Maharashtra Lifts, Escalators and Moving Walks Act, 2017
No: 15 Dated: Jan, 17 2018
THE MAHARASHTRA LIFTS, ESCALATORS AND MOVING WALKS ACT, 2017
ACT No. XV OF 2018
An Act to provide for the regulation of the construction, erection, maintenance and safe working of all classes of lifts, escalators, moving walks and all machinery and apparatus pertaining thereto in the State of Maharashtra and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
WHEREAS due to rapid improvements in technology and standards, radical changes have been ushered in the field of lifts, and new equipments like escalators, moving walks have been introduced which are not covered under the Maharashtra Lifts Act;
AND WHEREAS due to rapid improvements in technology and standards, it is expedient to make a comprehensive law to provide for regulation of the construction, erection, maintenance and safe working of all classes of lifts, escalators and moving walks and all machinery and apparatus pertaining thereto, and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto; it is hereby enacted in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows :—
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Lifts, Escalators and Moving Walks Act, 2017.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions:- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “approved contractor” or “contractor” means a person or a firm or company who possess a licence for erection, maintenance or testing of lift, escalator or moving walks issued by the Chief Electrical Inspector ;
(b) “Assistant Electrical Inspector (Lifts) ” means a person appointed by the Government under sub-section (4) of section 3 to assist Electrical Inspector (Lifts) ;
(c) “authorized representative” means a person or a firm who is empowered by the owner, to act on his behalf, for the purposes of the Act ;
(d) “balustrade” means a part of the escalator or moving walk which ensures the user’s safety by providing stability, protecting from moving parts and supporting the handrail ;
(e) “brake load” means a load on step or pallet or belt for which the brake system is designed to stop the escalator or moving walk ;
(f) “Chief Electrical Inspector” or “Electrical Inspector (Lifts)” means the person appointed as the Chief Electrical Inspector or Electrical Inspector (Lifts) by the Government under section 3 ;
(g) “escalator” means a power-driven, inclined continuous moving stairway used for raising or lowering persons in which the user carrying surface, i.e. steps remain horizontal ;
(h) “escalator installation” means an installation which includes the escalator, the operating mechanism, the track, the trusses or girders, the balustrade, the step treads and landings and all chains, wires and plants directly connected with the operation of the escalator ;
(i) “Government” or “State Government” means the Government of Maharashtra ;
(j) “initial inspection” means the verification of reports of tests conducted on site, verification of all relevant documents, including inspection of or checking of operation of all safety devices of lift or escalator or moving walk in view of safety, before grant of licence ;
(k) “licence” means a licence granted under this Act ;
(l) “lift” means an equipment designed to safely carry passengers or goods or both, that moves between guide rails in a substantially vertical direction, and equipped with hoisting and lowering mechanism with electric traction or hydraulic drive serving defined landing levels, and is suspended by ropes or belts or jack excluding the hoists or lifts which are covered under the Factories Act, 1948 ;
(m) “lift car” means the cage or car of a lift used whether for the conveyance of passengers or goods or both or automobiles and includes the floor or platform, car frame, sling and enclosing body work including roof and door or doors ;
(n) “lift installation” includes the lift car, the lift well, the operating mechanism of the lift and all ropes or belts, cables, wires and plant, directly connected with the operation of the lift ;
(o) “lift pit” means the space in the lift well below the level of the lowest lift landing served ;
(p) “moving walk” means a power-driven installation for the conveyance of persons or passengers in which the user carrying surface remains parallel to its direction of motion and is uninterrupted (e.g. pallets, belt) ;
(q) “moving walk installation” means an installation which includes the moving walk, the operating mechanism, the track, the trusses or girders, the balustrade, the step treads and landings and all chains, wires and plants directly connected with the operation of the moving walk ;
(r) “occupant” means the owner or person in occupation of the premises where lift, escalator or moving walk is installed or proposed to be installed ;
(s) “owner” means a person or a body of persons or a body corporate who owns or operates or maintains lift, escalator or moving walk ;
(t) “periodical inspection” means on site verification of test reports, checking or inspection of operation of safety devices and verification of all related documents of lifts or escalator or moving walk after initial inspection at least once in a year or at such earlier intervals as the Government may specify by notification in the Official Gazette ;
(u) “power” means any form of energy which is not generated by human or animal agency ;
(v) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules ;
(w) “rated load” or “contract load” means the load at which the lift is designed to move as specified in the approved drawings ;
(x) “rated speed” in case of a lift means maximum speed of the lift car in any part of its travel in up and down direction for which the lift equipment has been designed and in case of an escalator or moving walk means a speed in the direction of the movement of the steps, pallets or belt for which the escalator or moving walk has been designed as specified in the approved drawing ;
(y) “rules” means rules made under this Act.