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Apprentices Act, 1961

Section 4: Contract of apprenticeship

Section 4 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 4 does

Requires a compliant apprenticeship contract and timely portal registration before treating the engagement as statutory apprenticeship.

Connected instrument: Rules 6 and 14; Schedule III

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.

[4. Contract of apprenticeship.—(1) No person shall be engaged as an apprentice to undergo
apprenticeship training in a designated trade unless such person or, if he is a minor, his guardian has
entered into a contract of apprenticeship with the employer.
    (2) The apprenticeship training shall be deemed to have commenced on the date on which the contract
of apprenticeship has been entered into under sub-section (1).
    (3) Every contract of apprenticeship may contain such terms and conditions as may be agreed to by
the parties to the contract:
    Provided that no such term or condition shall be inconsistent with any provision of this Act or any
rule made thereunder.
     7
     [(4) Every contract of apprenticeship entered into under sub-section (1) shall be sent by the employer
within thirty days to the Apprenticeship Adviser until a portal-site is developed by the Central
Government, and thereafter the details of contract of apprenticeship shall be entered on the portal-site
within seven days, for verification and registration.

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.

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