Under the Code on Wages, 2019, the total amount of deductions that may be made from the wages of an employee in any wage period shall not exceed what proportion of the wages, where deductions are made wholly for payments to cooperative societies?

Section 18 of the Code on Wages, 2019 regulates the deductions that may be made from an employee's wages. As a general rule, the total deductions in any wage period shall not exceed fifty per cent of the wages. However, where deductions are wholly or partly made for payments to cooperative societies, the permissible limit is raised to seventy-five per cent of the wages. Deductions outside the categories authorised by the Code are not permitted, and any fine imposed must comply with the conditions laid down, including prior notice and a ceiling on the amount. This protects employees from excessive erosion of their earned wages while permitting authorised statutory deductions.