Recovery of amount due
Section 129 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 deals with recovery of amount due. Any amount due from an employer or any other person in relation to an establishment including any contribution or cess payable, charges, interest, damages, or benefit or any other amount may, if the amount is in arrear, be recovered in the manner specified in this section and sections 130 to 132. The Act was enacted on 28 Sep 2020.
(1) Any amount due from an employer or any other person in relation to an establishment including any contribution or cess payable, charges, interest, damages, or benefit or any other amount may, if the amount is in arrear, be recovered in the manner specified in this section and sections 130 to 132.
(2) Where any amount is in arrear under this Code, the Authorised Officer, or the competent authority, as the case may be, shall issue to the Recovery Officer referred to in sub-section (4), a certificate electronically or otherwise, specifying the amount of arrears and the Recovery Officer, on receipt of such certificate, shall proceed to recover the amount specified therein from the establishment or, as the case may be, the employer by one or more of the modes mentioned below, namely:—
(a) attachment and sale of the movable or immovable property of the establishment or, as the case may be, of the employer;
(b) arrest of the employer and his detention in prison;
(c) appointing a receiver for the management of the movable or immovable properties of the defaulter:
Provided that the attachment and sale of any property under this section shall first be effected against the properties of the establishment and where such attachment and sale is insufficient for recovering the whole of the amount or arrears specified in the certificate, the Recovery Officer may move such proceeding against the property of the employer for recovery of the whole or any part of such arrears.
(3) The Authorised Officer or the competent authority, as the case may be, may issue a certificate under sub-section (2), notwithstanding that proceeding for recovery of the arrears by any other mode has been taken.
(4) The Authorised Officer or the competent authority, as the case may be, may forward the certificate issued under this section, to the Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the employer—
(a) carries on his business or profession or within whose jurisdiction the principal place of his establishment is situate; or
(b) resides or any movable or immovable property of, the establishment or, the employer is situated.
(5) Where an establishment or the employer has property within the jurisdiction of more than one Recovery Officer and the Recovery Officer to whom a certificate is sent by the Authorised Officer or the competent authority, as the case may be—
(a) is not able to recover the entire amount by the sale of the property, movable or immovable, within his jurisdiction, or
(b) is of the opinion that, for the purpose of expediting or securing the recovery of the whole or any part of the amount, it is necessary so to do,
he may send the certificate or, where only a part of the amount is to be recovered, a copy of the certificate certified by him, specifying the amount to be recovered, to the Recovery Officer within whose jurisdiction the establishment or the employer has property or the employer resides, and thereupon that Recovery Officer shall proceed to recover the amount due under this section as if the certificate or the copy thereof had been the certificate sent to him by the Authorised Officer or the competent authority, as the case may be.
Section 129, The Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act 36 of 2020).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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E. S. I. C vs C. C. Santhakumar
Decided under employees-state-insurance-act-1948 45B, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Resolving conflicting High Court views, the Court held that although no limitation is prescribed for determining contributions and recovering them as arrears of land revenue, the Corporation must act within a reasonable time, and a demand raised after inordinate delay causing irretrievable prejudice to the employer cannot be enforced; it distinguished the administrative determination and coercive recovery machinery from adjudication before the Employees' Insurance Court, to which the five-year proviso applies.
On this section: It controls how the recovery machinery now in section 129 may be used, requiring the recovering authority to raise and enforce its demand for arrears within a reasonable time even though the section itself prescribes no period of limitation.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 129
What have the courts held on Section 129 of the Code on Social Security?
E. S. I. C vs C. C. Santhakumar is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under EMPLOYEES-STATE-INSURANCE-ACT-1948 45B, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: It controls how the recovery machinery now in section 129 may be used, requiring the recovering authority to raise and enforce its demand for arrears within a reasonable time even though the section itself prescribes no period of limitation.
How do I find court cases under Section 129 of the Code on Social Security?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Code on Social Security 129, section 129 Code on Social Security, section 129 of the Code on Social Security. People searching for it also type section 129 of code on social security. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with E. S. I. C vs C. C. Santhakumar.
What should I read with Section 129 of the Code on Social Security, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 130 (Validity of certificate and amendment thereof), section 132 (Application of certain provisions of Income-tax act), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 5 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.
When was Section 129 of the Code on Social Security enacted?
Section 129 of the Code on Social Security, cited as Code on Social Security 129, was enacted on 28 Sep 2020 as Act 36 of 2020. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 2. Definitions5890 words
- 155. Power of central Government to make rules1551 words
- 131. Other modes of recovery1340 words
- 143. Power to exempt establishment1042 words
- 6. National Social Security Board and State Unorganised Workers’ Board1022 words
- 76. Amount of compensation946 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.