Minimum Wages in Tripura (2026): Rates with VDA for Shops, Construction, Security, Hotels, Farms and Domestic Work

If you run a shop on Agartala's H.G.B. Road, a hotel near the Ujjayanta Palace, a security agency in Dharmanagar or a rubber holding in Gomati, Tripura's Labour Department sets the least you can pay through separate notifications for each scheduled employment. Each one has a basic rate and a variable dearness allowance (VDA) that changes every April and October. This guide takes the figures from the department's own April 2026 notifications, shows the daily and monthly rates for the employments most small businesses use, explains the VDA cycle and the draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026, and works through payroll in rupees.

Quick answer

From 1 April 2026, an unskilled worker in a Tripura shop or establishment must get at least ₹8,077 a month a month (₹311 a day a day), including VDA, under notification No.F.22(74)-LAB/ENF/MW/SHOPS/2022/660-77 dated 30 April 2026. Semi-skilled shop staff get ₹8,860 a month and skilled staff ₹9,909 a month.

• Construction: ₹331 a day a day unskilled, up to ₹507 a day highly skilled

• Private security guards: ₹11,375 a month to ₹13,376 a month a month

• VDA revised from 1 April and 1 October — October 2026 not yet notified on 9 October

• Daily rate = monthly rate ÷ 26, rounded up to the next rupee

How Tripura's minimum wages work

Tripura fixes minimum wages employment by employment. Each employment has a basic rate fixed in an earlier notification, and every six months the department adds a further slice of VDA on top. Each VDA notice is a short table: the basic rate, the VDA already payable, the new VDA, and the total you must pay from the effective date.

The April 2026 notices say the half-yearly average consumer price index for July to December 2025 rose by 59 points over the previous six months, and they direct employers to pay the new VDA from 1 April 2026. The department signed most of them at the end of April 2026, and they were uploaded to its Minimum Wages page in June. There are 21 such notices for April 2026, covering shops and establishments, construction, agriculture, private security guards, hotels and restaurants, domestic workers, rice mills, mechanical workshops, petrol pumps, public motor transport, auto-rickshaws, loading and unloading, stone breaking and crushing, safai karmacharis, rubber plantations, private schools and teaching institutes, beedi, incense sticks, goldsmiths, LAMPS/PACS cooperatives and the OTPC power plant at Palatana.

Brick kilns and tea plantations are handled differently, through memoranda of settlement listed on the same page; the brick kiln settlement runs from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2027.

These state notifications continue to apply under the Code on Wages, in force since 21 November 2025, until new rates are fixed under it.

Shops and establishments

The shop rates rose from ₹8,010, ₹8,787 and ₹9,828 under the October 2025 notice — an increase of ₹67 to ₹81 a month. The notification says amounts of fifty paise or more are rounded up, that daily rates are the monthly rate divided by 26 and rounded off to the next rupee, and that overtime is paid at double the ordinary rate.

The shops schedule covers a wide range of businesses — retail and wholesale shops, offices, bakeries, soap and candle units, umbrella sellers, leather shops and other commercial establishments. If your business has its own schedule (a petrol pump, a rice mill, a mechanical workshop), use that one instead.

Tripura minimum wage calculator

Zone / employment

Shops & establishmentsConstruction, roads & buildingsPrivate securityHotels & restaurants

Skill level / category

UnskilledSemi-skilledSkilled

Days worked in the month

Overtime hours

Actual wage paid (₹/month, optional)

Months underpaid

A full month is 26 working days; the daily rate is the monthly rate ÷ 26 where the order fixes only a monthly figure.

Monthly minimum (26 days)₹8,077

Daily rate₹311

Pay for 26 days₹8,077

Overtime at 2× (₹77.75/hour)₹0

Minimum gross pay this month₹8,077

Overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate (daily rate ÷ 8 hours). Arrears assume the same shortfall in every month since the rates took effect on 1 April 2026; a claim under the Code on Wages must generally be filed within 3 years. Estimates only — check the order for your employment.

Construction, security guards and hotels

Construction or maintenance of roads or building operations is fixed per day:

Private security guards have a much higher monthly floor than shop staff: ₹11,375 a month for unskilled guards (₹10,032 basic), ₹12,130 a month for semi-skilled and ₹13,376 a month for skilled, all including VDA. A security agency supplying guards to a bank branch or a shopping complex in Agartala must pay at least these amounts, not the shop rate.

