This week (2026-07-20 to 2026-07-26) the Supreme Court of India directed the Union Government and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a comprehensive affidavit within four weeks accounting for the Environment Relief Fund (ERF) under Section 7A of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 — total collected, present corpus, amount disbursed, and how the Fund has been administered. The ERF stood at roughly ₹1,062 crore as at 31 March 2023 and has been CPCB-administered since 1 January 2025. Parliament's Monsoon Session opened 20 July (19 sittings to 13 August; 28 Bills pending) with no labour or occupational-safety Bill listed, so OSH reform runs through gazette notification alone — the draft Indian Boiler Regulations 2026 (G.S.R. 31(E)) are still un-notified. Form-V appointment letters are 12 days out (7 August 2026). Rajasthan's OSH Rules 2026 are in force; Karnataka's are unconfirmed. This is a documentation week: the practitioner priority is the PLI/ERF insurance file and the Form-V close-out.
Top Developments This Week
1. Supreme Court Puts the Environment Relief Fund Under Audit — The PLI Act File Every Hazardous-Substance Occupier Has Been Neglecting
What happened. A Supreme Court bench of CJI Surya Kant, Bagchi and Pancholi JJ took up a long-pending petition alleging non-utilisation of the Environment Relief Fund and directed the Union Government to file a comprehensive affidavit within four weeks specifying the total collected, the present corpus, the amount disbursed, and the manner of administration. The CPCB Member Secretary was directed to assist with complete utilisation details, and the Court agreed to appoint an Amicus Curiae. The Union recorded ₹881 crore collected up to 2020, with the corpus since rising past ₹1,000 crore (roughly ₹1,062 crore as at 31 March 2023). Veritect's daily-news desk filed the order on 23 July 2026.
Statutory framework engaged. The ERF is created by Section 7A of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 (PLI Act), inserted by Act 11 of 1992. Section 3 imposes no-fault liability on the "owner" for death, injury or property damage from an accident while handling a hazardous substance; Section 4 makes public-liability insurance mandatory once the substance exceeds the threshold quantities notified by S.O. 227(E) dated 24 March 1992. Rule 11 of the Public Liability Insurance Rules, 1991 fixes the ERF contribution at a sum equal to the premium payable to the insurer. Section 4(2A) caps policy cover at ₹50 crore; Rule 10 caps insurer exposure at ₹5 crore per accident and ₹15 crore per policy year, above which the ERF meets the shortfall under Section 7(3)(b) and the residue falls on the owner under Section 7(3)(c). The Collector adjudicates on a Form I application under Sections 5–7, with Schedule relief unchanged since 1991 — ₹25,000 for a fatal accident plus up to ₹12,500 medical.
Why this is a practitioner-day item. The ERF contribution is a line paid by the insurance broker and never audited by legal. Judicial scrutiny runs in both directions: it exposes whether CPCB has disbursed, and whether owners have contributed correctly. The ERF (Amendment) Scheme, 2024 already moved administration from United India Insurance Company Ltd to CPCB from 1 January 2025, mandated independent CAG-panel audit, imposed a 30-day fund-release timeline after a Collector or Central Government order, and added NGT Section 24 compensation and PLI Act Sections 14/15/17 penalties as Fund sources. An audited Fund is an audited contribution trail.
Practitioner action. (1) Confirm the PLI sum insured is not less than paid-up capital (Section 4(2A)) — under-insurance is the most common defect. (2) Verify the ERF contribution equals the premium under Rule 11 and obtain written insurer confirmation of remittance under Sections 4(2C)–(2D). (3) Reconcile the site inventory against S.O. 227(E) thresholds and the MSIHC Rules 1989 Schedule 2 and 3 declarations — the two must agree. (4) Confirm the Form I filing route and Collector's office for each district, and that the emergency response plan names it. (5) Brief the board that Schedule relief is a floor, not a ceiling: absolute liability under M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak), NGT Sections 15/17 exposure and Environment (Protection) Act 1986 liability continue undiminished save for the Section 8(2) set-off.
