Background
Government of Goa, by a set of twenty notifications dated August 10, 2023 issued by the Labour Department, revised the minimum rates of basic wages for the scheduled employments in the State and linked them to a Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) that is periodically adjusted by the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on the basis of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). These notifications were issued under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, which now stands subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019.
In exercise of the powers conferred by those notifications, the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Panaji, issued Order No. CLE/PA/MWA-VDA/(10)/2016/3800 dated November 5, 2026, revising the VDA with effect from October 1, 2026. The revision is based on the average CPI-IW for the six months from January 2026 to June 2026, which reached 431.424 (rounded to 431 points) against the base of 379 points (Base 2001=100), an increase of 52 points. On this basis, the VDA has been fixed at ₹154 per day, up from ₹149 per day payable from April 1, 2026.
Applicability
Revised VDA applies to all employers in the State of Goa engaging employees in any of the twenty scheduled employments covered by the August 10, 2023 notifications. These are shops and commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants and eating houses, watch and ward services, residual commercial and industrial establishments, road and building construction and maintenance and stone breaking and crushing, pharmaceutical units, cashew factories, cinema exhibition, electronics manufacturing and distribution, automobile workshops and garages, public and private motor transport undertakings, private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic laboratories, printing and book binding, food processing and canning (including fish and beverages), breweries and distilleries, readymade garments, bricks and tiles manufacture, saw mills, agriculture, and cotton textiles, spinning, pressing and weaving (including handloom). The VDA is a flat amount and applies to every category of employee covered by these notifications, whatever their skill category.
Compliance Requirements
Employers must pay a VDA of ₹154 per day, in addition to the basic minimum wage fixed for the employee’s category under the relevant notification, for all work performed on and after October 1, 2026. The VDA is uniform across all twenty scheduled employments. The order was issued on November 5, 2026, after the effective date. Employers who have already paid October 2026 wages using the earlier VDA of ₹149 per day must therefore pay the difference of ₹5 per day as arrears.
Particulars | Previous (w.e.f. 01.04.2026) | Revised (w.e.f. 01.10.2026) |
CPI-IW reference period | June 2025 – December 2025 | January 2026 – June 2026 |
Average CPI-IW (Base 2001=100) | 424.8 (rounded to 425) | 431.424 (rounded to 431) |
Increase over base of 379 points | 46 points | 52 points |
VDA per day | ₹149 | ₹154 |
VDA per month (daily rate × 26) | ₹3,874 | ₹4,004 |
The revised VDA of ₹154 per day applies to each of the following scheduled employments. Each one is governed by its own basic-wage notification, as listed below.
Sl. | Scheduled Employment | Notification No. (dated 10.08.2023) |
1 | Employment in any shop and commercial establishment other than a residential hotel, restaurant or eating house | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(01)/551 |
2 | Employment in any residential hotel, restaurant or eating house | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(02)/552 |
3 | Employment in Watch and Ward | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(03)/553 |
4 | Employment in any commercial or industrial establishment engaged in commercial, manufacturing and service activities, other than that covered under any of the other entries in the Schedule | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(04)/554 |
5 | Employment in (i) construction or maintenance of roads or in building operations, (ii) stone breaking and stone crushing, and (iii) maintenance of buildings | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(05)/555 |
6 | Employment in pharmaceutical industry and units engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of medicines and pharmaceutical products | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(06)/556 |
7 | Employment in cashew factories and establishments | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(07)/557 |
8 | Employment in cinema exhibition industry | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(08)/558 |
9 | Employment in units engaged in the manufacture and assembling of electronic goods and components, and distribution and sale of electronic products | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(09)/559 |
10 | Employment in automobile repairing workshops and garages | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(10)/560 |
11 | Employment in public motor transport undertakings and private motor transport undertakings | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(11)/561 |
12 | Employment in private hospitals, nursing homes, dispensaries, medical clinics, radiology and pathology laboratories, surgical clinics and similar establishments where medical treatment is given to patients | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(12)/562 |
13 | Employment in any industry carrying on printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure or similar work incidental to such process, or book binding | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(13)/563 |
14 | Employment in processing and canning of food stuff including fish and beverages | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(14)/564 |
15 | Employment in breweries and distilleries | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(15)/565 |
16 | Employment in readymade garments manufactory | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(16)/566 |
17 | Employment in bricks and tiles manufacture | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(17)/567 |
18 | Employment in saw mills | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(18)/568 |
19 | Employment in agriculture | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(19)/569 |
20 | Employment in cotton textile, cotton spinning, cotton pressing, manufacture of cotton fibre, thread yarn spinning and weaving, including handloom weaving | 24/21/2009-LAB-III/(20)/570 |
The total minimum wage payable is the basic rate fixed under the relevant notification plus the VDA of ₹154 per day. The table below applies this to shops and commercial establishments, the most widely applicable schedule, across both wage zones. The basic rates, skill categories and zone structure differ between the other nineteen notifications. Employers should therefore apply the VDA to the basic rate in the notification that covers their own employment.
Category | Zone | Basic per Day (₹) | VDA per Day (₹) | Total per Day (₹) | Total per Month (₹) |
Unskilled | Zone A | 412 | 154 | 566 | 14,716 |
Unskilled | Zone B | 407 | 154 | 561 | 14,586 |
Semi-skilled | Zone A | 473 | 154 | 627 | 16,302 |
Semi-skilled | Zone B | 468 | 154 | 622 | 16,172 |
Skilled / Clerical | Zone A | 528 | 154 | 682 | 17,732 |
Skilled / Clerical | Zone B | 523 | 154 | 677 | 17,602 |
The following points apply across all twenty scheduled employments:
Penalty and Consequences
The Code on Wages, 2019 has been in force since November 21, 2025. Under Section 54(1)(a), an employer who pays any employee less than the amount due under the Code, including the notified minimum wage, is punishable with a fine of up to ₹50,000. Under Section 54(1)(b), if the same offence is repeated within five years of the first or a subsequent offence, the punishment is imprisonment for up to three months, a fine of up to ₹1,00,000, or both.
Under Section 54(1)(c), contravention of any other provision of the Code, or of any rule or order made under it, is punishable with a fine of up to ₹20,000. Under Section 54(1)(d), a repeat of that offence within five years is punishable with imprisonment for up to one month, a fine of up to ₹40,000, or both. Under Section 54(2), failing to maintain records, or maintaining them improperly, is punishable with a fine of up to ₹10,000. Contraventions that occurred before the Code commenced remain governed by Sections 22 and 22A of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, through the Code’s savings provisions.
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