Compliance Requirements

1. Revised Minimum Wages – Category-I (Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad)

For Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, the VDA replaces the amounts of ₹805, ₹886 and ₹992 payable from April 1, 2026, raising the monthly minimum wage of an unskilled worker from ₹13,690 to ₹13,883.59.

2. Revised Minimum Wages – Category-II (Districts having a Municipal Corporation)

For districts having a Municipal Corporation (other than Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad), the VDA replaces the amounts of ₹765, ₹842 and ₹943 payable from April 1, 2026, raising the monthly minimum wage of an unskilled worker from ₹13,006 to ₹13,189.68.

3. Revised Minimum Wages – Category-III (All Other Districts)

For all districts other than those in Category-I and Category-II, the VDA replaces the amounts of ₹727, ₹799 and ₹896 payable from April 1, 2026, raising the monthly minimum wage of an unskilled worker from ₹12,356 to ₹12,530.25.

4. General Conditions Applicable to the Revised Rates

The following conditions, set out in the notes to the memorandum, apply uniformly across all three district categories:

• The VDA, together with the cost of the subsistence allowance and the cash value of concessions in respect of essential commodities supplied at concessional rates, is to be computed once a year before April 1 and again before October 1, on the basis of the average Consumer Price Index for industrial workers published by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
• The daily rate of wages shall not be less than 1/26th of the minimum basic wage plus VDA.
• An employee whose working hours (including rest intervals) are less than 6 hours a day or 36 hours a week is treated as a part-time employee, and the hourly rate payable shall not be less than one-eighth of the corresponding daily rate.
• The notified rates shall not operate to the detriment of any employee; where wages being paid before these rates came into force are higher, the higher wages shall continue and be paid as if they were the minimum rate of wages fixed under the Act.
• Where work is done on a piece-rate basis, the guaranteed time rate for such work is the notified time rate.
• Where an employer gets work done through contract labour, with or without a certificate under the contract labour law, such workers are deemed to be employed directly by the employer for the purposes of Section 2(i)(iv) read with Section 9 of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and are entitled to wages and VDA at the same rates.
• The minimum time rates of wages payable to adolescents shall not be less than the time rates applicable to adult employees.
• The minimum time rates of wages include remuneration for the weekly day of rest allowed under Section 13 of the Code on Wages, 2019.