OSH Code transition note. The PLI Act 1991 is a parallel regime and is not in the OSH Code 2020 repeal schedule — it is anchor-eligible in its own right. Where a factory is involved, the PLI/ERF file sits alongside Factories Act 1948 §41B major-accident-hazard duties (until OSH Code Chapters III–IV commence in the state): one incident-response bundle, not two silos.
Links. Supreme Court latest orders: https://www.sci.gov.in/latest-orders/ | CPCB: https://cpcb.nic.in/ | ERF Scheme 2008 (CPCB Legal Information Portal): https://clip.cpcb.gov.in/index.php/notification/the-environment-relief-fund-scheme-2008/ | MoEF&CC: https://moef.gov.in/
2. Monsoon Session Opens With No OSH Bill — Reform Stays in the Gazette, and Draft IBR 2026 Is Still Not Notified
Monsoon Session 2026 (20 July – 13 August). Parliament convened on 20 July 2026 for 19 sittings running to 13 August, with 28 Bills pending; Question Hour ran on 20, 21 and 22 July and five sittings fell inside W30. No standalone labour, industrial-relations or occupational-safety Bill has been listed — the agenda is dominated by tax, MSME, higher-education and foreign-contribution measures.
What that means operationally. With all four Labour Codes in force from 21 November 2025 and the Central Rules notified 8 May 2026, the entire remaining OSH reform surface is delegated legislation. Watch egazette.gov.in, labour.gov.in and the DPIIT boilers page rather than the legislative calendar. Parliamentary questions remain useful, though — unstarred questions to the Ministry of Labour and Employment are the standard route by which DGOSH factory-accident and fatality statistics enter the public record, and those replies are citable Tier 1 material for board risk briefings.
Draft IBR 2026 — still pending. The draft Indian Boiler Regulations 2026 were published by G.S.R. 31(E) under the Boilers Act 2025 (operative 1 May 2025) and would supersede the Indian Boiler Regulations 1950. As at W30 close there is no final gazette notification, so IBR 1950 remains the operative delegated regulation for boiler design, material standards, registration, hydrostatic test and periodic inspection. The Gummidipoondi (Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu) steel-plant boiler blast of 14 July 2026 — one migrant worker killed — remains under DISH-TN and State Boiler inspectorate inquiry into whether mandatory maintenance and certification were current.
Practitioner action. Complete the IBR 1950 versus draft IBR 2026 gap analysis now — registration, inspection cadence, digital-monitoring provisions — and keep boiler certificates, last inspection reports, safety-valve test records and Boiler Operation Engineer certifications in one inspection-readiness file. Post-Gummidipoondi, a lapsed certificate is the first finding an inspector will reach for.
Links. Parliament of India: https://sansad.in/ | DPIIT — Boilers: https://www.dpiit.gov.in/boilers | DISH Tamil Nadu: https://dish.tn.gov.in/ | e-Gazette: https://egazette.gov.in/
3. Form-V at D-12; State Rules Divergence Is Now the Bigger Multi-State Risk
Form-V — 7 August 2026 (D-12). The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026) require Form-V appointment letters for all Central-sphere workers by 7 August 2026. Twelve days out, the contractor cascade should be returning compliance certificates, not being initiated. The format requires employment-type classification (regular, fixed-term, contractual) plus UAN or insurance number, labour identification number, skill category and nature of duties. Principal employers carry vicarious exposure for contractor-worker gaps — compile date-stamped issuance records now and escalate contractor non-response in writing this week so the paper trail predates the deadline. The 40-plus annual health check-up follows on 7 September 2026 (D-43); the Shram Suvidha update on 7 November 2026.
State divergence. Rajasthan notified the Rajasthan Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2026 by S.O. 23 dated 30 June 2026, in force on publication, with registration, licensing, renewals and statutory submissions filed electronically through the State portal and deemed-approval mechanics where timelines lapse. Roughly eleven states are reported to have final rules; Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal remain at draft. Karnataka is the live reconciliation item — the Draft Karnataka OSHWC Rules 2026 were published on 23 January 2026 and secondary trackers disagree on whether final rules have issued; no Tier 1 State Gazette confirmation could be obtained as at W30, so the Karnataka Factories Act 1 of 2003 and Karnataka Factories Rules 1969 continue to govern state-sphere establishments.