Hotels and restaurants have no unskilled grade. Semi-skilled staff must get ₹10,541 a month a month, skilled staff ₹12,800 a month and highly skilled staff ₹14,305 a month, including VDA, under the notice signed on 29 April 2026. A kitchen helper in a restaurant is therefore owed more than a helper in a shop next door.

Rice mills, petrol pumps and loading work

Three other schedules show how much the rates differ between employments, so always use the notice for your own business.

Rice mills. Hallermen and machinemen must get ₹11,866 a month from 1 April 2026 (₹10,465 basic plus VDA). Much of the other work is paid by the piece: boiling, drying or paddy work at ₹58 per 100 kg of paddy, and winnowing at ₹41 per 100 kg of rice by hand or ₹33 by fan. If a worker's piece earnings for a day fall below what a time-rated worker would earn, look closely at whether the piece rate is being applied correctly to the weights actually handled.

Petrol pumps. Unskilled attendants must get ₹7,961 a month, slightly less than the shop rate, with semi-skilled staff at about ₹8,423 and skilled staff at about ₹8,883 after rounding.

Loading and unloading. This schedule is unusual. It defines categories by experience and age rather than skill — a skilled worker has worked more than a year and is over 30, a semi-skilled worker has six months to a year, and an unskilled worker has less than six months and is under 35 — and it builds paid leave into the monthly figure, multiplying the daily rate by 26 working days plus four days' leave. The result is ₹675 a day or ₹20,250 a month for skilled loaders, ₹627 or ₹18,810 for semi-skilled, and ₹578 or ₹17,340 for unskilled and clerical staff. A wholesaler at Agartala's Battala market who hires a team of loaders by the month should budget on these figures, not the shop rate.

Agriculture and domestic work

The agriculture notice sets a daily rate of ₹437 a day for adult male and female daily-rated workers and ₹304 for young persons. Where the employer gives daily meals and other perquisites, up to ₹87 a day may be deducted for an adult (₹61 for a young person), leaving at least ₹349 in cash. Attached workers on half-yearly or annual terms have lump-sum rates — ₹30,866 in cash for six months or ₹51,454 for a year for an adult, plus daily meals.

Domestic workers have their own schedule, built around the way households in Tripura actually hire help:

These domestic rates are much lower than other employments because food, and for whole-timers lodging and clothing, are part of the deal. If you don't provide the meals, the arrangement in the notice doesn't fit and you should pay more.

The VDA cycle and the October 2026 revision

Tripura revises VDA twice a year. The April revision uses the average index for July to December; the October revision uses January to June. Notices tend to arrive after the effective date — the October 2025 notices were signed on 28 October 2025 and the April 2026 ones at the end of April 2026.

When we checked the department's page on 9 October 2026, the October 2026 notices had not been posted. Keep paying at least the April 2026 rates. When the new notices arrive, pay the extra VDA back to 1 October 2026 as arrears with the next wages, and deduct EPF and ESI on the arrears.

Tripura minimum wages, 2025–26

1 Oct 2025

VDA revised on a 63-point CPI rise — unskilled shop total ₹8,010 (notified 28 Oct 2025)

17 Jan 2026

Draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026 notified (Gazette, 20 Jan)

1 Apr 2026

VDA revised on a 59-point rise — unskilled shop total ₹8,077 a month

30 Apr 2026

April 2026 shop VDA notice signed

1 Oct 2026

Next VDA due — not notified as of 9 October

Central-sphere work in Tripura

If you supply workers to a central government office, a bank, the railways, Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport or a central public sector undertaking, the central minimum wages apply instead. The Centre's area annexure doesn't list any Tripura town in Area A or B, so all of Tripura, including Agartala, is Area C. From 1 October 2026 that means ₹565 a day for unskilled construction, sweeping and cleaning, ₹661 for semi-skilled, ₹794 for skilled work and unarmed guards, and ₹933 for highly skilled work and armed guards.

The gap is large. An unskilled construction worker on a central project earns ₹565 a day against ₹331 a day under the state rate. Price central contracts on the central rates from the start.

The draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026

On 17 January 2026 the Labour Department notified draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026 (No.F.22(80)-LAB/ENF/CoW/2025), published in the Tripura Gazette on 20 January with 45 days for objections. Once final they will replace the Tripura Minimum Wages Rules, 1952 and the Tripura Payment of Wages (Procedure) Rules, 1960. They come into force only after final publication in the Gazette, which we had not seen by 9 October 2026.

