regulation.
Additionally, the judgements and awards of this body, most of the time, depending on a pre-determined set of rules and regulations. They will able to punish as per the nature of the offence committed, moreover, punishments should be legally enforceable under the law of a country which is also accepted by the court of law as it has the vital authority.
Important Quasi-Judicial bodies in India
- National Human Rights Commission
- State Information Commission
- State Human Rights Commission
- Central Information Commission
- Competition Commission of India
- Appellate Tribunal for Electricity
- State Electricity Regulatory Commission
- National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
- State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
- District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
- Banking Ombudsman
- Insurance Ombudsman
- Income tax Ombudsman
- Electricity Ombudsman
- Railway Claims Tribunal
- Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
- Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal
- Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal
- State Sales tax Appellate Tribunal