Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 · Chapter II: Employee’S Compensation
Section 17: Contracting out
The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 was repealed and replaced by the Code on Social Security, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
Any contract or agreement whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, whereby a [employee] relinquishes any right of compensation from the employer for personal injury arising out of or in the course of the employment, shall be null and void in so far as it purports to remove or reduce the liability of any person to pay compensation under this Act.
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.