The draft follows the central model. Wages fixed per day would be divided by eight for an hourly rate and multiplied by 26 for a monthly one. Rates would take into account geographical area (with rural areas defined as those outside municipal bodies), experience and skill, and a technical committee would sort occupations into unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled. The dearness allowance would be reviewed before 1 April and 1 October each year — which matches what Tripura already does. The national floor wage under section 9 of the Code had not been notified; the old advisory figure was ₹176 a day (advisory, 2017).

Worked payroll examples in ₹

Example 1 — a helper in an Agartala grocery shop. Unskilled shops rate: ₹8,077 a month.

• ESI (wages below ₹21,000/month, if the shop is covered): employee 0.75% ≈ ₹60.58; employer 3.25% ≈ ₹262.50
• EPF at 12% of wages (if covered): ₹969.24 each side
• Net pay ≈ ₹7,047.18

Example 2 — a mason on a house construction in Udaipur. Skilled construction: ₹443 a day a day; 26 days = ₹11,518. Overtime at double rate: ₹443 ÷ 8 × 2 = ₹110.75 an hour.

Example 3 — an unskilled guard supplied by an agency. ₹11,375 a month. ESI ≈ ₹85.31; EPF ₹1,365; net ≈ ₹9,924.69.

Example 4 — a cook classed as skilled in an Agartala restaurant. Skilled hotel rate: ₹12,800 a month a month, or ₹493 a day for a daily-rated cook (₹12,800 ÷ 26, rounded up).

Example 5 — a farm hand in Khowai with meals. ₹437 a day a day, of which up to ₹87 may be kept back for meals — so at least ₹349 in cash for each day worked.

Monthly minimum-wage check for a Tripura employee

Step 1

Central-sphere work? → Area C rates

Step 2

Find your employment's notice

21 schedules

Step 3

Pick the category

unskilled to highly skilled

Step 4

Basic + VDA = total

Step 5

÷ 26 for daily, round up

Step 6

Pay arrears when the next VDA arrives

Daily-rated, part-time and contract workers

Much of Tripura's workforce is hired by the day — building labour in Agartala's growing suburbs, farm hands at planting and harvest, porters at markets. For construction and agriculture the notices already give a daily rate. For monthly-rated employments, divide the total by 26 and round up to get the floor for each day worked. Keep an attendance register for casual workers so that your wage register shows days worked against the amount paid.

For part-time work, divide the daily rate by eight. An unskilled shop helper who works four hours a day must get at least ₹311 ÷ 8 × 4 = ₹155.50 for each such day.

Contract workers are owed the same rates as direct employees in the same employment. A bank branch or hospital that outsources security is the principal employer and can be held answerable if the agency pays guards below ₹11,375 a month. Ask contractors for monthly wage registers, bank-transfer proof and ESI and EPF challans, and write the half-yearly VDA into contract prices so arrears can be passed on without a dispute each April and October.

Employer duties under the Code on Wages

• Pay on time — monthly wages before the end of the 7th day of the next month; full and final settlement within 2 working days.
• Deductions — no more than 50% of wages of wages in total.
• Overtime — twice the normal rate of wages, as the notices also say.
• Records — keep employee, wage and attendance registers and give a wage slip each period; see our salary slip guide.
• Benefits — ESI and EPF come on top of the minimum.

Tripura minimum wage checklist

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• Find the April 2026 VDA notice for your employment on labour.tripura.gov.in
• Place each worker in the right category; remember hotels start at semi-skilled
• Pay basic + VDA; divide by 26 and round up for daily rates
• Deduct meal value for farm workers only up to the notified amount
• Pay arrears from 1 October 2026 when the next VDA notice appears
• Watch for the final Tripura Wages Rules, 2026

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Common mistakes Tripura employers make

Using the shop rate for guards and hotel staff. Security guards and hotel workers have their own, higher schedules — an unskilled guard is owed ₹3,298 a month more than a shop helper.

Paying only the basic. The VDA is part of the minimum wage. A shop helper on ₹7,123 basic alone is ₹954 short.

Missing the arrears. Because notices arrive late, many employers never pay the difference back to 1 April or 1 October. Workers can claim it.

