TL;DR
- Maharashtra sets the labour welfare fund contribution at ₹25 from the employee and ₹75 from the employer for each half-year, with the State Government adding twice the employee's share. The employer pays both shares before 15 July and 15 January, and files the Form A-1 statement on or before 31 July and 31 January. Interest on a late payment runs from the section 6BB(3) due date, not from the date of any notice.
Last updated: 16 October 2026
Quick Answer: Maharashtra labour welfare fund contributions are payable before 15 July and before 15 January every year. Section 6BB(2) of the Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953, as substituted on 18 March 2024, fixes the employee's share at ₹25 per half-year and the employer's share at ₹75. Liability follows the establishment register on 30 June and 31 December.
Maharashtra runs its own welfare fund under a 1953 enactment, so neither the amount nor the cycle follows any central labour statute. The present figures were substituted on 18 March 2024, replacing a wage-slab structure of ₹6 and ₹12 with a single flat amount.
| Item | Position in Maharashtra | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Governing enactment | Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 (Bombay Act XL of 1953) | section 1 |
| Employee's contribution | ₹25 for each half-year, with no wage slab | section 6BB(2)(a) |
| Employer's contribution | thrice the employee's amount, so ₹75 | section 6BB(2)(b) |
| State Government's contribution | an amount equal to twice the employee's contribution, with effect from 1 April 2003 | section 6BB(8) |
| Date that fixes liability | the name standing on the establishment register on 30 June and 31 December | section 6BB(2)(a) |
| Payment deadline | before the 15th day of July and the 15th day of January | section 6BB(3) |
| Return and form | statement of both contributions in Form A-1 | rule 3-A |
| Return deadline | on or before 31 July and 31 January | rule 3-A |
| Annual register extract | Form B extract for the previous year to the Welfare Commissioner by 31 January | rule 21(2) |
| Headcount test | five or more persons employed, or so employed on any working day in the preceding twelve months | section 2(4)(iii) |
How Much Is the Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Contribution in 2026?
The employee pays ₹25 for each half-year and the employer pays ₹75, being three times the employee's amount. Section 6BB(2) of the Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 states the employee figure as a rupee amount and the employer figure as a multiple of it.
Which Instrument Raised the Rate to ₹25?
Sub-section (2) of section 6BB was substituted by Maharashtra Act No. 25 of 2024, which received assent on 16 March 2024 and was first published on 18 March 2024. The wage slab is gone, so an employee drawing ₹60,000 a month and one drawing ₹4,000 now carry the same ₹25.
| Period | Employee's contribution per half-year | Employer's contribution per half-year |
|---|---|---|
| Before 18 March 2024 | ₹6 where wages were up to and inclusive of ₹3,000 a month, ₹12 above that | thrice the employee's amount, so ₹18 or ₹36 |
| From 18 March 2024 | ₹25 for every employee | thrice the employee's amount, so ₹75 |
When Are the Two Maharashtra Half-Yearly Payments Due?
Section 6BB(3) requires the employer to pay both the employer's contribution and the employee's contribution to the Board before the 15th day of July and the 15th day of January. The statute says "before", so the 15th itself is already a default. The July payment answers the register date of 30 June, and the January payment answers 31 December.
Maharashtra has no half-yearly extension in force for this obligation, so the two dates stand even where other compliance due dates have been extended.
Which Payment Channel Does the Board Operate?
The Board operates an online channel and has done since 1 January 2020, under a notice signed by the I/c Welfare Commissioner. An employer enrols its establishment once on the Board's portal and pays against that enrolment thereafter. Read the position carefully before switching off any other route: nothing rescinds section 6BB(7)'s cheque, money order or cash, so the portal is the channel the Board operates and asks employers to use rather than the only lawful one.
One caution on the paperwork. The Form A-1 the Board serves for download still prints the pre-2024 slabs of ₹6 and ₹18. Its payment block still reads cash, cheque or demand draft payable at Mumbai only. The form therefore contradicts both the 2024 rate amendment and the Board's own portal notice, so fill the current figures.
Which Register Decides Whose Name Counts?
Rule 2(ia) of the rules made under the Act defines the establishment register for this purpose, and it differs by the type of establishment.
| Type of establishment | Establishment register under rule 2(ia) |
|---|---|
| Factory | the register of adult workers or of child workers maintained under section 62 or section 73 of the Factories Act, 1948 |
| Motor omnibus service | the register of workers maintained under rule 33 of the Maharashtra Motor Transport Workers Rules, 1962 |
| Any other establishment | the register of employment maintained under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Rules, 1961 |
When Is the Form A-1 Return Due?
Rule 3-A imposes a filing that is separate from the payment. The employer must submit a statement of the employer's and the employees' contributions in Form A-1 to the Welfare Commissioner. It is due on or before 31 July and 31 January, for the names standing on the establishment register on 30 June and 31 December respectively.
Which Maharashtra Establishments and Employees Are Covered?
Coverage turns on the definition of "establishment" in section 2(4), which takes in three categories:
- a factory;
- a tramway or motor omnibus service, or a motor transport undertaking to which the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 applies;
- any establishment within the meaning of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 which employs five or more persons.
