2Definitions

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

(a) "accreditation agency" means an agency, whatever be its constitution, registered with the Authority under section 5;

(b) "actionable claim" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882);

(c) "Authority" means the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority established under sub-section (1) of section 24;

(d) "depositor" means a person who delivers goods to the warehouseman for storage;

(e) "endorsee" means the person to whom the warehouse receipt is negotiated;

(f) "endorsement" means signing on the warehouse receipt by the depositor or holder of the warehouse receipt for the purpose of its negotiation;

(g) "electronic form", with reference to information, means any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, microfilm, computer generated micro fiche or similar device;

(h) "fungible goods" means any goods of which any unit is, by nature or usage of trade, the equivalent of any other like unit and are received by a warehouseman as fungible goods;

(i) "goods" means all tangible movable goods (other than actionable claims, money and securities), whether fungible or not;

(j) "grade" means the quality standard of any goods as notified as grade designation by the Central Government under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 (1 of 1937) or any other law for the time being in force;

(k) "holder" means,--

(i) in relation to a negotiable warehouse receipt, a person who is in possession of such receipt and a right to goods endorsed on it; and

(ii) in relation to a non-negotiable warehouse receipt, a person named in it as the person to whom the goods are to be delivered or the assignee of that person;

(l) "member" means a member of the Authority and includes its Chairperson;

(m) "negotiable warehouse receipt" means a warehouse receipt under which the goods represented therein are deliverable to the depositor or order, the endorsement of which has the effect of transfer of goods represented thereby and the endorsee for which takes a good title;

(n) "non-negotiable warehouse receipt" means a warehouse receipt other than a negotiable warehouse receipt;

(o) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;

(p) "person" includes a firm, co-operative society or any association or body of persons, whether incorporated or not;

(q) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(r) "regulation" means a regulation made under this Act;

(s) "warehouse" means any premises (including any protected place) conforming to all the requirements including manpower specified by the Authority by regulations wherein the warehouseman takes custody of the goods deposited by the depositor and includes a place of storage of goods under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity;

(t) "warehousing business" means the Business of maintaining warehouses in storage of goods and issuing negotiable warehouse receipts;

(u) "warehouse receipt" means an acknowledgement in writing or in electronic form issued by a warehouseman or his duly authorised representative (including depository by whatever name called) of the receipt for storage of goods not owned by the warehouseman;

(v) "warehouseman" means any person who is granted a certificate of registration in respect of any warehouse or warehouses by the Authority or an accreditation agency for carrying on the business of warehousing.