Ch. VIII · §26
Chapter VIII
Miscellaneous
Section
Chapter VIII · Miscellaneous
Section 26
Penalty for non-compliance with provisions of Act
Transcribed from the official India Code source for reading and comparison. PIH plain-language guidance is editorial and separate; this page is not legal advice.
Plain Language
Employers who fail to constitute an Internal Committee, act on committee recommendations, or otherwise breach the Act can be fined up to fifty thousand rupees.
After a previous conviction, a later conviction for the same offence can attract twice the first-conviction punishment (subject to the statutory maximum) and specified licence or registration consequences.
The penalty covers not just IC constitution failures but any contravention of the Act or the rules made under it.
Why It Matters
Section 26 makes governance neglect a business risk, not just an HR issue. The fine is modest, but the licence and registration consequences for repeat violations are severe.
This is the Act's primary enforcement mechanism — without it, compliance would be voluntary.
The doubled-penalty provision for repeat violations signals that the law expects employers to correct non-compliance after the first offence.
Practical Example
Scenario: A company with 50 employees has not constituted an Internal Committee despite being required to do so under Section 4.
Outcome: The employer may be prosecuted for the Section 26(1) offence and, on conviction, may be punished with a fine up to fifty thousand rupees.
Scenario: An employer was previously convicted of an offence under the Act and is later convicted of the same offence again.
Outcome: The employer faces a doubled fine and risks cancellation or non-renewal of business licences or registrations.
Scenario: An Internal Committee recommends disciplinary action against a respondent under Section 13, but the employer takes no action.
Outcome: Failure to take action under Section 13 is within the Section 26(1)(b) trigger, subject to the offence and court process under the Act.
Who Must Act
employer
- Constitute the Internal Committee as required under Section 4.
- Take the action required under Sections 13, 14 and 22 and comply with the Act and applicable rules.
- Comply with all provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder.
- Understand that a later conviction for the same offence can engage the repeat-conviction consequences in Section 26(2).
Compliance
Constitute Internal Committee under Section 4
Actor: Employer · Rule: Section 26(a)
Take action under Sections 13, 14 and 22 as required
Actor: Employer · Rule: Section 26(b)
Comply with all provisions of the Act and rules
Actor: Employer · Rule: Section 26(c)
Common Mistakes
Assuming the penalty is only about the fine — the repeat-conviction provisions also address specified licence or registration consequences.
Treating any later breach as automatically subject to twice the punishment — Section 26(2) speaks to a later conviction for the same offence and remains subject to its statutory conditions.
Believing that only IC constitution failure triggers penalties — any contravention of the Act or rules can be penalised.
Practical PIH resources
These are separate PIH editorial, training, or support destinations. They are not substitutes for the official Act source or a statutory complaint forum.
Source & Status
- Official source
- India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
- Source version
- India Code PDF — last updated 31 August 2021
- Source location
- India Code PDF, pp. 12–13
- Retrieved
Statutory blocks are kept separate from PIH plain-language and operational guidance. The reading copy is not legal advice.
Legal review status: counsel-reviewed. All sections have valid documentary counsel evidence and publication signals are enabled.
Judicial material: no verified judicial interpretation is published in this reading copy. Judicial analysis is a separate layer from the statutory transcription and PIH editorial guidance.