Bombay HC Rules BMC Community Health Volunteers Entitled to Minimum Wages
The Bombay High Court has ruled that Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) working with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai are entitled to minimum wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Justice Sandeep Marne dismissed a batch of petitions filed by the civic body challenging an earlier order that directed it to pay the volunteers the difference between notified minimum wages and the honorarium they received.
The civic body had moved the High Court against a September 7, 2020, order passed by the Authority under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and the Assistant Commissioner of Labour, Mumbai City, which had upheld the CHVs' entitlement to statutory minimum wages.
Observing their role in Mumbai, the court noted that CHVs perform vital public health duties and have worked with the civic administration for nearly 38 years. They assist in raising health awareness, supporting government health programmes, and bridging the gap between local health posts and residents, particularly across slum areas.
Justice Marne observed that though branded as volunteers, CHVs effectively work as municipal workers for reward. The court pointed out that they report for duty, maintain fixed working hours, follow directions issued by medical staff, and receive fixed monthly payments. Consequently, the court rejected the BMC's argument that an absence of a formal employer-employee relationship or the label of an "honorarium" excluded them from the scope of the Minimum Wages Act.
The BMC had argued that the workers were purely volunteers who receive an honorarium of Rs 14,000 per month for five hours of work each day.
The High Court clarified that the ruling strictly addresses entitlement to minimum wages based on the hours worked and does not confer any right to regularisation, permanent employment, or additional service benefits. Justice Marne noted that because the civic body ensures minimum wages for workers engaged via contractors, it could not justify denying similar protection to CHVs paid directly by the corporation.
The court also declined the civic body's request for a six-week stay on the operation of the judgment.
