 bill no xix of 2017 the gymnasiums and fitness centres (regulation) bill, 2017 a billto provide for regulation and control of gymnasiums and fitness centres which are engaged in activities, such as giving training on weight lifting and body building and conduct courses for weight reduction and proper nutrition in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the gymnasiums and fitness centres (regulation)act, 2017short title, extent and commencement(2) it  extends to the whole of india, except the state of jammu and kashmirdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the state government and in all other cases the central government;5(b) "competent authority" means any office or officer notified by the appropriate government under section 4, to perform functions assigned under this act;(c) "gymnasium or fitness centre" means any establishment by whatever name called engaged in giving training on weight lifting, body building and giving nutritional advice on fitness and weight reduction;10(d) "instructor" means any person engaged for giving training on weights, body building and nutritional advice to members enrolled in any gymnasium or fitness centre;(e) "member" means any person enrolled with any gymnasium or fitness centre;and(f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act153  (1) with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette appoint, no person or establishment shall run a gymnasium or a fitness centre without prior registration with the competent authoritycompulsory registration of gymnasium and fitness centres20(2) any person or establishment running a gymnasium and fitness centre before the commencement of this act shall apply for registration to the competent authority within a period of forty-five days from the date of commencement of this act in such form and manner as may be prescribedprocedure for registration4 (1) the appropriate government shall, by notification in the official gazette, appointa competent authority for the purposes of registration of gymnasiums and fitness centres within its jurisdiction25(2) on receipt of any application for registration of gymnasium or the fitness centres, the competent authority shall scrutinize the application and may call for such other information or documents from the applicant as may be prescribed30(3) the competent authority shall, before registering any gymnasium or the fitness centre, inspect the site to have the first hand information of the infrastructure available with the gymnasium or the fitness centre and the compliance of the norms and standards fixed by the appropriate government in this regard(4) the competent authority shall, after being sastisfied with the various requirements under this act, grant a registration certificate to the applicant in such manner and form as may be prescribed which shall be valid for two years35(5) the competent authority shall renew the registration only after re-inspecting the gymnasium or the fitness centres and on fulfilment of requirements fixed in this behalf by the appropriatre government under this act40(6) the competent authority may refuse to register a gymnasium or fitness centre or renew its registration if it fails to cmply with the norms and standards fixed by the appropriate government:provided that in case of non-registration or non-renewal of registration of a gymnasium or a fitness centre, the competent authority shall record reasons in writing and communicate the same to the applicant45(7) the competent authority shall take a decision on the application filed under subsection (2) within a period of thirty days5 the appropriate government shall,—(a) fix the fee to be charged by the gymnasium and fitness centres from membersfor various activities;appropriate government to prescribe norms for g y m n a i s i u m and fitness centres5(b) prescribe minimum qualification for instructor in the gymnasium and fitnesscentre;(c) fix the instructor-member ratio for gymnasium and fintness centres; (d) lay down norms for minimum infrastructure for starting and running gymnasium and fitness centres; and(e) prescribe such other norms as may be necessary for the purpose10penalty6 whoever contravenes the provisions of this act or the rules made thereunder shallbe punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and also with fine which may extend to five lakhs rupeesoffences by a company157 (1) where a contravention of any of the provisions of this act or any rule, direction or order made thereunder has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in charge of and was responsible to the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company, shall be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:20provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to punishment if he proves that the contravention was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention25(2) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the provisions of this act or of any rule direction or order made thereunder has been committed by a company and it is proved that the contravention has taken place with the consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordinglyexplanation—for the purpose of this section:—30(i) "company" means any body corporate and include a firm or other association of individuals; and(ii) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firmpower to remove difficulties358 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such orders shall be made after the expiry of the period of three years from the date of commencement of this actoverriding effect of the act409 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistenttherewith contained in any other law for the time being in force on the subject and save aforesaid the provisions of the act shall be in addition to and not derogation of any other law for the time being in forcepower to make rules10 (1) the central government may by notification in the official gazettee make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act45(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have affect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonswith the increase in the awareness among the public to have good health and physique, gymnasium and fitness centres are mushrooming in every nook and corner of big cities some big fitness centres have branches in many parts of the country, including small towns these gymnasiums and fitness centres charge a hefty fee from their members who with a view to have better looks and physique spend the money many of these gymnasiums and fitness centres are not having adequate infrastructure to run their activities and are operating from small room, garage, terrace etc the activities of body building and weight lifting is closely linked with the diet of a person and if the person is not advised about the proper diet, it may have an adverse effect on the health of a person this is a highly specialised job which must be carried out by professionals under strict supervision and in hygienic environment many of the so-called gymnasiums are not having, qualified instructors and are running without any nutritionist or dietician these gymansiums are just fleecing their members besides playing with the health of lakhs of people as of now, there is no effective law to regulate the operations of gymnasiums and fitness centres therefore, it is high time to regulate the activities of these gymnasiums to protect the interest of public at largehence this billdr t subbarami reddy financial memorandumclause 4 of bill provides that the appropriate government shall appoint competent authority for the purposes of registration of gymnasium and fitness centres the expenditure for appointing competent authorities in respect of union territories shall be borne by the central government it is expected that an annual recurring expenditure of rupees twenty crore may be involvednon-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees two crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 10 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the matter will relate to details only, the delegation of powers is of normal character———— a billto provide for regulation and control of gymnasiums and fitness centres which areengaged in activities, such as giving training on weight lifting and body buildingand conduct courses for weight reduction and proper nutrition in thecountry and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(dr t subbarami reddy,  mp)gmgipmrnd—1326rs(s3)—21072017