Madras HC Orders 6% Wage Revision And Arrears For Retired Driver Who Served On 1 September 2023, With Interest After Instalment Deadlines

In brief

The question

1. Whether an employee who was in service on 1 September 2023 but retired before the 15th wage settlement was entered into is entitled to the pay revision and monetary benefits under that settlement

The court held

The writ petition was allowed.

It also directed

The respondent Transport Corporation was directed to revise the petitioner’s pay scale from 1 September 2023 and provide the benefits due under the 15th wage settlement from 1 September 2024, within six months of receiving a copy of the order, together with interest at 6% per annum for the period beyond the Clause 37(b) schedule until payment.

No order as to costs was made.

01Facts

The petitioner was appointed as a Driver in the respondent Transport Corporation in 1996 and retired on 31 May 2025.

pp. 2–3

The 15th wage settlement under Section 12(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act, entered into on 29 May 2025, provided for a 6% pay revision for employees in service on 1 September 2023, notionally from that date, with monetary benefits from 1 September 2024; arrears were payable in four quarterly instalments.

pp. 2–3, 5–6

As he was in service on the relevant date, the petitioner sought the settlement benefits, including consequential terminal benefits.

pp. 2–3

After alleging inaction, he filed a writ petition seeking payment with interest.

pp. 2–3

02Issues

i.1. Whether an employee who was in service on 1 September 2023 but retired before the 15th wage settlement was entered into is entitled to the pay revision and monetary benefits under that settlement

pp. 5–6

ii.2. Whether delayed payment of the monetary benefits attracts interest, and, if so, at what rate and for what period

p. 6

03Law Applied

The Court applied Section 12(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act and the terms of the 15th wage settlement dated 29 May 2025.

pp. 2, 5–6

Under Clause 1, the pay revision applied to employees in service on 1 September 2023, with monetary benefits from 1 September 2024; under Clause 37(b), arrears were to be paid in four quarterly instalments.

pp. 2, 5–6

The Court further held that belated payment of monetary benefits due to an employee should carry interest at 6% per annum.

p. 6

No judicial precedent was cited.

Provisions in the judgment · 1

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 Section 12

04Reasoning

The petitioner was a permanent employee in service on 1 September 2023, satisfying the settlement’s eligibility criterion, and his subsequent retirement did not exclude him from its benefits.

p. 6

The Court therefore held that he was entitled to the revised pay scale from 1 September 2023 and the associated monetary benefits from 1 September 2024.

pp. 6–7

Because the revision had not been made by the time of the judgment, the Court directed payment with interest at 6% per annum, calculated for the period falling beyond the payment schedule in Clause 37(b) until actual payment.

p. 7