8. Commissioner of Payments to be appointed.—(1) For the purpose of disbursing the amounts
payable to the concession holders under this Act, the Central Government shall appoint such person as it
may think fit to be the Commissioner of Payments.
(2) The Central Government may appoint such other persons as it may think fit to assist the
Commissioner and thereupon the Commissioner may authorise one or more of such persons also to
exercise all or any of the powers exercisable by him under this Act and different persons may be
authorised to exercise different powers.
(3) Any person authorised by the Commissioner to exercise any of the powers exercisable by the
Commissioner may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they have
been conferred, on that person directly by this Act and not by way of authorisation.
(4) The salaries and allowances of the Commissioner and other persons appointed under this section
shall be defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
9. Payment by the Central Government to the Commissioner.—(1) The Central Government
shall, within thirty days from the specified date, pay, in cash, to the Commissioner, for payment to the
concession holders, a sum equal to the sum specified against the mining concessions in the First and the
Second Schedules, together with the amount of interest referred to in section 7.
(2) A deposit account shall be opened by the Central Government, in favour of the Commissioner, in
the Public Account of India, and every amount paid under this Act to the Commissioner shall be
deposited by him to the credit of the said deposit account and the said deposit account shall be operated
by the Commissioner.
(3) Records shall be maintained by the Commissioner in respect of each of the concession holder in
relation to which payments have been made to him under this Act.
(4) Interest accruing on the amount standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in
sub-section (2) shall enure to the benefit of the concession holders.
10. Claims to be made to the Commissioner.—(1) Every concession holder, having a claim for the
payment of the amount referred to in section 6, shall prefer such claim before the Commissioner within
thirty days from the specified date:
Provided that if the Commissioner is satisfied that the claimant was prevented by sufficient cause
from preferring the claim within the said period of thirty days, he may entertain the claim within a further
period of thirty days, but not thereafter.
(2) The Commissioner shall fix a certain date on or before which every claimant shall file the proof of
his claim.
(3) Not less than fourteen days’ notice of the date so fixed shall be given by advertisement in one
issue of the daily newspaper in the English language and one issue of any daily newspaper in the regional
language as the Commissioner may consider suitable, and every such notice shall call upon the claimant
to file the proof of his claim with the Commissioner within the time specified in the advertisement.
(4) Every claimant, who fails to file the proof of his claim within the time specified by the
Commissioner, shall be excluded from the disbursement made by the Commissioner.
(5) The Commissioner shall, after such investigation as may, in his opinion, be necessary and after
giving the concession holder, a reasonable opportunity of being heard, by order in writing admit or reject
the claim in whole or in part.
(6) The Commissioner shall have the power to regulate his own procedure in all matters arising out of
the discharge of his functions, including the place or places at which he will hold his sittings and shall, for
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the purpose of making any investigation under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a civil
court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit in respect of the following
matters, namely:—
(a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
(b) the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as
evidence;
(c) the reception of evidence on affidavits;
(d) the issuing of any commission for the examination of any witnesses.
(7) Any investigation before the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the
meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and the Commissioner shall be
deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
(8) A claimant, who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioner, may prefer an appeal
against the decision to the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the relevant mine is situated.
11. Liability of Central Government to end on payment of claim.—After admitting a claim under
this Act, the amount due in respect of such claim shall be paid by the Commissioner to the person or
persons to whom such amount is due, and, on such payment, the liability of the Central Government in
respect of such claim shall stand discharged.
12. Disputes how to be dealt with.—In the event of there being a doubt or dispute as to the right of a
person to receive the whole or any part of the amount referred to in section 6 or section 7, the
Commissioner shall refer the matter to the court for a decision, and shall make the disbursement in
accordance with the decision of the court.
Explanation.—In this section ―court‖, in relation to a mining concession, means the principal civil
court of original jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the mines relating to such
concession is situated.
13. Undisbursed or unclaimed amount to be deposited to the general revenue account.—Any
money paid to the Commissioner which remains undisbursed or unclaimed after such payment for a
period of three years shall be transferred by the Commissioner to the general revenue account of the
Central Government; but a claim to any money transferred may be preferred to the Central Government
by the concession holder entitled to such payment and shall be dealt with as if such transfer had not been
made, the order, if any, for the payment of the claim being treated as an order for the refund of revenue.