Rounding down daily rates. The notices say daily rates are rounded off to the next rupee.

What happens if you underpay

A worker, a group of workers or a union can claim unpaid minimum wages under the Code on Wages within 3 years, and the authority can award the shortfall plus compensation of up to 10 times the claim. Paying below the minimum is an offence with a fine of up to ₹50,000 for a first offence and up to ₹1 lakh fine and/or 3 months' imprisonment for a repeat. Each district has a Labour Officer responsible for enforcing the notices and reporting compliance to the Labour Directorate in Agartala.

Official links

• Labour Department — all minimum wage notificationsVDA notices by employment
• Shops & Establishments VDA w.e.f. 01.04.2026
• Construction workers VDA w.e.f. 01.04.2026
• Draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026 (Gazette, 20.01.2026)
• The Code on Wages, 2019 (India Code)

What to do next

Download the April 2026 notice for each employment you run, check every worker's pay against basic plus VDA, and set money aside for the October 2026 VDA arrears. Then issue wage slips with our free salary slip generator, read our guides to the four labour codes and the Code on Wages, and compare our Assam and West Bengal pages if you also employ people in neighbouring states.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Tripura in 2026?

It varies by employment. From 1 April 2026, unskilled workers in shops and establishments must get ₹8,077 a month a month including VDA, construction workers ₹331 a day a day, and unskilled private security guards ₹11,375 a month a month. The Labour Department notified these VDA revisions in April 2026.

How often is VDA revised in Tripura?

Twice a year, from 1 April and 1 October. Each revision uses the average consumer price index for the previous six months — July to December for the April revision and January to June for the October one. The October 2025 revision was notified on 28 October 2025; the October 2026 one had not appeared on 9 October 2026.

What is the daily minimum wage in Tripura?

For monthly-rated employments, divide the monthly rate by 26 and round up to the next rupee, as each notification directs. An unskilled shop worker's ₹8,077 a month gives ₹311 a day a day. Construction and agriculture are fixed per day: ₹331 a day for unskilled construction work and ₹437 a day for an adult farm worker.

What is the minimum wage for domestic workers in Tripura?

From 1 April 2026, a domestic worker working morning to evening must get ₹3,288 a month a month plus breakfast or rice in the morning and lunch. Part-time morning-shift workers get ₹22 an hour an hour with breakfast, and those working a morning and evening split shift get ₹19 an hour.

Do central minimum wages apply in Agartala?

Only for central-sphere work, such as central government offices, banks, railways, the airport and central public sector undertakings and their contractors. Agartala is not listed in Area A or B, so it falls in Area C, where unskilled construction, sweeping and cleaning pays ₹565 a day from 1 October 2026.

What is the minimum wage for hotel staff in Tripura?

The hotel and restaurant schedule has no unskilled grade. From 1 April 2026 semi-skilled staff get ₹10,541 a month a month, skilled staff ₹12,800 a month and highly skilled staff ₹14,305 a month, including VDA.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.No.F.22(74)-LAB/ENF/MW/SHOPS/2022/660-77 dated 30.04.2026 — VDA for Shops and Establishments w.e.f. 01.04.2026 — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.VDA for Construction or Maintenance of Roads or Building Operation w.e.f. 01.04.2026 — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.VDA for Private Security Guard, Hotel & Restaurant, Domestic Workers and Agriculture w.e.f. 01.04.2026 — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.VDA notices w.e.f. 01.04.2026 for Rice Mill, Petrol Pump and Loading & Un-loading (dated 30.04.2026) — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Labour Department — Minimum Wages notifications page — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Tripura Gazette Extraordinary No. 110 dated 20.01.2026 — draft Tripura Wages Rules, 2026 (No.F.22(80)-LAB/ENF/CoW/2025 dated 17.01.2026) — Labour Department, Government of Tripura · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Labour Bureau orders dated 30 September 2026 — revised VDA and central minimum wages w.e.f. 01.10.2026, with Area A/B/C annexure — Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, Ministry of Labour & Employment (published on clc.gov.in) · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019) — India Code, Legislative Department · accessed 9 October 2026
9. 9.Government announces implementation of the four Labour Codes (21 Nov 2025) — PIB — Ministry of Labour & Employment · accessed 9 October 2026
10. 10.Latest Minimum Wages for Shops and Establishments in Tripura (April 2026 VDA revision) — DCPSOL · accessed 9 October 2026