Background
Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act No. 36 of 2020) is one of the four central labour codes enacted by Parliament to consolidate and rationalise India’s social security legislation. It amends and merges nine central enactments — the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948; the Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923; the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972; the Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981; the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996; the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008; and the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959 — into a single, unified framework covering provident fund, insurance, gratuity, maternity benefit, employee compensation, and welfare cess obligations. The Code received Presidential assent on 28 September 2020, and its substantive provisions, along with those of the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, were brought into force with effect from 21 November 2025 vide Gazette Notification No. 5143. The Code introduces a common registration and return-filing architecture across establishments, extends coverage to unorganised, gig, and platform workers for the first time, and empowers the Central and State Governments to frame scheme-specific and procedural rules to operationalise its provisions.
Rajasthan Code on Social Security Rules, 2026 are the State-specific procedural rules framed by the Government of Rajasthan under the rule-making powers conferred by the Code, prescribing the forms, timelines, registers, and State-level compliance procedures applicable to establishments operating in Rajasthan. These Rules were released in draft form vide Notification S.O. 151/S.O. 152 dated 12–13 January 2026, inviting objections and suggestions from stakeholders, and cover matters such as registration and its cancellation, nomination and payment of gratuity, maternity and compensation benefits, contributions to provident fund and insurance schemes, cess on building and construction work, compounding of offences, and the filing of periodic returns. As of the date of this note, the Rajasthan Rules remain at the draft stage pending final notification — unlike the Rajasthan Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2026, which were finalised and brought into force on 30 June 2026 — and readers are encouraged to verify the current status of these Rules before relying on specific timelines or forms referenced below.
Applicability
The compliance obligations covered in this blog apply across the several categories of establishments and workers that the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Rajasthan Rules bring within their fold: provident fund and insurance fund provisions extend to factories and other establishments employing 20 or more employees, while employees’ State insurance provisions cover factories, mines, and plantations (including those belonging to Government) and any shop or establishment employing 10 or more persons on any day of the preceding twelve months, as well as establishments carrying on hazardous or notified life-threatening activities employing even a single employee, and plantations that opt into the ESI scheme; gratuity obligations apply to factories, mines, oilfields, plantations, ports and railway companies, and to any shop or establishment employing 10 or more persons; employee compensation provisions apply to employers and employees of establishments — including plantations — to which the ESI provisions do not extend; maternity benefit obligations extend to establishments in the public sector, to private-sector establishments employing 50 or more employees or as otherwise notified, and more broadly wherever women are employed; obligations relating to unorganised workers apply to establishments in the unorganised sector and to gig and platform workers; and cess and welfare obligations for construction workers apply to establishments falling under building and other construction work. Establishments covered generally under the Code on Social Security, 2020 are additionally subject to common registration, record-keeping, and return-filing obligations irrespective of the specific chapter under which they qualify.
There shall be levied and collected a cess for the purposes of social security and welfare of building workers at such rate not exceeding two per cent. but not less than one per cent. of the cost of construction incurred by an employer, as the Central Government may, by notification, from time to time. For the cost of construction shall include a) The cost of the land; and b) any compensation paid or payable to an employee or his kin under Chapter VII (a)The cess levied under sub-section (1) of section 100 of the Code shall be paid by an employer in advance, on the basis of his self-assessment duly certified by Chartered Engineer at the time of approval or before the commencement of the work. (b) For the purpose of self-assessment of cost of construction, the employer shall calculate the cost of construction work on the uniform rate or rates of construction as specified by respective State’s Public Works Department or the Central Public Works Department or as per return or document submitted to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, applicable for that particular year in which the commencement of building and other construction work took place in Form-XVI.
Provided, if there is any such type of construction activity involved for which neither State PWD nor Central PWD or Real Estate Regulatory Authority has specified any rate(s), the employer will calculate the cost of construction, based on the documents to be produced by him along with his assessment statement in Form-XVI within sixty days on completion of his each building and other construction work or project, to the assessing officer.
Every employer, within sixty days of commencement of his work or payment of cess, as the case may be, furnish to the Assessing Officer, information in Form-XV
Any change or modification in the information furnished under clause (a) shall be communicated to the Assessing Officer in Form-XV incorporating details of such modification(s) immediately but not later than thirty days from the date of affecting the modification or change.
In case, there is any stoppage or reduction of Building or construction work, employer shall furnish the information in Form-XVII, to the Assessing officer within sixty days of such stoppage or reduction of building or other construction. Also, where employer has deposited cess in advance and decides to withdraw/foreclose/modify plan of construction/call off, he may seek refund of the excess amount of advance cess paid by submitting information in Form-XVII to the Assessing Officer giving details of such reduction or stoppage of work.
Every employer on completion of building or other construction work, shall be required to submit a return in Form-XVIII, to the Assessing officer within sixty days of each of his completed work.
