Trade Unions in India are registered and file annual returns under the Trade Union Act (1926). Its statistics are collected annually by the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, Government of India. Chapter II of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 deals with the provisions of the registration of trade unions.

Section 3 of the Trade Union Act, 1926 empowers the appropriate Government to appoint a person to be registrar of Trade Unions. The appropriate Government be it State or Central, as the case may be is also empowered to appoint additional and Deputy Registrars as it thinks fit for the purpose of exercising and discharging the powers and duties of the Registrar. However, such person will work under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar. He may exercise such powers and functions of Registrar with a local limit as may be specified for this purpose.

Any seven or more persons who want to form a trade union, can apply for its registration to the Registration of Trade Unions under Section 4 (1) of the Trade Unions Act, 1926. These applicants must be members of a trade union.

In order to check the multiplicity of trade unions, one school of thought has proposed the number of persons forming a trade union for the purposes of registration be reasonably increased to 10 percent of employees of the unit, subject to a minimum of seven persons employed therein This is expected to strengthen the trade union movement. The application for registration must be sent to the Registrar of Trade Unions in Form “A” as required by the Trade Union Act, 1926 under Section 5.

According to section 5 of the Act, every application for the registration of the trade union shall be made to the Registrar and shall be accompanied by a copy of the rules of the Trade Union and a statement of the following particulars namely-

The names, occupations and addresses of the members making the application; The name of the trade union and the address of its head office, and The titles, names, ages, addresses and occupations of the office- bearers of the trade union. Where a trade union has been in existence for more than a year, then a copy of the assets and liabilities shall also be submitted along with the application for registration.

According to section 6 of the Act, a Trade Union shall not be entitled to registration under the Act unless the executive committee has been established in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules provide for the following-

1. The name of the trade union;
2. The whole of the objects for which the trade union has been established;
3. The whole of the purposes for which the general funds of the trade union shall be applicable;
4. The maintenance of a list of the members of the trade union;
5. The admission of ordinary members who shall be persons actually engaged or employed in an industry with which the trade union is connected;
6. The conditions under which any member shall be entitled to any benefit assured by the rules and under which any fine or forfeiture may be imposed on the members;
7. The manner in which the rules shall be amended, varied or rescinded;
8. The manner in which the members of the executive and the other office bearers of the Trade Union shall be elected and removed;
9. The safe custody of the funds of the trade union, an annual audit, in such manner, as may be prescribed, of the accounts thereof, and adequate facilities for the inspection of the account books by the office bearers and members of the trade union, and;
10. The manner in which the trade union may be dissolved.

Section 7 provides power to call for further particulars and to require alteration of name. —

1. The Registrar may call for further information for the purpose of satisfying himself that any application complies with the provisions of section 5, or that the Trade Union is entitled to registration under section 6, and may refuse to register the Trade Union until such information is supplied.
2. If the name under which the Trade Union is proposed to be registered is identical with that by which any other existing Trade Union has been registered or, in the opinion of the Registrar, so nearly resembles such name as to be likely to deceive the public or the members of either Trade Union, the Registrar shall require the persons applying for registration to alter the name of the Trade Union stated in the application, and shall refuse to register the Union until such alteration has been made.

According to section 8 of the Act, if the registrar thinks that the trade union has complied with all the provisions of the Act, it shall register the Trade Union by entering in a register all the particulars in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

According to section 9 of the Act, the registrar shall issue a certificate of registration to the trade union after registration under section 8 which shall be conclusive proof that a trade union has been duly registered.