The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923: Employer Liability for Workplace Injury in Indian Labour Law and the Transition to the Code on Social Security, 2020

The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923 established that the cost of work-related injury belongs to the enterprise and not to the injured worker. Its no-fault liability, schedule-based quantum and specialised forum shaped a century of Indian labour jurisprudence, and the courts developed a flexible reading of “arising out of and in the course of employment” that culminated, most recently, in recognition of commuting accidents. The Act has now been replaced by Chapter VII of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The principles remain, but the statutory home has changed, and practitioners and employers must adapt to the Code’s provisions, rules and the savings clause. Future research should examine how courts apply the Code to platform and gig work.  

[1]   The Employees’ Compensation Act, Act No. 8 of 1923, India Code (repealed 2025). [2]   The Code on Social Security, Act No. 36 of 2020, India Code, 2020. [3]     The Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Act, Act No. 45 of 2009, India Code. [4]     Taxmann, “Employee’s compensation under Code on Social Security 2020: Liability, computation, claims,” Taxmann Blog, Sept.  2026.     [Online].Available: https://www.taxmann.com/post/blog/analysis-employees-compensation-under-code-on-social-security/ [5]   Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. v. Ibrahim Mahmmed Issak, (1969) 2 SCC 607 (India). [6]    Pratap Narain Singh Deo v. Srinivas Sabata, AIR 1976 SC 222 (India). [7]   Saurashtra Salt Manufacturing Co. v. Bai Valu Raja, AIR 1958 SC 881 (India). [8]    General Manager, B.E.S.T. Undertaking, Bombay v. Mrs. Agnes, AIR 1964 SC 193 (India). [9]    Regional Director, ESI Corporation v. Francis De Costa, (1996) 6 SCC 1 (India). [10]      Daivshala v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., 2025 INSC 904, Supreme Court of India, July 29, 2025.