Background
Under the Code on Wages, 2019 (29 of 2019), the appropriate Government is empowered to fix and revise the minimum rate of wages payable to employees (Section 6, read with the procedure in Section 8), on the advice of the Advisory Board constituted by the State Government under Section 42. The Code came into force on November 21, 2025 and subsumes the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
Acting on the recommendations of the State Advisory Board (SAB) on minimum wages and with the approval of the State Government, the Labour Department, Government of Tripura, issued Notification No. F.22(80)-LAB/ENF/CoW/2025/Part-I/6608-10 dated October 29, 2026, fixing a minimum daily base wage rate for the State with effect from April 1, 2027. The rate is to serve as the reference point for determining minimum wage rates across different employments and skill categories in Tripura.
Applicability
The notification applies to employers in the State of Tripura engaging employees in employments for which minimum wage rates are determined by the State Government under the Code on Wages, 2019, including shops and commercial establishments, factories and industrial units, construction, transport, hotels and restaurants, security services, private educational institutions, agricultural operations and other employments for which the State fixes minimum wages. Employment in tea plantations is expressly excluded; such employment continues to be governed by the Code on Wages, 2019 and any separate minimum wage notification applicable to it.
Compliance Requirements
The State Government has fixed the minimum daily base wage rate at ₹450 per day, effective April 1, 2027. The notification describes this figure as a reference rate for examining and determining minimum wage rates. Minimum wage rates for individual employments and skill categories are to be determined, where required, in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions and the prescribed procedure from time to time. The notification does not itself prescribe a monthly equivalent, skill-wise rates or a variable dearness allowance component.
Particular | Prescribed Position |
Minimum daily base wage rate | ₹450 (Rupees Four Hundred and Fifty only) per day |
Nature of the rate | Reference rate for examining and determining minimum wage rates for different employments and skill categories |
Effective date | April 1, 2027 |
Employment in tea plantations is excluded from the scope of the notification. The exclusion operates without prejudice to the applicability of the Code on Wages, 2019 to such employment and to any separate minimum wage notification issued for tea plantation workers. Employers in tea plantations should continue to refer to the minimum rates of wages separately notified for that employment.
Penalty and Consequences
Under Section 54(1)(a) of the Code on Wages, 2019, an employer who pays an employee less than the amount due under the Code is punishable with a fine extending up to ₹50,000. Where the employer, having been convicted, commits a similar offence within five years of the earlier offence, the punishment is imprisonment for a term extending up to three months, or a fine extending up to ₹1,00,000, or both.
Under Section 54(1)(b), an employer who contravenes any other provision of the Code or any rule or order made thereunder is punishable with a fine extending up to ₹20,000; a repeat offence within five years attracts imprisonment for up to one month, or a fine up to ₹40,000, or both. Under Section 54(2), failure to maintain or improper maintenance of records is punishable with a fine extending up to ₹10,000. Offences punishable with fine only may be compounded under Section 56 for a sum of 50% of the maximum fine provided for the offence.
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