Police verification must for pvt agencies providing domestic helps to get licence

Private agencies providing domestic helps to households in the national Capital will have to mandatorily undergo police verification to get licence from the Labour department, officials said on Saturday.

These agencies have to register themselves on the e-district portal under the Delhi Private Placement Agency (Regulation) Order 2014, according to a notice issued by the office of the Labour Commissioner.

The registration is without any fee and the process can be completed online.

The move will not only regulate the largely unregulated placement services sector in Delhi but also do a lot of good by protecting poor men and women from other states who work in the city homes as domestic helps and do other menial jobs, officials said. According to an estimate, there are more than 20,000 placement agencies and at least five lakh domestic workers in the national capital, a majority of them coming from other states, they said.

The officials said police verification will be mandatory before registration and to get licence for running placement agencies to provide domestic helps. “It will ensure better monitoring of such agencies that bring manpower to Delhi, mainly women and girls from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal,” a Labour department officer said. The proprietors of placement agencies can apply for licence within one month of registration. “For registration and licence of a placement agency providing domestic workers, the proprietor or managing director should get police verification certificate for himself and upload it on the website of e-district portal while submitting application,” the notice read.