(1) This Act may be called the Farmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 5th June, 2020.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a) "APMC yard" means the physical premises covering Agriculture Produce Market CommitteeYard, by whatever name called, established for regulating markets and trade in farming produceunder any State Act

(b) "company" means a company as defined in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act,2013(18 of 2013)

(c) "electronic trading and transaction platform" means a platform set up to facilitate direct andonline buying and selling for conduct of trade and commerce of farming produce through a networkof electronic devices and internet applications

(d) "farm services" includes supply of seed, feed, fodder, agro-chemicals, machinery andtechnology, advice, non-chemical agro-inputs and such other inputs for farming

(e) "farmer" means an individual engaged in the production of farming produce by self or byhired labour or otherwise, and includes the Farmer Producer Organisation

(f) "Farmer Producer Organisation" means an association or group of farmers, by whatever namecalled,--

(i) registered under any law for the time being in force orbr(ii) promoted under a scheme or programme sponsored by the Central Government or theState Government

(g) "farming agreement" means a written agreement entered into between a farmer and a Sponsor,or a farmer, a Sponsor and any third party, prior to the production or rearing of any farming produceof a predetermined quality, in which the Sponsor agrees to purchase such farming produce from thefarmer and to provide farm services.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this clause, the term "farming agreement", may include--

(i) "trade and commerce agreement", where the ownership of commodity remains with thefarmer during production and he gets and price of produce on its delivery as per the agreed termswith Sponsor

(ii) "production agreement", where the Sponsor agrees to provide farm services, either fullyor partially and to bear the risk of output, but agrees to make payment to the farmer for theservices rendered by such farmer and

(iii) such other agreements or a combination of agreements specified above

(h) "farming produce" includes--

(i) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils, all kinds of cereals like wheat, rice orother coarse grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, sugarcane and products of poultry,piggery, goatery, fishery and dairy, intended for human consumption in its natural or processedform

(ii) cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates

(iii) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned

(iv) cotton seeds and raw jute

(i) "firm" means a firm as defined in section 4 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932)

(j) "force majeure" means any unforeseen external event, including flood, drought, bad weather,arthquake, epidemic outbreak of disease, insect-pests and such other events, which is unavoidable andbeyond the control of parties entering into a farming agreement

(k) "notification" means a notification published by the Central Government or the StateGovernment, as the case may be, in the Official Gazette and the expression "notified" shall beconstrued accordingly

(l) "person" includes--

(i) an individual

(ii) a partnership firm

(iii) a company

(iv) a limited liability partnership

(v) a co-operative society

(vi) a society or

(vii) any association or body of persons duly incorporated or recognised as a group under anyongoing programmes of the Central Government or the State Government

(m) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act

(n) "Registration Authority" means an authority notified as such by the State Government undersection 12

(o) "Sponsor" means a person who has entered into a farming agreement with the farmer topurchase a farming produce

(p) "State" includes Union territory.

(1) A farmer may enter into a written farming agreement inrespect of any farming produce and such agreement may provide for--

(a) the terms and conditions for supply of such produce, including the time of supply, quality,grade, standards, price and such other matters; and

(b) the terms related to supply of farm services:

Provided that the responsibility for compliance of any legal requirement for providing such farmservices shall be with the Sponsor or the farm service provider, as the case may be.

(2) No farming agreement shall be entered into by a farmer under this section in derogation ofany rights of a share cropper.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this sub-section, the term "share cropper" means a tiller oroccupier of a farm land who formally or informally agrees to give fixed share of crop or to pay fixedamount to the land owner for growing or rearing of farming produce.

(3) The minimum period of the farming agreement shall be for one crop season or one productioncycle of livestock, as the case may be, and the maximum period shall be five years:

Provided that where the production cycle of any farming produce is longer and may go beyondfive years, in such case, the maximum period of farming agreement may be mutually decided by thefarmer and the Sponsor and explicitly mentioned in the farming agreement.

(4) For the purposes of facilitating farmers to enter into written farming agreements, the CentralGovernment may issue necessary guidelines along with model farming agreements, in such manner,as it deems fit.

(1) The parties entering into a farmingagreement may identify and require as a condition for the performance of such agreement compliancewith mutually acceptable quality, grade and standards of a farming produce.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the parties may adopt the quality, grade and standards--

(a) which are compatible with agronomic practices, agro-climate and such other factors; or

(b) formulated by any agency of the Central Government or the State Government, or anyagency authorised by such Government for this purpose,

and explicitly mention such quality, grade and standards in the farming agreement.

(3) The quality, grade and standards for pesticide residue, food safety standards, good farmingpractices and labour and social development standards may also be adopted in the farming agreement.

(4) The parties entering into a farming agreement may require as a condition that such mutuallyacceptable quality, grade and standards shall be monitored and certified during the process of cultivationor rearing, or at the time of delivery, by third party qualified assayers to ensure impartiality and fairness.

