Section 155: Power of Central Government to make rules
Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 30 August 2026
Section 155 — Defines the statutory power concerning central government to make rules and the conditions attached to its exercise. Key operative text: (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of…
The Code was commenced in stages: section 142 had earlier commencement, S.O. 5319(E) brought the specified provisions into force from 21 November 2025, and later commencement instruments must be read with the current India Code footnotes for the remaining clauses.
Provision / India Code ↗ · Official Act PDF ↗ · 2026 Central Rules ↗
Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does
Operative clauses
- (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of Chapter III shall be made inapplicable to an establishment by the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, under sub-section (5) and the manner, and the conditions subject to which the…
- (b) manner of establishment and maintenance of career centre and the career services under clause (9), the income of dependant parents (including father-in-law and mother-in-law of a woman employee), under sub-clause (e) of clause (33) and other authority who shall be deemed to be the occupier under sub-clause (c) and the matters which are directly related to the condition of ship, for which the owner of ship…
- (c) the time and manner of registration of establishment, the manner of making application for cancellation of the registration, the conditions subject to which the registration shall be cancelled and the procedure of cancellation and other matters relating thereto in respect of an establishment to which Chapter III or Chapter IV applies, and whose business activities are in the process of closure, under section 3;
- (e) the manner of administration of the Corporation and the manner of representation of States under clause (d) of sub-section (1), the manner of constitution of Standing Committee under sub-section (3), the manner of administration of the affairs of the Corporation, exercise of powers and performance of functions by the Standing Committee under clause (a) of sub-section (4), the duties and powers of Medical…
- (h) the intervals at which Social Security Organisation or any Committee thereof shall meet and the procedure in regard to the transaction of business at meetings under sub-section (1), and the fee and allowances of members of such Social Security Organisation or Committee under sub-section (4) of section 9;
Provisos, explanations & qualifications
- No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this section text.
Thresholds and timelines in the text
- No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this section text.
Actors expressly appearing in the text
Employer, Employee / worker, Worker, Central Government, State Government, Authority / officer
Full statutory text — Section 155
155. Power of Central Government to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by
notification, and subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules not inconsistent with this Code,
for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions thereof.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide
for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of Chapter III shall be made
inapplicable to an establishment by the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, under sub-section (5)
and the manner, and the conditions subject to which the provisions of that Chapter IV shall be made
inapplicable to an establishment by the Director General of the Corporation under sub-section (7) of
section 1;
(b) manner of establishment and maintenance of career centre and the career services under clause
(9), the income of dependant parents (including father-in-law and mother-in-law of a woman
employee), under sub-clause (e) of clause (33) and other authority who shall be deemed to be the
occupier under sub-clause (c) and the matters which are directly related to the condition of ship, for
which the owner of ship shall be deemed to be the occupier under the proviso to the said sub-clause (c)
of clause (52), of section 2;
(c) the time and manner of registration of establishment, the manner of making application for
cancellation of the registration, the conditions subject to which the registration shall be cancelled and
the procedure of cancellation and other matters relating thereto in respect of an establishment to which
Chapter III or Chapter IV applies, and whose business activities are in the process of closure, under
section 3;
(d) the manner of administration of the funds vested in the Central Board under sub-section (1), the
manner to assist the Central Board in performance of its functions by Executive Committee under sub-
section (3), the terms and conditions, including tenure of office of members of the Central Board and
Executive Committee under sub-section (6) and the other functions and the manner of performing such
functions under sub-section (7), of section 4;
(e) the manner of administration of the Corporation and the manner of representation of States
under clause (d) of sub-section (1), the manner of constitution of Standing Committee under sub-section
(3), the manner of administration of the affairs of the Corporation, exercise of powers and performance
of functions by the Standing Committee under clause (a) of sub-section (4), the duties and powers of
