Karnataka plans for Rs 23,276 minimum wage despite Centre’s lower wage code

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is likely to proceed with its move to provide a minimum wage of Rs 23,276 to an unskilled labourer in Zone 1 (Bengaluru and districts with municipal corporations), even as the Union government’s code on wages proposes a significantly lesser minimum wage.

The Labour Department has sought the Law Department’s opinion before finalising the proposal.

Speaking to DH, Labour Minister Santosh Lad said: “The power to set minimum wages is with the state government. We have proposed Rs 23,000 as the minimum wage and are committed to it. After final consultations with the CM after the conclusion of the legislature session, we will fix it.”

While other district centres fall under Zone 2, the taluk centres will come under Zone 3. The department proposes a minimum wage of Rs 21,251 for unskilled labourers in Zone 2, while the unskilled labourers in Zone 3 will get Rs 19,319.

On Friday, the Labour Department published the draft code on wages (Karnataka) rules, 2026. The enforcement of the four labour codes on November 21, 2025, has repealed the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. While the state government’s notification was for 84 scheduled employments, the very concept of scheduled employments has been done away with in the Labour Codes.

Though the method of calculating minimum wage as proposed by the Labour Department based on Supreme Court guidelines in the landmark Reptakos Brett Case and the method mentioned in the wage code look similar, there’s one major difference.

While the Supreme Court guidelines mandate that the rent norms should correspond to the government’s industrial area housing scheme, the wage code has defined it as 10% of the food and clothing expenses.

As per calculations by the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the house rent in Bengaluru was considered to be Rs 7,996. The same union calculated food and clothing expenses to be 14,229. Applying the standards of the wage code, the rent amount would be 10% of Rs 14,229, which is Rs 1,422.9. Applying these standards would effectively reduce the minimum wage.

Earlier, the Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) had urged the Labour Department to proceed with its minimum wage proposal by arguing that there was no “legal obstacle” to proceed with its earlier notification.

The JCTU had referred to section 68 and 69 of the code on wages of the Union government.

Though the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936), the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948), the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (21 of 1965) and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (25of 1976) are repealed through the wage code, section 69 (repeal and savings) notes that any notification, nomination, appointment and so on “shall be in force” to the extent that they are “not contrary” to the provisions of this code.