ESI Registration (ESIC)

The First Schedule to the Code on Social Security, 2020 applies Chapter IV to every establishment in which ten or more persons are employed, other than a seasonal factory. But the operative threshold for your business may be 20: ESIC records that State Governments extended coverage at 10 or more for shops, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, road-motor-transport, newspaper, private medical and educational institutions in certain States and UTs, while the Central Government extended it at 20 or more for shops, hotels, restaurants, road-motor-transport, cinemas, newspaper establishments, insurance, NBFCs, port trusts, airport authorities and warehousing where the Centre is the appropriate Government. Those notifications survive under section 164(2)(a) of the Code. There is no single national number — we check the notification for your State and establishment type.

Yes. The second proviso to section 2(26) of the Code provides that for counting employees for coverage under Chapter III and Chapter IV, employees whose wages are more than the notified wage ceiling shall also be taken into account. So an establishment with twelve staff of whom only four earn under the limit is still counted at twelve for the coverage test — even though the other eight would not be contributing members.

Medical care plus cash benefits — sickness, maternity, disability and dependants' benefits — for covered employees and their families.

Both. Rule 19 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 344(E), 8 May 2026) sets the employer's contribution at three and one-fourth per cent of the wages payable and the employee's at three-fourth per cent — 3.25% and 0.75% — with each rounded to the next higher rupee. The employer deposits both shares. The percentages are unchanged from the 1 July 2019 revision; the 2026 Rules replaced the instrument, not the rates.

Employees earning up to the wage limit ESIC publishes — ₹21,000 per month, and ₹25,000 per month in the case of a person with disability, effective from 1 January 2017. One honest note: under the Code the Chapter IV test turns on a wage ceiling notified under section 2(89), and the only such notification we located (S.O. 2702(E), 29 May 2026) is expressly for Chapter III. No Chapter IV notification was found and the 2026 Central Rules do not prescribe one, so the ₹21,000 appears to continue under the savings in section 164(2)(a). We state it as ESIC's operating limit with the source, and recommend confirming it for a marginal employee.

Not since 21 November 2025. S.O. 5319(E) of that date brought the Code on Social Security, 2020 into force and repealed the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 among other enactments. ESI now sits in Chapter IV of the Code, with contribution rates in rule 19 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026. The transition is not complete: the ESI (General) Regulations, 2026 were still a draft as at 19 August 2026, published for objections in supersession of the 1950 Regulations, so those 1950 Regulations continue to operate under the savings provision meanwhile.

Incorporation/constitution proof and PAN, address and bank proof, employee list with wages and dates of joining, DSC, and your Shops Act/Factories Act registration as applicable.

Yes. ESIC states that contributions are payable within 15 days of the last day of the calendar month in which they fall due. Alongside that, ESI runs on six-month contribution periods — 1 April to 30 September and 1 October to 31 March — with corresponding cash benefit periods of 1 January to 30 June and 1 July to 31 December. We can manage the monthly cycle for you.

HRA is wages for ESI, for both coverage and contribution, on ESIC's own consolidated instruction. Overtime is wages for contribution but is not counted when deciding coverage. Annual bonus, incentive or production bonus and annual commission are excluded where their periodicity exceeds two months; attendance bonus is included, subject to the same periodicity point. Washing allowance is excluded. Gratuity on discharge and leave encashment are excluded. Suspension or subsistence allowance is included. Conveyance is generally included, with carve-outs for duty-related journeys, reimbursement of actuals on proof, vehicle-maintenance payments on records, and a fixed allowance paid at intervals exceeding two months. The two-month periodicity test recurs throughout and is the most useful rule of thumb.

Yes. Rule 19(2) of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 provides that in respect of an employee who is a person with disability under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 or the National Trust Act, 1999, the employer is not required to pay the employer's share of contribution for up to three years from the commencement of the contribution period. Rule 19(3) provides for the Central Government to reimburse that amount to the Corporation.

Late or non-payment attracts interest, damages and recovery action under Chapter IV of the Code and the rules and regulations made under it. We deliberately do not publish a rate on this page: the ESI (General) Regulations, 2026 were still a draft as at 19 August 2026 and the 1950 Regulations continue meanwhile, so any figure presented as settled would be quoting an instrument in transition. We confirm the applicable position for your case.