Registry hygiene. DGFASLI is now legally the Directorate General Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH) by S.O. 2534(E) under Section 87(1) of the OSH Code 2020, effective on gazette publication 15 May 2026 — notice replies, safety-audit submissions and board papers should address DGOSH, and legacy references in licences, standing orders and internal SOPs corrected at the next revision. Separately, S.O. 2486(E) of 13 May 2026 designated the Deputy Director (Safety), Dock Safety Division, Mumbai as the officer empowered to impose OSH Code penalties for dock work across all major ports, with parallel compounding authorisations; W30 closes the first full quarter of that machinery being live.
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Links. Ministry of Labour & Employment — Gazette Notifications: https://labour.gov.in/gazette-notification | DGOSH (formerly DGFASLI) notifications: https://dgfasli.gov.in/view-notification | Rajasthan Labour Department: https://labour.rajasthan.gov.in/ | Karnataka Labour Commissionerate: https://karmikaspandana.karnataka.gov.in/english
Regulatory Action Log
PLI/ERF file moves from dormant to audited. Expect downstream administrative tightening — remittance reconciliation, insurer reporting, and possibly a push on the long-recommended revision of the 1991 Schedule ceilings.
No central OSH gazette issued in W30. No new Ministry of Labour and Employment, DGOSH, ESIC, CPCB or CEA notification in the OSH space. The compliance load is entirely carry-over: Form-V, the 40-plus health check, and state-rules alignment.
ESIC — no deadline inside W30. July 2026 wage contributions fall due 15 August 2026 (Employer 3.25% + Employee 0.75%, ₹21,000 monthly coverage ceiling) under Regulation 31 of the ESI (General) Regulations, 1950. The Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana is extended to 30 June 2027 — CORRECTION issued 2026-08-16. This tracker as originally filed recorded ABVKY as lapsed from 30 June 2026 because no Section 97(1) renewal gazette could be traced. That conclusion was wrong. The Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) was extended for a further year, 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, by decision of the ESIC Corporation at its 198th meeting on 30 June 2026 chaired by Union Labour and Employment Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (PIB release of 30 June 2026). Workers becoming unemployed on or after 1 July 2026 are eligible for the 50%-of-average-daily-wage relief for up to 90 days. Any advisory issued on the original wording should be withdrawn and re-notified; ESIC's public ABVKY page is a known laggard behind Corporation decisions.
BOCW — Q2 cess reconciliation. No new central BOCW notification in W30; the live item is welfare-cess accrual and state-board receipt confirmation under the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996. Karnataka BOCW Welfare Board data records 223 construction-worker deaths across 2020-21 to 2025-26 against roughly 27.68 lakh active registered workers, with an estimated 30% of the sector unregistered — the registration gap is what defeats accidental-death claims, so audit contractor-workforce BOCW registration alongside the cess ledger.
Electrical — mid-monsoon ESO cycle. No CEA Safety Regulations 2023 amendment issued. Regulation 6 requires the Electrical Safety Officer at factories above 250 kW connected load (and mines/oil-fields above 2,000 kW) to run periodic tests and inspect at intervals not exceeding one year, recorded in Form I–IV of Schedule II — mid-monsoon is when earthing (Regulation 43) and residual-current-device (Regulation 44) integrity should be re-tested and the record dated.
State Variations
Rajasthan. Moved into the "final rules" column on 30 June 2026 (S.O. 23). Establishments must migrate registration, licensing and renewals to the State's electronic portal; deemed-registration and auto-generated approvals apply where the department misses timelines — so the portal acknowledgement becomes the practitioner's primary evidence.
Karnataka. Status unconfirmed from Tier 1 as at W30. Draft Karnataka OSHWC Rules 2026 published 23 January 2026, contemplating electronic registration and licensing via Karmika Spandana, mandatory risk assessment, safety audits, 40-plus medical examinations, State OSH Advisory Board and Safety Committees, and Safety Officer appointment in specified establishments. Until the State Gazette confirms, advise on Karnataka Factories Act 1 of 2003 + Karnataka Factories Rules 1969. KBOCWWB Q2 cess in progress.
