Statutory Bonus Eligibility & Wage Ceiling

What the Code actually says — quoted directly

We read Section 26 of the Code on Wages, 2019 directly (the version incorporating the 21 November 2025 commencement, via indiacode.nic.in) rather than relying on a summary. Section 26(1), on eligibility:

"There shall be paid to every employee, drawing wages not exceeding such amount per mensem, as determined by notification, by the appropriate Government, by his employer, who has put in at least thirty days work in an accounting year, an annual minimum bonus..."

Section 26(2), on the calculation ceiling, uses the identical construction:

"...where the wages of the employee exceeds such amount per mensem, as determined by notification by the appropriate Government, the bonus payable to such employee ... shall be calculated as if his wage were such amount, so determined by the appropriate Government or the minimum wage fixed by the appropriate Government, whichever is higher."

No rupee figure appears in either sub-section. This isn't an oversight — the Code's own Statement of Objects and Reasons confirms it's deliberate: "it empowers the appropriate Government to determine the ceiling of wage limit for the purpose of eligibility of bonus and calculation of bonus."

So why does ₹21,000 still apply?

Because of Section 69, the Code's repeal-and-savings clause. Section 69(1) repeals the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 outright. Section 69(2) is what actually matters here:

"Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the enactments so repealed including any notification... or any amount of wages provided in any provision of such enactments for any purpose shall be deemed to have been done or taken or provided for such purpose under the corresponding provisions of this Code... till they are repealed under the corresponding provisions of this Code or by the notification to that effect by the Central Government."

In plain terms: the ₹21,000 eligibility ceiling and ₹7,000 calculation ceiling were themselves set by notification under the old Payment of Bonus Act (the 2016 amendment that raised them from ₹10,000 and ₹3,500). That notification is deemed to carry over and continue applying under the new Code's corresponding provisions — Section 26 — until a new notification supersedes it. The numbers are the same; the legal basis for them changed underneath, from "the Act says so" to "a notification made under the old Act is deemed to continue."

We checked whether a new notification has actually been issued

As of this article's verification, no. We checked the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 (notified 8 May 2026, the operational rules for the Code) specifically for a bonus wage ceiling figure — it isn't there either. Multiple independent sources researching this same question as of mid-2026 confirm the same thing: the ceiling "has not been prescribed" and "will be notified" in the future tense, not the past. This is exactly the kind of fact that can go stale silently — see the note in our trust footer below on when to re-check it.

Why this distinction is worth getting right

Most content on this topic states "₹21,000" as if it were still directly legislated, the same way it was under the 1965 Act. That's functionally correct for right now, but it understates something practically important: because these ceilings are notification-based rather than statute-based under the new Code, the appropriate Government can change either figure at any time, for any reason, without needing to amend the Code itself — no Parliamentary process, just a notification in the Official Gazette. A statute-based figure and a notification-pending-on-a-savings-clause figure carry very different risk of silent change, even when the number is identical today.

What this means practically, right now

• Use ₹21,000/month as the eligibility ceiling and ₹7,000/month (or minimum wage, whichever is higher) as the calculation ceiling — both are correct as of this verification.
• Don't treat either figure as fixed by the Code itself if you're advising on or building anything long-lived around it — cite the savings-clause basis, not "Section 26 says ₹21,000," since Section 26 doesn't say that.
• Watch for a notification. When one is issued, both figures could move independently of each other and without a Budget cycle or amendment Act to signal the change.

Related reading

• How much statutory bonus am I entitled to? — the 8.33%–20% formula, once you know you're eligible.
• When must statutory bonus be paid? — deadlines, establishment coverage, and new-establishment rules.
• The 50% wage rule, explained — another Code on Wages provision, on what counts as "wages" (bonus is explicitly excluded).
• New labour code salary impact — the broader guide this cluster's pillar calculator is built around.