How Does the 2017 Amendment to the Payment of Wages Act Affect Your Pay?

Amendment to The Payment of Wages Act, 2017

The Central government has notified the amendment under Section 6 of The Payment of Wages Act, 2017. The provision states that "the appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify the industrial or other establishment, the employer of which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting the wages in his bank account." It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 28th day of December 2016.

Regards, Jugbir Gahlawat

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Under Section 6 of the Amendment, it is stated: "All wages shall be paid in current coin or currency notes or by cheque or by crediting the wages in the bank account of the employee."

Here, my doubt is that you mentioned in your message, "the wages only by cheque or by crediting the wages in his bank account."

From my understanding, even now, we can avail the wages in cash also. Is this correct or not? Please reply to me.

Regards,

P. Senthil

THE PAYMENT OF WAGES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2017

NO. 1 OF 2017

[15th February, 2017]

An Act further to amend the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:

1. (1) This Act may be called the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 28th day of December, 2016.

2. For section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the following section shall be substituted, namely:

"6. All wages shall be paid in current coin or currency notes or by cheque or by crediting the wages in the bank account of the employee:

Provided that the appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify the industrial or other establishment, the employer of which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting the wages in his bank account."

Wherever the state government issues a notification, wages can no longer be paid in cash. It then has to be paid by cheque or bank transfer.

According to the above-said notification, salaries and wages can be paid either in cash or through a bank account or cheque. There is no ban on cash payments.

Regards,
Pardeep Sharma
HR Officer
NP Group
9988666364

State Government Authority on Wage Payment Methods

According to the amended provisions under the Payment of Wages Act 2017, and as laid down under the ID Act (Central) as well as the Minimum Wages Act, wage payment methods fall entirely within the ambit of State Governments. The State government has been bestowed with the authority and power through a well-organized machinery to administer, execute plans of payments, and intervene in matters related to due payments.

Some states, including Uttaranchal, have notified that wages shall be paid by cheque or through bank transfer. However, other state governments, including the Government of Uttar Pradesh, have not issued any such notification regarding how payments will be made. Therefore, establishments in the absence of any such notification from their respective states can still continue paying in cash or through other convenient modes.

Regards,

Pardeep,

Read the provision stated in the original post. If the notification is issued, payment in cash is banned.