Parliament Question: Minimum Wages Rates

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3467 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 MINIMUM WAGES RATES 3467. SHRI RAHUL GANDHI: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a)the details of current minimum wage rates, worker type-wise and date when it was last revised in the country, State/UT-wise; (b)the details of total number of complaints received by the Government, notices issued and penalties imposed for non- payment of minimum wages during each of the last five years; (c)the reasons for non-implementation of recommendations of the Expert Committee on fixation of a National Minimum Wage, submitted in 2019; (d)the details of stakeholders who have been or likely to be consulted for fixing a national floor wage under the Code on Wages, 2019, along with the timeline for completion of the process and the reasons for the delay so far; (e)whether the Government has assessed the impact of the absence of a national minimum wage on falling household consumption and rising indebtedness; and (f)if so, the steps taken by the Government to address the issue and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (f): “Labour” as a subject is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India. Under the provisions of the Code on Wages 2019, both Central and the State Governments are empowered to fix, review, revise the minimum rates of wages for all the employments falling under their respective jurisdictions. The minimum rates of wages for employments under the Central Sphere are notified by the Central Government and are revised periodically based on increase in Consumer Price Index for Contd..2/-:: 2 :: Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The details of the minimum wages notified by the Central Government as on 30.03.2026 are available at https://clc.gov.in/clc/sites/default/files/mygov_17751372721.pdf Furthermore, The Code on Wages, 2019 which came into effect from 21.11.2025, has subsumed the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Payment of Bonus Act,1965 and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Under the provisions of the Code on Wages 2019, both Central and the State Governments are empowered to enforce the provisions of the Code by appointment of various authorities as prescribed under the Code such as “Authority to hear and decide claims”, “Appellate Authority”, “Inspector-cum-facilitator” and “Enquiry Officer”. In the Central sphere, enforcement is done through the Inspecting Officers of the office of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), commonly designated as Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) and the compliance in the State sphere is ensured through the State enforcement machinery. The total number of claim cases under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 in the Central sphere and amount awarded including compensation imposed during each of the last five years, is at Annexure. * *****Annexure ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3467 FOR 10.8.2026 RAISED BY SHRI RAHUL GANDHI REGARDING “MINIMUM WAGES RATES”. The details of claim applications received in regard to minimum wages and amount awarded including compensation during 2021-22 to 2025-26: Year Claim Cases under Awarded Amount No. of workers the Minimum (including compensation benefitted Wages Act, 1948 imposed) (in Rs.) 2021-22 1342 17,77,22,490 7,519 2022-23 2074 32,80,07,597 14,757 2023-24 1681 106,39,92,422 12,915 2024-25 1264 39,65,96,166 15,618 2025-26 1068 27,01,13,236 7,424 *****