Skip to content
Home / Employment law / Apprenticeship
Apprentices Act, 1961

Section 1: Short title, extent, commencement and application

Section 1 of the Apprentices Act, 1961 explained with current 2025-26 amendments, employer controls, evidence and connected Rules.

Law Hub L8Data reviewed on 17 July 2026India-first compliance

What section 1 does

Sets the identity, territorial operation, commencement and coverage architecture of the Act.

Connected instrument: Rule 1

Finin2min practical reading

  • Identify the apprentice category, trade, establishment jurisdiction and applicable portal before applying the provision.
  • Separate statutory apprenticeship from internships, probation, traineeships and ordinary employment.
  • Do not treat scheme reimbursement as a substitute for the employer’s underlying statutory obligations.
  • Preserve the contract, approvals, portal trail and training evidence as one auditable file.

Employer control and evidence pack

  • Executed/registered contract and portal acknowledgement
  • Training plan, attendance/work diary and supervisor records
  • Stipend bank/DBT evidence where relevant
  • Adviser approval, correspondence or order where the section requires it

Statutory text extract

Extracted from the bundled official/consolidated source. For sections amended in 2026, the current overlay above controls over older consolidated wording.

1. Short title, extent, commencement and application.—(1) This Act may be called the
Apprentices Act, 1961.
    (2) It extends to the whole of India2***.
    (3) It shall come into force on such date3 as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different States.
    (4) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to—
        (a) any area or to any industry in any area unless the Central Government by notification in the
    Official Gazette specifies that area or industry as an area or industry to which the said provisions shall
    apply with effect from such date as may be mentioned in the notification;
         4
          *                           *                              *                            **
         5
         [(c) any such special apprenticeship scheme for imparting training to apprentices as may be
    notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette.]

Compliance consequence

Failure should be tested against sections 30, 31 and 31A as in force from 22 June 2026, alongside contract termination/compensation consequences and any portal or scheme action.

Section 2 →