DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Guide Lines for Payment Dispute Cases

(Member to Producer and Member to Member)

  • Payment dispute Cases lodged with the Association shall be brought to the knowledge of Core-Committee / EC, first. The complaint must be submitted in prescribed format.
  • Then to check the record and status of the complainant.
  • Is the assignment registered? If not immediate Registration is to be done after careful study and charging 05 times more of the normal registration fee but not with any guarantee to solve the case. If the assignment is registered the complainant shall have to pay service charges @ 10% in case of unregistered assignment 25% or more service charges shall be taken.
  • Application must be in proper format and all the necessary datas should be furnished by the complainants in writing. Association at its own shall not go for collecting datas and informations on behalf of the complainant.
  • To verify the appended documents. To ensure whether complete and perfect? Also to check whether the complainant has worked above or below his grade in the assignment against which dispute case is pled.
  • To decide in no time whether the particular case is to be accepted or not? It the applicant is in any kind of default, not to accept the complaint.
  • If in special case, we accept the case. We must take undertaking from the complainant and he shall have to accept and undergo our instructions and abide by the Association rules, which shall not be made flexible for anyone. If he agrees then only we may go ahead. We should also clear to the complainant that there is no guarantee of solving such cases at Association’s end.
  • If the dispute case is not solve at Federation end with any reason, the Association shall try to solve at its end and this is possible, only if the members do co-operate.
  • If a complainant is in default since long and his complaint is accepted, his dues and service charges shall be deducted from the proceeds (when realized) and balance amount shall be paid to the complainant. Such instances shall be rare.
  • Any reduction in service charges is not possible, because in solving the cases, Association has to spend considerable money at its own first and which must be recovered officially.
  • As soon as a member registers his assignment, a thanks letter at Association’s end goes to the producer to ensure that Association knows about the involvement of its members in the particular job of the said Producer.
  • E-mail, postal address and contact numbers are most. For suspicious cases, Association should take an amount from the complainant against the initial contingent expenses, because if the cases are not solved then the amount spent by Association shall go in vain and Association shall not go for incurring such loss.
  • Better for Association to reject the cases in beginning, if seem doubtful and lodged with intention of getting the stuck money received and superseding own default. This shall not be allowed in any condition. The cases of the members arised in default period shall not be accepted.
  • If a person wants to seek and gets membership for getting his/her old dispute cases solved, he/she shall have to face despair only in response to his/her effort.
  • Once the member lodges case with the Association, he shall not be allowed to make negotiation with the Producer outside, compromise and get the matter solved. In such cases, disciplinary action shall be taken and monetary fine shall be imposed on the complainant. The smart members utilizing Association’s pressure in wrong way to get their money recovered and their act to avoid to pay the service charges to the Association shall go against them.
  • Generally the Association supports the members in Producer to member cases for their wages as Sound Technician. Association does not go for realizing any amount other than the wages. If so, the applicant shall have to pay a different percentage of service charges as demanded by the Association and the processing of such cases shall be at Core-Committee’s discretion.
  • The unregistered assignments are not entertained at all. The members must ask for contract copy from the Producer as directed by government rules.
  • Members are supposed to preserve all the documents and proper informations regarding their work against which the case is lodged. These documents help dispose off the cases.
  • No guarantee of solution to the cases received at eleven hours. Association never guarantees of settlement of the cases. It may assure only of its high possible efforts.
  • It is often seen that job is of another member and someone is active in processing the case, as because he has done the job. In such cases, the complaint raised by the main Technician (who has been awarded the job) shall only be accepted.
  • If an irregular member or even a non-member has been deployed on the job by a regular member or the work has been accomplished by a person of subordinate or superior grade, the case shall not be accepted.
  • If one needs the interference of the Association and on the other hand wants to maintain relation with the producer (double cross in collequal language) Association shall not evince any interest in such cases. The complainants shall have to come with clear views and stand.
  • Frequent reminders and phone calls just after submitting the case shall lead to closure of the case. In most cases, the Producer has not been doing any project, nothing can be done against realization of the dues. In such cases, it is the duty of the complainant to seek informations about the said Producer and inform the Association. Only in the case, if the Producer is found active on any job, Association has a chance to interfere. It shall be the responsibility of the complainant to inform the Association about execution of any post-production work of the Producer or his/her sister concerns in any studio. In such situation, Association shall seek help of the studio owner in settling the case.
  • On realization of the cases now a days, the amount is transferred directly to the account of the complainant. Thus the payment of service-charges is in sup. Either members take option of payment in installments or try to escape payment. To avoid this Practice an advance cheque is to be taken for safety.
  • In case cheque comes to the Association, all the dues against the complainants are to be deducted and cheque for balance amount is to be issued. Those, who avoid the Association directives, or are indulged in Anti-Association activities, or work with defaulters and non-members or if their work is found indecent, they should not be allowed to submit their complaint.
  • Some members do work through others. Later, it is seen that the person escapes taking money and Producer refuses to recognize the complainant. Cases of such members are not accepted. They are advised to get involved in any job after getting the doubt cleared.
  • Those, who don’t know even the name of the Production House, its address etc, should not approach us.
  • In member to member cases, it is found that they work with a particular member but do not know his/her name. If know, that is their pet name not the original. In this case in illusion of the similar name Association goes for talking with a wrong person. Such circumstances should not be allowed to erupt. One who goes for working with anybody should know well about him/her.
  • In greed of money members willingly work with blacklisted persons and non-members too. In such case, Association should not accept the resulted payment dispute cases. Members are always advised not to work with the money dupers, whom they know well.
  • If a member does not inform Association in time while working with someone, he should forget that Association shall help him.
  • The general tendency of the members is to surrender a big amount to the producer, but a smaller amount seems them big, while paying to the Association. While dealing to the cases, Association should remember it and should not deviate at all from its directives.
  • In absence of contract, generally members do like to get more money and refer the Association rate chart, which does not work, because they would have already accepted the lower rate. Association can do nothing in this matter.
  • We have been failing to take service charges from the Producers and members in member to member cases. We should charge from the person, who is in default.
  • The discretion and decision of the Association or its sub-committee in the matter shall be final and acceptable. Association may change comparatively more than the claimed amount or take monetary fine or compensation from the Producer. The complainant can’t claim for that amount and he shall have to pay the service charges and other dues from the amount received by him. Such extra amount shall always be of the Association.
  • Association may advise the complainant in cases of non-settlement to take shelter of law and justice and to file cases against the complainee in Courts / Lok Adalats / Labour department or other statutory tribunals. Members should also keep in mind that if due to the violation of norms by the complainant the payment dispute case is not accepted by the Association, the defaulter / complainee gets Triumph Card and his collar automatically goes high. So avoid to opt for low profile and be correct at every step.

THE ABOVE SAID GUIDELINES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME. THERE MAY BE REPEATATIONS, THERE MUST BE OMISSION. THUS, ALL THE TIME THERE IS POSSIBILITY OF ALTERATION, ADDITION, DELETION ETC.

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