Maharashtra. Draft stage. Maharashtra DISH monsoon inspection programme continues across the Thane, Raigad and Pune belts; the Tarapur and Ambernath chemical corridors should treat the PLI/ERF audit as the W30 priority alongside boiler certification.
Gujarat. Final rules reported. Gujarat DISH monsoon inspection window active. Given the state's share of India's chemical manufacturing, run the PLI cover / ERF contribution reconciliation and S.O. 227(E) threshold-inventory check site-by-site, not at group level.
Tamil Nadu. Draft stage for OSH rules. DISH-TN and the State Boiler inspectorate continue the Gummidipoondi boiler-blast inquiry (14 July); SIPCOT-estate occupiers should keep boiler certificates, MSIHC notification status, on-site emergency plans and migrant-worker training records production-ready.
Delhi-NCR. Monsoon active with periodic red alerts; the early-July NCR rain-related building-collapse cluster makes post-rain structural-integrity checks and scaffolding-tie inspection the operative site duty for Bawana, Narela and Okhla. No Delhi-specific OSH gazette notification in W30.
Practitioner Watch-List
For labour-law practitioners and in-house counsel (W30 priorities):
PLI / ERF insurance audit — highest new-risk item. Run the policy-adequacy check (§4(2A) paid-up-capital floor), the Rule 11 contribution check and the insurer-remittance confirmation for every hazardous-substance site. Cheapest defect to fix; most expensive to be found with.
Form-V close-out — D-12. Move from issuance to evidence: date-stamped register, contractor compliance certificates, and written notice to any non-responding contractor before 7 August so the file shows escalation, not silence.
Karnataka status verification. Obtain the State Gazette position on the Karnataka OSHWC Rules 2026 directly before issuing any Karnataka memo — draft versus final changes registration, licensing and Safety Committee thresholds.
Boiler inspection-readiness file. With draft IBR 2026 un-notified and the Gummidipoondi inquiry live, treat certificate currency, last inspection date, safety-valve records and Boiler Operation Engineer certification as a standing weekly check.
DGOSH correspondence hygiene. Update templates, notice-reply headers and safety-audit submission formats. A reply addressed to a directorate that no longer bears that name is an unforced credibility cost in an adversarial inspection.
FAQ
Q1: What did the Supreme Court order about the Environment Relief Fund, and who does it affect?
In the week of 20–26 July 2026 a bench of CJI Surya Kant, Bagchi and Pancholi JJ directed the Union to file a comprehensive affidavit within four weeks stating the total collected into the Environment Relief Fund, the present corpus, the amount disbursed and how the Fund has been administered; the CPCB Member Secretary was directed to assist and an Amicus Curiae is to be appointed. The ERF sits under Section 7A of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and has been CPCB-administered since 1 January 2025. It affects every "owner" handling a hazardous substance above the S.O. 227(E) (24 March 1992) thresholds — PLI cover under Section 4 plus an ERF contribution equal to the premium under Rule 11 of the Public Liability Insurance Rules, 1991.
Q2: Does the Parliament Monsoon Session 2026 carry any occupational-safety legislation?
No. The session opened 20 July 2026 and runs to 13 August across 19 sittings with 28 Bills pending; no standalone labour or occupational-safety Bill is listed. With all four Labour Codes in force since 21 November 2025 and the Central Rules notified 8 May 2026, remaining OSH reform is delegated legislation only — principally the draft Indian Boiler Regulations 2026 (G.S.R. 31(E)) and state rules under the OSH Code 2020.
Q3: What is the next hard OSH compliance deadline after 26 July 2026?
Form-V appointment letters on 7 August 2026 (D-12) under the OSH (Central) Rules 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) of 8 May 2026, for Central-sphere establishments — including the contractor cascade, for which the principal employer carries vicarious exposure. Next: the 40-plus annual health check-up on 7 September 2026 (D-43), then the Shram Suvidha establishment-record update on 7 November 2026.
