Section 82: Notice and claim

Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does

Full statutory text — Section 82

82. Notice and claim.—(1) No claim for compensation shall be entertained by a competent authority
unless notice of the accident has been given in the manner hereinafter provided as soon as practicable after
the happening thereof and unless the claim is preferred before him within two years of the occurrence of
the accident or, in case of death, within two years from the date of death:
    Provided that where the accident is the contracting of a disease in respect of which the provisions of
sub-section (3) of section 74 are applicable, the accident shall be deemed to have occurred on the first of
the days during which the employee was continuously absent from work in consequence of the disablement
caused by the disease:
    Provided further that in case of partial disablement due to the contracting of any such disease and which
does not force the employee to absent himself from work, the period of two years shall be counted from the
day the employee gives notice of the disablement to his employer:
    Provided also that if an employee who, having been employed in an employment for a continuous
period specified under sub-section (3) of section 74 in respect of that employment, ceases to be so employed
and develops symptoms of an occupational disease peculiar to that employment within two years of the
cessation of employment, the accident shall be deemed to have occurred on the day on which the symptoms
were first detected.
     (2) The want of or any defect or irregularity, in a notice given under sub-section (1), shall not be a bar
to the entertainment of a claim—
        (a) if the claim is preferred in respect of the death of an employee resulting from an accident which
    occurred on the premises of the employer, or at any place where the employee at the time of the accident
    was working under the control of the employer or of any person employed by him, and the employee
    died on such premises or at such place, or on any premises belonging to the employer, or died without
    having left the vicinity of the premises or place where the accident occurred, or
        (b) if the employer or any one of several employers or any person responsible to the employer for
    the management of any branch of the trade or business in which the injured employee was employed
    had knowledge of the accident from any other source at or about the time when it occurred:
        Provided that the competent authority may entertain and decide any claim to compensation in any
    case notwithstanding that the notice has not been given, or the claim has not been preferred in due time
    as provided under sub-section (1), if he is satisfied that the failure so to give the notice or prefer the
    claim, as the case may be, was due to sufficient cause.
     (3) Every such notice shall give the name and address of the person injured and shall state the cause of
the injury and the date on which the accident happened, and shall be served on the employer or upon any
one of several employers, or upon any person responsible to the employer for the management of any branch
of the trade or business in which the injured employee was employed.

    (4) The appropriate Government may require that any class of employers as may be prescribed by that
Government shall maintain, at their premises at which employees are employed, a notice-book, in such
form as may be prescribed by that Government, which shall be readily accessible at all reasonable times to
any injured employee employed on the premises and to any person acting bona fide on his behalf.
    (5) A notice under this section may be served by delivering it at, or sending it by registered post
addressed to, the residence or any office or place of business of the person on whom it is to be served, or
where possible, electronically or, where a notice-book is maintained, by entry in the notice-book.

How to apply this provision

1. Primary statutory test — (1) No claim for compensation shall be entertained by a competent authority unless notice of the accident has been given in the manner hereinafter provided as soon as practicable after the happening thereof and unless the claim is preferred before him within two years of the occurrence of the accident or, in case of death, within two years from the date of death:
2. Additional operative limb — Provided that where the accident is the contracting of a disease in respect of which the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 74 are applicable, the accident shall be deemed to have occurred on the first of the days during which the employee was continuously absent from work in consequence of the disablement caused by the disease:
3. Qualification / exception to test — Provided that where the accident is the contracting of a disease in respect of which the provisions of sub-section
4. Numerical or timing control — Notice and claim.—(1) No claim for compensation shall be entertained by a competent authority unless notice of the accident has been given in the manner hereinafter provided as soon as practicable after the happening thereof and unless the claim is preferred before him within two years of the occurrence of the accident or, in case of death, within two…
5. Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employer, Employee / worker, Appropriate Government, Authority / officer.

Rules, forms and cross-references

A direct concordance is not exhaustive. Central/State jurisdiction, schemes, authority appointments, saved instruments and later notifications may change the practical route without changing the section wording.

Worked example

Q&A — Section 82

Source & verification trail