ESI Contribution: due date and penalty
Also searched as: ESIC contribution · ESI-CONTRIBUTION
File the monthly ESI return and pay employee state insurance contributions within 15 days of the last day of the month. The ESI (General) Regulations 1950 are continued by the Code on Social Security for a year from 21 November 2025, until new regulations replace them.
Next due date
15 November 2026for Oct 2026
If it is late: Interest at 12% a year (s.127, Code on Social Security; S.O. 2698(E)) and damages up to the arrears (s.128; reg. 31C, ESI (General) Regulations)
Get told before ESI Contribution is due
We will email you a week before the next one, and before each one after that.
One email per occurrence of ESI Contribution, and nothing else unless you tick the box above — and your address is never sold or passed on. We send a link to confirm first, and nothing goes out until you follow it. Every message has a one-click link to stop. See the Privacy Policy.
- Due
- 15th of the following month
- Frequency
- Monthly
- If it lapses
- Interest at 12% a year (s.127, Code on Social Security; S.O. 2698(E)) and damages up to the arrears (s.128; reg. 31C, ESI (General) Regulations)
- Statutory reference
- Reg. 31, ESI (General) Regulations 1950, continued by s.164(2)(b), Code on Social Security 2020
Where this date comes from
- The instrument
- Reg. 31, ESI (General) Regulations 1950, continued by s.164(2)(b), Code on Social Security 2020
- The authority
- Employees' State Insurance Corporation
Mallah Software Services Private Limited has not independently verified this against the gazette. The citation above is the instrument this date is taken from, and it is exact enough for a professional to check. Inside Lawzer a company secretary or chartered accountant can record that they have checked it, against the rule as it read on the day — and that record is withdrawn automatically if the rule later changes. A date nobody has checked says so.
Who has to file it
Every one of these has to hold before ESI Contribution binds an entity:
- ESI registered
- Filed on:
- ESIC Portal
- Usually owned by:
- Accountant
- Typical effort:
- 1.5 hours
Common questions
- What is the due date of ESI Contribution?
- It is next due on 15 Nov 2026, for Oct 2026. 15th of the following month. It falls due every month.
- Who has to file ESI Contribution?
- It applies to ESI registered.
- What is the penalty for filing ESI Contribution late?
- Interest at 12% a year (s.127, Code on Social Security; S.O. 2698(E)) and damages up to the arrears (s.128; reg. 31C, ESI (General) Regulations)
- How do I file ESI Contribution?
- Log in to the ESIC employer portal, enter or upload the monthly contribution details for each employee, and pay the challan online for the contribution period.
This is the standing statutory position. The government extends deadlines often, and an extension is not reflected here until the rule is updated. Mallah Software Services Private Limited is a software company and not a firm of company secretaries or chartered accountants — nothing here is legal, tax or secretarial advice. Confirm the date with your professional before relying on it. See the Professional Disclaimer.
Other Labour & Payroll obligations
- Bonus Form DAnnual Return of Bonus Paid
- PF ECRProvident Fund ECR & Contribution
- Kerala Shops Welfare FundShops and Establishments Workers Welfare Fund Contribution (Kerala)
- Labour Codes Annual ReturnAnnual Return under the Labour Codes
- Delhi Labour Annual ReturnAnnual Labour Returns (Delhi)
- Haryana Labour Annual ReturnAnnual Labour Returns (Haryana)