An employer pays an employee wages below the minimum rate of wages notified by the appropriate…

Section 5 of the Code on Wages, 2019 (formerly s.12(1) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948) provides that no employer shall pay to any employee wages less than the minimum rate of wages notified by the appropriate Government, and s.60 makes void any contract or agreement by which an employee relinquishes the right to any amount due under the Code, in so far as it purports to remove or reduce the liability to pay it. The employee's consent, Government approval or the absence of deductions cannot make underpayment lawful.