Every building worker who has completed eighteen years of age, but has not completed sixty years of age, and who has been engaged in any building or other construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months shall be registered by the officer authorised by the Building Workers’ Welfare Board as a beneficiary under this Chapter in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
(1) The employer or contractor of such building and other construction workers shall ensure that their workers are registered on the specified portal of the Central/State Government/Board
(2) The registration, renewal, and delivery of welfare scheme for the building workers shall be done electronically through specified portal
(3) Portability of benefits of the building and other construction workers, process for their registration, de –registration, and manner of obtaining the benefits in the state where they are working as building and other construction workers, shall be undertaken in the manner and process as specified by the Central Government
(4) The registration of the Building workers shall be done in the same manner and procedure(s) as prescribed for registration of unorganised worker, gig worker and platform worker under rule 50
(5) Every building worker registered as a beneficiary under section 106 of the Code, shall be entitled to the benefits provided by the Board from its Fund
(6) Where a Building worker migrates from one state to another, he shall be entitled to get benefits from the board in whose jurisdiction he is currently working and such board shall be responsible for providing such benefits to such workers
(7) Every registered Building Worker shall be issued a digital identity card or otherwise bearing his photograph and other details as specified by appropriate government
(8) Where identity card issued is lost or accidentally destroyed, a duplicate identity card may be downloaded again from Board’s web-portal with validation as specified by State Government (9) Charges if any, for registration or updation or renewal, may be borne by the Central Government or State Government or Board or by the worker himself, either partly or fully or as may be specified by State Government in this regard
If any building worker has been beneficiary for at least three years continuously immediately before attaining the age of sixty years, for the benefit of such workers, the Central Government may formulate such scheme (s) as may be notified by the Central Government.
Penalty and Consequences
The following penalty provisions apply across the compliance obligations covered in this blog. These have been consolidated and de-duplicated for ease of reference:
Sections 3, 100, 103, 106, 113 and 139 of the Code — Failure to Submit Returns, Reports or Statements
Failure or refusal to submit any return, report, statement, or any other information required under the Code or the rules, regulations, or schemes framed under it is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Sections 16, 17, 20, 29, 31 and 114 of the Code — Default in Payment of Provident Fund and Insurance Fund Contributions
Failure to pay contribution under the Code is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, subject to a minimum term of one year (together with a fine of one lakh rupees) where the default relates to the employee’s contribution deducted from wages but not deposited, and a minimum term of two months, extendable to six months (together with a fine of fifty thousand rupees), in any other case. Deduction, or an attempt to deduct, from an employee’s wages any part of the employer’s own contribution is separately punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Section 32(1) of the Code — Failure to Pay Compensation or Disablement Benefit under ESI Provisions
Failure to pay any amount of compensation to which an employee is entitled under the Code is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Sections 53 and 56 of the Code — Failure to Pay Gratuity
Failure to pay gratuity due under the Code is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both.
Sections 55 and 56 of the Code — Non-Compliance with Nomination Requirements
Non-compliance by an employer with the nomination-related requirements under the Code — including obtaining, verifying, and recording nominations in the prescribed form — is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both.
Sections 55, 56, 88 and 89 of the Code — Fine for Specified Procedural Contraventions
Certain procedural contraventions relating to nomination verification and related filings under the Code are punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Sections 60 and 61 of the Code — Failure to Provide Maternity Benefit
Failure to provide any maternity benefit to which a woman is entitled under the Code is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both.
Section 68 of the Code — Dismissal or Victimisation of a Woman Employee During Maternity
Dismissal, discharge, reduction in rank, or other penalisation of a woman employee in contravention of Chapter VI of the Code and the rules or regulations applicable thereto is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both.
Section 69 of the Code — Reduction of Wages or Benefits (Maternity-Related)
Reduction of the wages, or of any privilege or benefit admissible to an employee, in contravention of the relevant provisions of the Code is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Sections 74, 76, 77, 78, 81 and 85 of the Code — Failure to Pay Employee Compensation or Submit Related Statements
Failure to pay any amount of compensation to which an employee is entitled under the Code is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, and failure to send the requisite statement to the competent authority under Chapter VII is separately punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Section 100(1) of the Code — Default in Payment of Building Workers’ Welfare Cess
Failure to pay cess for building workers which the employer is liable to pay under the Code is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both. Where an employer fails to pay any amount of cess payable under Section 100 within the time specified in the assessment order, the employer is additionally liable to pay interest on the outstanding amount at the rate of one per cent for every month or part of a month comprised in the period from the date the payment fell due until it is actually paid.
Section 124 of the Code — Employer Not to Reduce Wages
Where any person, in contravention of the provisions of the Code, reduces the wages or any privilege or benefit admissible to an employee, such person is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Section 138(4) of the Code — Default in Payment of Composition Amount
If a person who has been given notice for compounding of an offence fails to deposit the composition amount within the prescribed time, prosecution is instituted before the competent court for the offence in respect of which the compounding notice was issued.
Section 139 of the Code — General Penalty for Contravention Where No Specific Penalty is Prescribed
Where no specific penalty is provided for the contravention of any provision of the Code, or of the rules, regulations, or schemes framed under it, a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees may be imposed.
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