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Apprentices Act, 1961

Section 29: Powers of entry, inspection, examination and inquiry

Section 29 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 29 does

Confers entry, inspection, examination and inquiry powers for enforcement.

Connected instrument: Rule 7C

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.

29. Powers of entry, inspection, etc.—(1) Subject to any rules made in this behalf, the4[Central
Apprenticeship Adviser or such other person, not below the rank of an Assistant Apprenticeship Adviser,
as may be authorised by the Central Apprenticeship Adviser in writing in this behalf] may—
        (a) with such assistants, if any, as he thinks fit, enter, inspect and examine any establishment or
    part thereof at any reasonable time;
        (b) examine any apprentice employed therein or require the production of any register, record or
    other documents maintained in pursuance of this Act and take on the spot or otherwise statements of
    any person which he may consider necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act;
        (c) make such examination and inquiry as he thinks fit in order to ascertain whether the
    provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder are being observed in the establishment;
         (d) exercise such other powers as may be prescribed:
     Provided that5[a State Apprenticeship Adviser or such other person, not below the rank of an
Assistant Apprenticeship Adviser, as may be authorised by the State Apprenticeship Adviser in writing in
this behalf] may also exercise any of the powers specified in clause (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this sub-section
in relation to establishments for which the appropriate Government is the State Government.
   (2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (1), no person shall be compelled under this section to
answer any question or make any statement which may tend directly or indirectly to incriminate him.

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 28Section 30 →