Section 4. Amount of compensation
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the amount of compensation shall be as follows:
(a) Death: an amount equal to fifty per cent. of the monthly wages of the deceased employee multiplied by the relevant factor, or an amount of one lakh and twenty thousand rupees, whichever is more.
(b) Permanent total disablement: an amount equal to sixty per cent. of the monthly wages of the injured employee multiplied by the relevant factor, or an amount of one lakh and forty thousand rupees, whichever is more. The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, from time to time, enhance these amounts.
Explanation I.—For clauses (a) and (b), “relevant factor” means the factor specified in Schedule IV against the completed years of age of the employee on his last birthday immediately preceding the date the compensation fell due.
(c) Permanent partial disablement: (i) for an injury specified in Part II of Schedule I, such percentage of the compensation payable for permanent total disablement as is specified therein as the percentage of loss of earning capacity caused by that injury; (ii) for an injury not specified in Schedule I, such percentage of the compensation payable for permanent total disablement as is proportionate to the loss of earning capacity (as assessed by a qualified medical practitioner) permanently caused by the injury.
Explanation I.—Where more injuries than one are caused by the same accident, the compensation payable under this head shall be aggregated but not so as to exceed the amount payable for permanent total disablement. Explanation II.—In assessing loss of earning capacity under sub-clause (ii), the medical practitioner shall have due regard to the percentages specified in Schedule I for different injuries.
(d) Temporary disablement (total or partial): a half-monthly payment of a sum equivalent to twenty-five per cent. of the monthly wages of the employee, paid in accordance with sub-section (2).
(1A) Where the accident occurred outside India, the Commissioner shall take into account compensation, if any, awarded under the law of the country of accident and reduce the amount fixed accordingly.
(1B) The Central Government may, by notification, specify the monthly wages to be taken into account for the purposes of sub-section (1).
(2) The half-monthly payment under clause (d) of sub-section (1) is payable on the sixteenth day from the date of disablement (or after a three-day waiting period for disablement of less than 28 days), and thereafter half-monthly during the disablement or for five years, whichever is shorter, subject to deduction of amounts already paid by the employer and a cap tied to the difference between pre- and post-accident wages.
(2A) The employee shall be reimbursed the actual medical expenditure incurred by him for treatment of injuries caused during the course of employment.
(3) On cessation of disablement before a half-monthly payment falls due, a proportionate sum is payable for that half-month.
(4) If the injury results in death, the employer shall, in addition to compensation under sub-section (1), deposit with the Commissioner a sum of two thousand and five hundred rupees for the eldest surviving dependant towards funeral expenses (or to the person who actually incurred such expenditure). The Central Government may, by notification, enhance this amount from time to time.