The five-person test is equally satisfied where that number was employed on any working day during the preceding twelve months. The Explanation to section 2(4) treats all branches and departments as parts of the same establishment, whether or not they share premises.
Which Cross-References in Section 2(4) Are Now Stale?
Three of them, because Maharashtra's text has not been updated for the central and State consolidations. Section 2(4) still names the Factories Act 1948 and the Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, both repealed by section 143(1) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It also names the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act 1948, which the 2017 Act replaced.
The quotations above are faithful to the enactment as it stands, and coverage is unaffected: section 9 of the Maharashtra General Clauses Act 1904 carries a reference to a repealed enactment onto its replacement. Confirm the current reading with the Board for a borderline establishment.
Who Falls Outside the Definition of Employee?
Section 2(2) covers any person employed for hire or reward on skilled, unskilled, manual, clerical, supervisory or technical work, engaged directly by the employer or through a contractor or any other agency. It then excludes three categories:
- a person employed mainly in a managerial capacity;
- a person employed in a supervisory capacity who draws wages exceeding ₹3,500 per month, or who exercises powers or carries out functions mainly of a managerial nature;
- a person employed as an apprentice under the Apprentices Act, 1961.
For How Long May Headcount Stay Below Five?
A fall below five does not end coverage by itself. The first proviso to section 2(4) continues the establishment notwithstanding a reduction in the number of persons to less than five at any subsequent time.
The second proviso ends coverage only where the number employed has been below five for a continuous period of not less than three months. Cessation then takes effect from the beginning of the month following the expiry of that three-month period, and the employer must intimate it by registered post within one month of that date. That intimation is a notified change, so it belongs with the employer's other state-level registrations.
What Does a Late Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Payment Cost?
Interest runs from the date the contribution fell due, not from the date of any notice. Under section 6-B(1) the Welfare Commissioner may cause a notice to be served requiring payment within a period that shall not be less than thirty days from the date of service. The power is discretionary and it sits with the Welfare Commissioner, not with the Maharashtra Labour Welfare Board itself.
The notice governs when interest becomes payable, not the period it is computed over. Simple interest attaches where the employer fails, without sufficient cause, to pay within the period the notice specifies, and it is then calculated from the section 6BB(3) due date, so a notice served late does not shorten the exposure.
| Stage | Position under the Act | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of demand | the Welfare Commissioner may cause one to be served, allowing not less than thirty days from service | section 6-B(1) |
| First three months from the section 6BB(3) due date | simple interest at 1.5% of the amount for each completed month | section 6-B(2)(b)(i) |
| Each completed month thereafter | simple interest at 2% of the amount | section 6-B(2)(b)(ii) |
| Recovery | recoverable as an arrear of land revenue | section 17 |
Can the Welfare Commissioner Remit the Interest?
Yes. The proviso to section 6-B(2) allows the Welfare Commissioner to remit the whole or any part of the penalty for any period, subject to conditions set by rule 4-B.
What Is the ₹1 Lakh Fine Under Section 17-A Actually For?
It is not a penalty for paying late. Section 17-A punishes wilful obstruction of an Inspector, a failure to produce registers, records or other documents for inspection on demand, or a failure to supply true copies of them.
On conviction the fine may extend to ₹1 lakh for a first offence and to ₹2 lakh for a second or subsequent offence. Where the offender is sentenced to a fine only, the proviso sets a floor of ₹5,000 absent special and adequate reasons recorded in the judgment.
How Should a Multi-State Employer Evidence the Maharashtra Payment?
One Maharashtra site carries five dated obligations under one statute: a register date, a payment date, a Form A-1 return date, the 31 January Form B extract under rule 21(2), and a retention period. An employer with sites in several States carries a different set in each. Holding each of those dates against a named owner is what makes the position auditable, and an AI labour-law assistant answers the provision-level questions in between. The Board receives the contribution, never any software.
Where section 2(4) applicability is genuinely arguable for a Maharashtra site, advisory support on that question produces a recorded determination rather than an assumption.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Still applying the ₹6 and ₹12 wage slabs. Section 6BB(2)(a) was substituted on 18 March 2024 and now sets one flat ₹25 for every employee, so the ₹3,000 wage line no longer decides the amount.
- Treating 15 July and 15 January as the last permitted day. Section 6BB(3) requires payment before those dates, so the 15th itself is already a default.
- Filing nothing because the money has already gone. Rule 3-A requires a separate statement in Form A-1 on or before 31 July and 31 January, sixteen days after the payment date.
- Dropping an establishment the month headcount falls below five. The second proviso to section 2(4) ends coverage only after a continuous period of not less than three months below five, and then from the month following that period.
- Deducting the employer's ₹75 from wages. Section 6BB(5) bars an employer from deducting or recovering its own contribution, and section 6BB(4) confines the employee's deduction to the wages for June and December.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is general information on Maharashtra's labour welfare fund obligations as at 16 October 2026, and it is not legal advice. Verify the current position against the Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 and the rules made under it before acting. Our team can walk through a specific position with you through our contact page.
