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Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 · Chapter VII: Miscellaneous

Section 33C: Recovery of money due from an employer

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was repealed and replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.

In plain words

A workman owed money by an employer under a settlement, award or Chapter VA or VB can apply to the appropriate Government, which issues a certificate for the Collector to recover it like arrears of land revenue.

  • The application must be made within one year of the money becoming due, unless there is sufficient cause for delay.
  • If the amount owed, or the money value of a benefit, is disputed, a Labour Court decides it, normally within three months, and may appoint a commissioner to help.
  • Several workmen of the same employer can make one joint application.

Example: A worker is not paid retrenchment compensation. The worker applies under this section and the amount is recovered through the Collector.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Read the in-depth explanation, with key Supreme Court rulings ↓

Official text

(1) Where any money is due to a workman from an employer under a settlement or an award or under the provisions of [Chapter VA or Chapter VB], the workman himself or any other person authorised by him in writing in this behalf, or, in the case of the death of the workman, his assignee or heirs may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery, make an application to the appropriate Government for the recovery of the money due to him, and if the appropriate Government is satisfied that any money is so due, it shall issue a certificate for that amount to the Collector who shall proceed to recover the same in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue:

Provided that every such application shall be made within one year from the date on which the money became due to the workman from the employer:

Provided further that any such application may be entertained after the expiry of the said period of one year, if the appropriate Government is satisfied that the applicant had sufficient cause for not making the application within the said period.

(2) Where any workman is entitled to receive from the employer any money or any benefit which is capable of being computed in terms of money and if any question arises as to the amount of money due or as to the amount at which such benefit should be computed, then the question may, subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, be decided by such Labour Court as may be specified in this behalf by the appropriate Government; [within a period not exceeding three months:] [Provided that where the presiding officer of a Labour Court considers it necessary or expedient so to do, he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend such period by such further period as he may think fit.]

(3) For the purposes of computing the money value of a benefit, the Labour Court may, if it so thinks fit, appoint a commissioner who shall, after taking such evidence as may be necessary, submit a report to the Labour Court and the Labour Court shall determine the amount after considering the report of the commissioner and other circumstances of the case.

(4) The decision of the Labour Court shall be forwarded by it to the appropriate Government and any amount found due by the Labour Court may be recovered in the manner provided for in sub-section (1).

(5) Where workmen employed under the same employer are entitled to receive from him any money or any benefit capable of being computed in terms of money, then, subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, a single application for the recovery of the amount due may be made on behalf of or in respect of any number of such workmen.

Explanation.—In this section “Labour Court” includes any court constituted under any law relating to investigation and settlement of industrial disputes in force in any State.]]

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.

Understanding this section

Section 33C lets a workman recover money owed by the employer. Sub-section (1) covers money already due under a settlement, an award or Chapter VA or VB, recovered through the Government as an arrear of land revenue. Sub-section (2) lets the Labour Court work out the amount of money or the money value of a benefit the workman is entitled to.

Execution, not adjudication

Section 33C(2) is in the nature of execution. The Labour Court computes what is due on the basis of an existing right. It can decide incidental questions about entitlement that arise in computing the amount, but it cannot decide a disputed claim that needs a fresh adjudication, such as whether casual workers deserve the same pay as regular staff. That kind of claim needs a reference under section 10.

Applications under section 33C(1) must be made within one year from the date the money became due, though the Government may admit later applications for sufficient cause.

Key Supreme Court rulings

  • Central Bank of India Ltd. v. P. S. Rajagopalan 1963 INSC 106

    Section 33C(2) covers claims to benefits that can be computed in terms of money, and the Labour Court can decide the workman's right to the benefit where that question arises incidentally.

  • Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Ganesh Razak 1994 INSC 473

    A disputed claim of casual workers to be paid at the rate of regular workmen could not be decided under section 33C(2), because adjudication of entitlement is outside its scope.

Common mistakes

  • Using section 33C(2) to decide an entitlement that has never been adjudicated or settled.
  • Missing the one year limit for applications under section 33C(1).

Read with: Section 10 Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Section 33 Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

Prepared with AI assistance as a study aid. Every ruling listed was checked against the Supreme Court's own judgments on this site, and quoted words appear in those judgments; linked names open the full judgment. Read the judgments themselves before relying on them. Not legal advice.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 33C