The price to be paid for the purchase of a farming produce may bedetermined and mentioned in the farming agreement itself, and in case, such price is subject to variation,then, such agreement shall explicitly provide for--

(a) a guaranteed price to be paid for such produce;

(b) a clear price reference for any additional amount over and above the guaranteed price,including bonus or premium, to ensure best value to the farmer and such price reference may belinked to the prevailing prices in specified APMC yard or electronic trading and transaction platformor any other suitable benchmark prices:

Provided that the method of determining such price or guaranteed price or additional amount shallbe annexed to the farming agreement.

(1) Where, under a farming agreement, the delivery ofany farming produce is to be--

(a) taken by the Sponsor at the farm gate, he shall take such delivery within the agreed time;

(b) effected by the farmer, it shall be the responsibility of the Sponsor to ensure that allpreparations for the timely acceptance of such delivery have been made.

(2) The Sponsor may, before accepting the delivery of any farming produce, inspect the quality or anyother feature of such produce as specified in the farming agreement, otherwise, he shall be deemed tohave inspected the produce and shall have no right to retract from acceptance of such produce at the timeof its delivery or thereafter.

(3) The Sponsor shall,--

(a) where the farming agreement relates to seed production, make payment of not less than twothird of agreed amount at the time of delivery and the remaining amount after due certification, butnot later than thirty days of delivery;

(b) in other cases, make payment of agreed amount at the time of accepting the delivery offarming produce and issue a receipt slip with details of the sale proceeds.

(4) The State Government may prescribe the mode and manner in which payment shall be made to thefarmer under sub-section (3).

(1) Where a farming agreement has been enteredinto in respect of any farming produce under this Act, such produce shall be exempt from the applicationof any State Act, by whatever name called, established for the purpose of regulation of sale and purchaseof such farming produce.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (10 of 1955) or inany control order issued thereunder or in any other law for the time being in force, any obligation relatedto stock limit shall not be applicable to such quantities of farming produce as are purchased under afarming agreement entered into in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

No farming agreement shall be entered into for the purpose of--

(a) any transfer, including sale, lease and mortgage of the land or premises of the farmer; or

(b) raising any permanent structure or making any modification on the land or premises of thefarmer, unless the Sponsor agrees to remove such structure or to restore the land to its originalcondition, at his cost, on the conclusion of the agreement or expiry of the agreement period, as thecase may be:

Provided that where such structure is not removed as agreed by the Sponsor, the ownership ofsuch structure shall vest with the farmer after conclusion of the agreement or expiry of the agreementperiod, as the case may be.

A farming agreement may be linkedwith insurance or credit instrument under any scheme of the Central Government or the State Governmentor any financial service provider to ensure risk mitigation and flow of credit to farmer or Sponsor or both.

Save as otherwise provided in this Act, an aggregator orfarm service provider may become a party to the farming agreement and in such case, the role andservices of such aggregator or farm service provider shall be explicitly mentioned in such farmingagreement.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this section,--

(i) "aggregator" means any person, including a Farmer Producer Organisation, who acts as anintermediary between a farmer or a group of farmers and a Sponsor and provides aggregation relatedservices to both farmers and Sponsor;

(ii) "farm service provider" means any person who provides farm services.

At any time after entering into a farmingagreement, the parties to such agreement may, with mutual consent, alter or terminate such agreement forany reasonable cause.

(1) A State Government may notify a RegistrationAuthority to provide for electronic registry for that State that provides facilitative framework forregistration of farming agreements.

(2) The constitution, composition, powers and functions of the Registration Authority and theprocedure for registration shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government.

(1) Every farming agreement shall explicitlyprovide for a conciliation process and formation of a conciliation board consisting of representatives ofparties to the agreement:

Provided that representation of parties in such conciliation board shall be fair and balanced.

(2) A dispute arising from any farming agreement shall be first referred to the conciliation boardformed as per the provisions of the farming agreement and every endeavour shall be made by such boardto bring about settlement of such dispute.

(3) Where, in respect of any dispute, a settlement is arrived during the course of conciliationproceeding, a memorandum of settlement shall be drawn accordingly and signed by the parties to suchdispute and such settlement shall be binding on the parties.

(1) Where, the farming agreement does not provide forconciliation process as required under sub-section (1) of section 13, or the parties to the farmingagreement fail to settle their dispute under that section within a period of thirty days, then, any such partymay approach the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate who shall be the Sub-Divisional Authority fordeciding the disputes under farming agreements.