Medical Benefit Committee under clause (b) of sub-section (5) and the terms and conditions, including
tenure of office, subject to which a member of the Corporation and Standing Committee shall discharge
their respective duties under sub-section (7) of section 5;
(f) the manner of exercising the powers and performance of the functions by the National Social
Security Board under sub-section (1), the manner of nomination of members, their term of office and
other conditions of service, procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions and manner of
filling vacancies under sub-section (4) and time, place and rules of procedure relating to the transaction
of business under sub-section (6) of section 6;
(g) other welfare measures and facilities under clause (j) of sub-section (6) of section 7;
(h) the intervals at which Social Security Organisation or any Committee thereof shall meet and
the procedure in regard to the transaction of business at meetings under sub-section (1), and the fee and
allowances of members of such Social Security Organisation or Committee under sub-section (4) of
section 9;
(i) manner of reconstitution of the Corporation or the Central Board or the National Social Security
Board or the State Unorganised Workers' Board or the Building Workers' Welfare Board or any of the
Committees under sub-section (1) and the alternate arrangements for the purpose of administration of
the relevant provisions of this Code under sub-section (2) of section 11;
(j) the manner of maintenance of a provident fund account in relation to the establishment under
sub-section (1) of section 21;
(k) the form, manner, time limits and fees for filing of appeal under sub-section (2) of section 23;
(l) salary and allowances of the Director General or the Financial Commissioner under sub-section
(3), their powers and duties under sub-section (4) and maximum monthly salary limit under the proviso
to sub-section (7) of section 24;
(m) the manner of investment of Employees' State Insurance Fund or any other money which is
held by Corporation under sub-section (4) of section 25;
(n) limits for defraying of expenditure under clause (k) of section 26;
(o) conditions to acquire, hold, sell or otherwise transfer any movable or immovable property under
sub-section (1), conditions to invest moneys by the Corporation under sub-section (2) and the terms to
raise loans and taking measures for discharging such loans under sub-section (3) of section 27;
(p) manner of insurance of employees under sub-section (1) of section 28;
(q) the rate of contributions under sub-section (2) of section 29;
(r) the type of administrative expenses and percentage of income which may be spent on expenses
and the limits for such expenses under section 30;
(s) the limit for the amount of payment under the proviso to clause (f) of sub-section (1), and the
qualifications to claim benefits, conditions, rate and period thereof under sub-section (3) of section 32;
(t) the limits within which the Corporation may incur expenditure from the Employees' State
Insurance Fund under section 33;
(u) the manner and time within which the Insured person or the Corporation may file appeal under
clause (a) of sub-section (7) of section 37;
(v) the rates, periods and conditions for payment of dependants' benefit under sub-section (1) and
to other dependants under sub-section (2), of section 38;
(w) the qualification of an Insured Person and his family to claim medical benefit and the conditions
subject to which such benefit may be given and the scale and period thereof, under sub-section (3) of
section 39, and the payment of contribution and other conditions under the third proviso thereof;
(x) the structure, functions, powers and activities of the organisation for providing certain benefits
to employees in case of sickness, maternity and employment injury, under sub-section (6) of section
40;
(y) extended period for insurance, the manner of satisfaction and the manner of calculation of
capitalised value of benefit payable to the employee under sub-section (1) of section 42;
(z) terms and conditions subject to which the scheme may be operated under section 44;
(za) the manner of obtaining an insurance by every employer, other than an employer or an
establishment belonging to, or under the control of, the Central Government or a State Government
under sub-section (1) and conditions to exempt and manner of establishing an approved gratuity fund
under sub-section (2) and the time limit to get establishment registered by the employer under
sub-section (3), of section 57;
(zb) the form of notice under sub-section (1) and the proof of pregnancy and proof of delivery under
sub-section (5) of section 62;
(zc) the proof of miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy under sub-section (1), the proof
of tubectomy operation under sub-section (2) and the proof of illness under sub-section (3) of section
65;
(zd) the duration of breaks under section 66;
(ze) the number of employees and distance for crèche facility under sub-section (1) of section 67;
(zf) gross misconduct under the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 68;
(zg) rate of interest to be paid by the employer under clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 77;
(zh) the manner of notice under sub-section (1) and the manner of transmitting money under
sub-section (3), of section 92;
