Mumbai & Maharashtra minimum wages, explained

What is minimum wage in Maharashtra

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 obligates every employer in Maharashtra to pay no less than the notified minimum wage to their workers. The Commissioner of Labour issues separate wage schedules for 67 industries (called "scheduled employments" or anusuchit udyog) and different skill levels within each.

Most Mumbai-based businesses fall under one or more scheduled employments. Manufacturers, shops, hotels, hospitals, transport operators, salons, private security, and most others each have a notified wage schedule. Rates are revised every six months in January and July through a Special Allowance update.

Zones (parimandal) explained

Maharashtra divides the state into three zones (parimandal) for minimum wage purposes. Mumbai and most of the immediate metropolitan area fall under Zone I (parimandal 1), which has the highest rates due to higher cost of living.

For Mumbai-based employers, Zone I rates apply. If you operate across multiple locations (say, head office in Mumbai and a factory in Aurangabad), each location uses its applicable zone rate.

Wage components: Basic + Special Allowance

The 05.08.2026 notification structures the notified minimum wage in two components:

• Basic wage (Kiman Mool Vetan Dar): The fixed base rate for the employment and skill level.
• Special Allowance (Vishesh Bhatta): Per-month DA-linked amount, revised every six months against the Consumer Price Index for industrial workers.

Total minimum wage payable = Basic wage + Special Allowance. If an employee's gross wage falls below this total for the applicable zone and skill category, the employer is non-compliant even if Basic alone meets the rate.

Note: HRA is not part of the minimum-wage computation in this notification. HRA obligations under other laws (Payment of Bonus Act, employment contracts, or state HRA rules for specific sectors) are treated separately.

Zone I (Mumbai) monthly rates — 01.07.2026 to 31.12.2026

Totals shown are monthly wages in rupees for Zone I (Mumbai). Each figure = Basic + Special Allowance combined. Skill categories: Kushal (Skilled), Ardhkushal (Semi-skilled), Akushal (Unskilled). Full schedule covers 67 employments; commonly relevant ones for Mumbai employers are listed below.

Zone II and Zone III figures for each row are notified separately and are lower than Zone I. The full 67-employment schedule with all zone-skill combinations is available in the notification document. Not shown above: piece-rate schedules (bidi, brick kilns), per-day schedules (agriculture, onion cleaning), and specialised sub-categories.

Piece-rate and per-day schedules

A few employments use per-piece, per-day, or per-quantity rates instead of monthly wages:

• Bidi & tobacco (Sr. 60): Roller wage ₹ 210 per 1,000 bidis for Zone I (₹ 192 for Zone II), plus Special Allowance of ₹ 4,541/month or ₹ 175/day. Separate sub-rates for packers, tobacco mixers, watchmen, drivers, etc.
• Brick kilns (Sr. 63): ₹ 690 per 1,000 bricks (9"×4"×3") for makers, plus ₹ 6,448/month Special Allowance. Higher rate for 6-inch bricks. Loader/carrier rates separately notified.
• Agriculture (Sr. 66): Daily wage ₹ 351 (rojndar), monthly ₹ 9,126 (mahinedar), yearly ₹ 1,09,512 (saladar) for non-machine work in Zone I. Higher rate applies for workers on oil, steam, or electric machines.
• Onion cleaning (Sr. 67): ₹ 413/day for mukadam (supervisor), ₹ 383/day for unskilled, ₹ 230/day for part-time (4 hours) unskilled — Zone I only.
• Salt pans (Sr. 65): Zone I only. Extra-skilled ₹ 15,765; skilled ₹ 14,540; semi-skilled ₹ 13,660; unskilled ₹ 12,770 per month.

How rates are revised

Maharashtra revises wage rates in two ways:

• Six-monthly Special Allowance revisions: Every January and July, the Special Allowance component is updated based on the Consumer Price Index for industrial workers. The 05.08.2026 notification covers the July-December 2026 period. The next revision will cover January-June 2027.
• Periodic base revisions: Every 3 to 5 years, the Basic component itself is revised, typically with significant jumps. All 67 scheduled employments are reviewed together.

The Maharashtra Labour Department publishes each schedule in the official Gazette. Employers are expected to apply the new rates from the effective date of the notification (currently 01.07.2026), which usually means arrears for the months between the notification date and the effective date.

Compliance and penalties

Non-compliance with minimum wage rules under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 carries:

• Penalty up to ₹ 500 per affected employee per day of violation.
• Arrears payable to affected employees with interest.
• Possible imprisonment up to 6 months for repeat or wilful violations.
• Inspector visits and notice from the Labour Commissioner.

The risk is highest at the time of statutory audit, employee grievances, or labour department inspections. Most Mumbai SMBs that get caught underpaying do so because the DA revision was missed when the notification came out.

How factoHR handles minimum wages

If your employees are paid above minimum wage by a comfortable margin (and most office-based teams are), you may never need to think about this. If you have any blue-collar, contract, or entry-level employees, factoHR payroll does the work for you:

• All 67 Maharashtra scheduled employment rates pre-built into the system, with the 05.08.2026 notification live.
• Zone-wise application: Mumbai employees use Zone I, Aurangabad employees use Zone II, rural sites use Zone III automatically.
• Skill-level mapping per role (Kushal / Ardhkushal / Akushal). Configure once during setup.
• Piece-rate schedules for bidi, brick kilns, agriculture, and onion cleaning handled with the correct per-unit and per-day formulas.
• Six-monthly Special Allowance updates pushed by us the moment the January or July notification is issued.
• Compliance check at payroll run: warning if any employee's Basic + Special Allowance falls below the applicable Zone I/II/III minimum.
• Audit-ready reports for Labour Department inspections. Connects with PF, ESIC and LWF for full statutory coverage.

For most factoHR Mumbai customers, the first time they hear about a Maharashtra wage revision is when the rate update goes live in their account. That is the goal.