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Minimum Wages in Delhi (NCT)

Minimum wage rates for shops and commercial establishments in Delhi (NCT), by skill category, with the effective date and the next revision due.

Effective from1 April 2025
Next revision due1 October 2026
Revision cycle1 April and 1 October each year

Delhi (NCT) minimum wage rates: shops and commercial establishments

Delhi applies a single rate across the entire territory, with no zone classification.

Skill categoryBasicVDATotal per month
Unskilled₹18,066₹390₹18,456
Semi-skilled₹19,929₹442₹20,371
Skilled₹21,917₹494₹22,411
Clerical and supervisory, graduate and above₹23,836₹520₹24,356

Rates cover shops and commercial establishments only. Other employments notified in Delhi (NCT) carry their own notified rates, which are usually higher. Verify against the state notification before running payroll.

How Delhi (NCT) sets minimum wages

Governing law

Code on Wages, 2019, in force from 21 November 2025. The rates below come from the Delhi notification effective 1 April 2025, which predates the Code and continues in force under the savings in section 69(2).

Employment covered

Shops and commercial establishments

Revision cycle

1 April and 1 October each year

Official source

Labour Department, Government of NCT of Delhi: minimum wage notification effective 1 April 2025 ↗

Delhi is the simplest state in India to configure for minimum wages, because there are no zones: one rate covers the whole territory, so an employer with sites in Rohini and Connaught Place pays the same floor at both. Two clerical sub-grades sit between the headline categories. Non-matriculate staff are paid at the semi-skilled rate and matriculate non-graduates at the skilled rate, so what fixes the grade is the qualification held, not the job title on the contract. The revision effective 1 April 2025 was still the notification in force through August 2026, which means Delhi has passed two revision dates, October 2025 and April 2026, without issuing new rates. Paying the April 2025 figures is compliant today. But states that notify late usually backdate: Maharashtra issued its current rates on 5 August 2026 with effect from 1 July. If Delhi does the same, the difference falls due from a date that has already gone by, so it is worth holding a provision against the gap.

Professional tax in Delhi (NCT)Professional tax calculatorSalary calculatorMinimum wages under the Code on Wages
MM

Mannu Matta

Checked against the source notification on 22 August 2026

Frequently asked questions: Delhi (NCT) minimum wages

For shops and commercial establishments, ₹18,456 a month for unskilled work, ₹20,371 semi-skilled, ₹22,411 skilled, and ₹24,356 for graduate clerical and supervisory staff, under the notification effective 1 April 2025.
No. Unlike Maharashtra or Karnataka, Delhi applies one uniform minimum wage across the entire territory, which makes payroll configuration considerably simpler for employers based there.
The cycle is twice a year, effective 1 April and 1 October, by revising the variable dearness allowance against the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers. In practice Delhi has run behind that schedule, with the April 2025 rates remaining in force well into 2026.
No. These rates cover shops and commercial establishments. Delhi notifies separate rates for other employments, and those are often higher, so check the schedule that matches the workplace.
No, though it is often described that way. Karnataka overtook it with the notification of 22 May 2026, which sets unskilled work in Zone 1 at ₹24,407.23 a month against Delhi's ₹18,456. Delhi remains well above Maharashtra, where Zone I unskilled work is ₹14,155. Karnataka's rates are under legal challenge, so Delhi may yet end up back at the top.
Clerical and supervisory staff who are graduates are paid at the top rate of ₹24,356 a month. Two sub-grades sit below it: non-matriculate clerical staff are paid at the semi-skilled rate of ₹20,371, and matriculate non-graduates at the skilled rate of ₹22,411. The determining factor is the qualification held, not the job title.
The employer owes the difference from the effective date in the notification, not from the date it was published. Late notifications are commonly backdated: Maharashtra issued its current rates on 5 August 2026 with effect from 1 July 2026. Because Delhi has been running on April 2025 rates, a catch-up notification could carry the arrears for two missed revisions at once. That is worth provisioning for in advance.
No. Delhi does not levy professional tax on salaried employees at all, so there is no PT deduction to net off the minimum wage. Payroll deductions in Delhi run to PF, ESI and TDS, plus the Labour Welfare Fund, which Delhi does levy.

Minimum wages in other states

MaharashtraKarnatakaTamil Nadu

Keep minimum wages current without tracking notifications

Engage HRMS applies the right minimum wage by work location and skill category, and flags employees who fall below the floor when a state issues its next revision.

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