ESIC

Applies from

10 employees

Wage ceiling

₹21,000 a month

Employee contribution

0.75% of wages

Employer contribution

3.25% of wages

Due date

15th of the following month

Once covered in a contribution period, an employee stays covered for the matching benefit period, even if wages rise above the ceiling during it.

Two of these now come from the Code, and one does not. The ten-employee line is section 1(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 with its First Schedule — “every establishment in which ten or more persons are employed other than a seasonal factory” — and ESIC’s own circular of 12 December 2025 states it in those terms. The 0.75% and 3.25% are prescribed by rule 19 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 344(E)), which writes them as three-fourth and three and one-fourth per cent. Both are current under the Code.

The ₹21,000 is the gap. Section 2(89) defines a “wage ceiling” to be notified for Chapter III and Chapter IV, and only Chapter III has been notified — ₹25,000 by S.O. 5109(E) of 17 September 2026, which says “for the purposes of Chapter III” and nothing more. We found no notification setting a Chapter IV ceiling, and neither the Code nor the 2026 Rules states one: the Rules contain no wage ceiling at all. So ₹21,000 survives only through section 164(2)(b), which holds the rules made under the repealed ESI Act in force, so far as not inconsistent with the Code, for one year from 21 November 2025. The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 is item 2 of section 164(1), repealed on that date by S.O. 5319(E) as corrected by S.O. 5936(E) of 19 December 2025.

And the thing being measured has changed. Section 2(88) redefines “wages”, and ESIC’s circular says in terms that coverage “is expected to extend to many excluded employees also”. So ₹21,000 today is not the test ₹21,000 was: the same figure applied to a different base.

The one-year saving in section 164(2)(b) runs out on 21 November 2026, and the ₹21,000 above depends on it. Check whether a Chapter IV wage ceiling has been notified before relying on this figure.

Registering is one filing, not two. Rule 5 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 sends the employer to Form-I of the OSH (Central) Rules, 2026 on the Shram Suvidha Portal, and makes it “the common form for registration under these rules”. The same Form-I registers the establishment for provident fund and for state insurance together — see EPF, which shares this checklist. The certificate issues in Form-III within seven days, and if it does not, the establishment is deemed registered.

ESIC’s own portal help file contradicts the rules in three places, so if you meet it, these figures are the corrected ones. It says registration needs no documents “either before the registration or after it” — rule 3(1) requires documents of registration, identity and address. It computes advance contributions at 6.5%, the combined rate superseded in 2019; rule 19 of the 2026 Rules puts it at 4% (0.75% + 3.25%). And its table still splits the establishment threshold 10 or 20 by state, which the Code’s First Schedule has replaced with a uniform ten.

What we have not settled. On section 9(1) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 — “from” excludes the first day — the year runs from 22 November 2025 and ends on 21 November 2026, so the saved rules lapse on 22 November. Some commentary puts the close at 20 November 2026, counting the first day inclusively. We have not read the instrument behind the ₹21,000 itself this round, nor re-checked the 15th against the Code’s rules — it comes from the saved pre-Code regulations. Treat the ceiling and the due date as the outgoing position and check them before you rely on them.