(2) On receipt of a dispute under sub-section (1), the Sub-Divisional Authority may, if--

(a) the farming agreement did not provide for conciliation process, constitute a conciliation boardfor bringing about settlement of such dispute; or

(b) the parties failed to settle their dispute through conciliation process, decide the dispute in asummary manner within thirty days from the date of receipt of such dispute, after giving the parties areasonable opportunity of being heard and pass an order for recovery of the amount under dispute,with such penalty and interest, as it deems fit, subject to the following conditions, namely:--

(i) where the Sponsor fails to make payment of the amount due to the farmer, such penaltymay extend to one and half times the amount due;

(ii) where the order is against the farmer for recovery of the amount due to the Sponsor onaccount of any advance payment or cost of inputs, as per terms of farming agreement, suchamount shall not exceed the actual cost incurred by the Sponsor;

(iii) where the farming agreement in dispute is in contravention of the provisions of this Act,or default by the farmer is due to force majeure, then, no order for recovery of amount shall bepassed against the farmer.

(3) Every order passed by the Sub-Divisional Authority under this section shall have same force as adecree of a civil court and be enforceable in the same manner as that of a decree under the Code of CivilProcedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), unless an appeal is preferred under sub-section (4).

(4) Any party aggrieved by the order of the Sub-Divisional Authority may prefer an appeal to theAppellate Authority, which shall be presided over by the Collector or Additional Collector nominated bythe Collector, within thirty days from the date of such order.

(5) The Appellate Authority shall dispose of the appeal within thirty days.

(6) Every order passed by the Appellant Authority under this section shall have same force as adecree of a civil court and be enforceable in the same manner as that of a decree under the Code of CivilProcedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).

(7) The amount payable under any order passed by the Sub-Divisional Authority or the AppellantAuthority, as the case may be, may be recovered as arrears of land revenue.

(8) The Sub-Divisional Authority or the Appellate Authority shall, while deciding disputes under thissection, have all the powers of a civil court for the purposes of taking evidence on oath, enforcing theattendance of witnesses, compelling the discovery and production of documents and material objects andfor such other purposes as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

(9) The manner and procedure for filing a petition or an application before the Sub-DivisionalAuthority and an appeal before the Appellate Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by the CentralGovernment.

Notwithstanding anything contained insection 14, no action for recovery of any amount due in pursuance of an order passed under that section,shall be initiated against the agricultural land of the farmer.

The Central Government may, from time totime, give such directions, as it may consider necessary, to the State Governments for effectiveimplementation of the provisions of this Act and the State Governments shall comply with suchdirections.

All authorities, including Registration Authority,Sub-Divisional Authority and Appellate Authority, constituted or prescribed under this Act, shall bedeemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedingshall lie against the Central Government, the State Government, the Registration Authority, the SubDivisional Authority, the Appellate Authority or any other person for anything which is in good faithdone or intended to be done under the provisions of this Act or any rule made thereunder.

No civil Court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit orproceedings in respect of any dispute which a Sub-Divisional Authority or the Appellate Authority isempowered by or under this Act to decide and no injunction shall be granted by any court or otherauthority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any power conferred by or underthis Act or any rules made thereunder.

The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstandinganything inconsistent therewith contained in any State law for the time being in force or in any instrumenthaving effect by virtue of any such law other than this Act:

Provided that a farming agreement or such contract entered into under any State law for the timebeing in force, or any rules made thereunder, before the date of coming into force of this Act, shallcontinue to be valid for the period of such agreement or contract.

Nothing contained in this Actshall be applicable to the stock exchanges and clearing corporations recognised under the SecuritiesContracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) and the transactions undertaken therein.

(1) The Central Government may, bynotification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules mayprovide for all or any of the following matters, namely:--

(a) other purposes for which the Sub-Divisional Authority or the Appellate Authority shall havethe powers of civil court under sub-section (8) of section 14;

(b) the manner and procedure for filing petition or application before the Sub-DivisionalAuthority, and an appeal before the Appellate Authority, under sub-section (9) of section 14;

(c) any other matter which is to be, or may be, prescribed, or in respect of which provision is tobe made, by rules, by the Central Government.

(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after itis made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days whichmay be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of thesession immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree inmaking any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shallthereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, thatany such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously doneunder that rule.

(1) The State Government may, by notification inthe Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules mayprovide for all or any of the following matters, namely:--

(a) the mode and manner of payment to the farmer under sub-section (4) of section 6;

(b) the constitution, composition, powers and functions of the Registration Authority, and theprocedure for registration under sub-section (2) of section 12;

(c) any other matter which is to be, or may be, prescribed, or in respect of which provision is tobe made, by rules, by the State Government.

(3) Every rule made by the State Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it ismade, before each House of the State Legislature where it consists of two Houses, or where suchLegislature consists of one House, before that House.

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions ofthis Act, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions,not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may appear to it to be necessary for removing thedifficulty.

(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before eachHouse of Parliament.

(1) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on PriceAssurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the Farmers (Empowermentand Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 shall be deemed tohave been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.