(zi) the form, manner and fee for application for claim or settlement under sub-section (3) of section
93;
(zj) the manner and time of collection of cess under sub-section (2), manner of deposit of the cess
so collected under sub-section (3), and the uniform rate or rates of advance cess under sub-section (4)
of section 100;
(zk) the rate of interest in case of delayed payment of cess under section 101;
(zl) the manner of self-assessment of cess under sub-section (1) of section 103;
(zm) the authority to inquire and impose penalty under section 104;
(zn) time limit to prefer appeal, appellate authority, form and manner of appeal under
sub-section (1) of section 105;
(zo) manner of registration as beneficiary under section 106;
(zp) benefits of a beneficiary under sub-section (2) of section 107;
(zq) eligible age for registration under clause (a) and form and manner of information under
clause (b), of sub-section (1) and the form of application, documents for registration and manner of self
registration under sub-section (2), of section 113;
(zr) carrying out the matters specified in clause (i) of sub-section (7) of section 114;
(zs) manner of compounding of offences under sub-section (1) of section 138;
(zt) the manner of establishment and administration of the Social Security Fund under
sub-section (4) of section 141;
(zu) eligibility conditions to be fulfilled prior to grant of exemption and the conditions to be
complied with after exemption under sub-section (1); and extension period of exemption under
sub-section (3) of section 143; and
(zv) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed by the Central Government
under the provisions of this Code.How to apply this provision
- Primary statutory test — (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of Chapter III shall be made inapplicable to an establishment by the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, under sub-section (5) and the manner, and the conditions subject to which the…
- Additional operative limb — (b) manner of establishment and maintenance of career centre and the career services under clause (9), the income of dependant parents (including father-in-law and mother-in-law of a woman employee), under sub-clause (e) of clause (33) and other authority who shall be deemed to be the occupier under sub-clause (c) and the matters which are directly related to the condition of ship, for which the owner of ship…
- Central Rule mapping — 1. Read the mapped provision together with this text rather than treating the concordance as a substitute for it.
- Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employer, Employee / worker, Worker, Central Government, State Government, Authority / officer.
Rules, forms and cross-references
Direct 2026 Central Rule mapping
Forms mapped
No prescribed form is directly mapped in the current concordance.
Other sections cited in this text
Related Labour Hub resources
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
For a worker/member seeking a benefit connected with power of central government to make rules, the file should show coverage, service/contribution facts, the rule/scheme and prescribed form, and the calculation/payment. One statutory point to test is: “(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of Chapter III shall be made inapplicable to an establish” Read the mapped Central Rule(s) 1.
Illustration only; it is not statutory text or a substitute for applying the actual facts, jurisdiction, current rule/scheme and official instrument.
Q&A — Section 155
What does Section 155 of the Social Security Code cover?
Section 155 — Defines the statutory power concerning central government to make rules and the conditions attached to its exercise. Key operative text: (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of…
What is the main legal requirement or power in Section 155?
The first operative clause identified from the official text is: “(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner, and the conditions subject to which, the provisions of Chapter III shall be made inapplicable to an establishment by the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, under sub-section (5) and the manner, and the conditions subject to which the…” Read it with the remaining subsections and any proviso below.
Does Section 155 contain a proviso or explanation?
No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this section text. Check the full text below for clause-level qualifications.
What time limit, percentage or amount appears in Section 155?
No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in the official section text.
Which 2026 Central Rules are linked to Section 155?
The current concordance maps Section 155 to Central Rule(s) 1.
Is Section 155 currently operative?
The Code was commenced in stages: section 142 had earlier commencement, S.O. 5319(E) brought the specified provisions into force from 21 November 2025, and later commencement instruments must be read with the current India Code footnotes for the remaining clauses.
Source & verification trail
Act: Code on Social Security, 2020 — official India Code PDF ↗
Central Rules: Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 344(E), 8 May 2026 ↗
Official library: Ministry of Labour & Employment — Labour Codes ↗
Source check: 20 August 2026. Individual professional interpretation should be re-reviewed when the section, rules, notification, scheme, State overlay or controlling judgment changes.