Q4: Is DGFASLI still the correct addressee on a factory or dock safety notice reply?
No. By S.O. 2534(E) under Section 87(1) of the OSH Code 2020, DGFASLI became the Directorate General Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH) with effect from gazette publication on 15 May 2026. Filings after that date should address DGOSH; legacy references in licences and internal SOPs should be corrected at the next revision cycle.
Q5: Which states have final OSH Code rules in force as at end-July 2026?
Rajasthan notified its rules by S.O. 23 dated 30 June 2026, in force on publication with electronic registration, licensing and returns. Roughly eleven states are reported to have final rules; Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal remain at draft. Karnataka's status is contested — no Tier 1 State Gazette confirmation could be obtained as at W30, so continue advising on the Karnataka Factories Act 1 of 2003 and Karnataka Factories Rules 1969 until confirmed.
Compliance Deadlines — W30 and Beyond
| Deadline | Obligation | Applicable establishment |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate | PLI policy adequacy (§4(2A)) + ERF contribution (Rule 11) + insurer remittance confirmation | All owners handling hazardous substances above S.O. 227(E) thresholds |
| Immediate | Reconcile site inventory against S.O. 227(E) thresholds and MSIHC Rules 1989 Schedule 2/3 declarations | Hazardous-substance handlers, all states |
| In force | Migrate registration / licensing / returns to the State e-filing portal under S.O. 23 | Rajasthan establishments |
| In force | DGOSH penalty + compounding machinery live under S.O. 2486(E) | Dock work at all major ports |
| 7 August 2026 (D-12) | Form-V appointment letters (OSH Central Rules 2026, G.S.R. 345(E)) | Central-sphere establishments (incl. contractor workers) |
| 15 August 2026 | ESIC contribution for July 2026 wages (Employer 3.25% + Employee 0.75%) | All ESI-covered establishments |
| 7 September 2026 (D-43) | 40-plus annual health check-up delivery | Central-sphere establishments |
| 7 November 2026 | Shram Suvidha establishment-record update | Central-sphere establishments |
| Annual, ≤12-month interval | Electrical Safety Officer periodic test + inspection record (CEA Safety Regs 2023 Reg. 6; Form I–IV, Schedule II) | Factories >250 kW; mines/oil-fields >2,000 kW |
| In force to 30 June 2027 (corrected 2026-08-16) | ABVKY available — process eligible claims for separations on or after 1 July 2026 | All ESI-covered employers and insured workers |
| Ongoing | Draft IBR 2026 (G.S.R. 31(E)) notification watch; IBR 1950 gap analysis | All boiler operators |
| Ongoing | Karnataka OSH Rules 2026 State Gazette watch | Karnataka state-sphere establishments |
Primary Sources This Week
- Supreme Court of India — latest orders: https://www.sci.gov.in/latest-orders/
- Central Pollution Control Board: https://cpcb.nic.in/
- CPCB Legal Information Portal — Environment Relief Fund Scheme 2008: https://clip.cpcb.gov.in/index.php/notification/the-environment-relief-fund-scheme-2008/
- Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change: https://moef.gov.in/
- Ministry of Labour & Employment — Gazette Notifications: https://labour.gov.in/gazette-notification
- Directorate General Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH, formerly DGFASLI) — notifications: https://dgfasli.gov.in/view-notification
- DPIIT — Boilers / Central Boilers Board: https://www.dpiit.gov.in/boilers
- Parliament of India: https://sansad.in/
- ESIC: https://www.esic.gov.in/
- Rajasthan Labour Department: https://labour.rajasthan.gov.in/
- Karnataka Labour Commissionerate (Karmika Spandana): https://karmikaspandana.karnataka.gov.in/english
- Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board: https://karbwwb.karnataka.gov.in/en
- DISH Tamil Nadu: https://dish.tn.gov.in/
- Central Electricity Authority: https://cea.nic.in/
- e-Gazette of India: https://egazette.gov.in/
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