Govt steps in as fake SC order on bonus, kaju katli triggers protest at Gr Noida factory

The Gautam Budh Nagar labour department on Wednesday said a fabricated social media claim about a Supreme Court order directing companies to pay industrial workers a Diwali bonus of ₹5,100 and 1kg of kaju katli before November 5 was causing confusion, prompting officials to intervene at factories to clarify workers’ entitlements

The Gautam Budh Nagar labour department on Wednesday said a fabricated social media claim about a Supreme Court order directing companies to pay industrial workers a Diwali bonus of ₹5,100 and 1kg of kaju katli before November 5 was causing confusion, prompting officials to intervene at factories to clarify workers’ entitlements.

The labour department clarified that workers employed during the previous financial year were eligible for the applicable bonus in the current payment cycle, subject to prescribed conditions. (HT Archive)

The claim, which falsely attributed the directive to the Supreme Court, had been circulating on social media for around 15-20 days. It also prompted the labour department to issue a clarification on the statutory eligibility criteria for bonus payments.

On Wednesday, the misinformation triggered a brief protest at the factory of Chinese mobile phone manufacturer in Ecotech 1, Greater Noida, where a group of workers gathered outside the premises to demand their Diwali bonus, officials said.

“A fake news report was created using a headline suggesting that the Supreme Court had issued an order directing all companies to give every worker ₹5,100 and one kilogram of kaju katli. The claim was widely circulated on social media, following which workers started believing that they were entitled to these payments. There is no such Supreme Court order,” assistant labour commissioner Suyash Pandey said.

Ecotech 1 police station house officer Arvind Kumar said the gathering stemmed from a communication gap between the company and its employees over the nature of the bonus payment.

“The gathered workers were employees on the company’s payroll. They believed the firm was not paying their bonus. However, there was confusion about what constituted the statutory bonus and what was an additional payment from the company’s side,” Kumar said.

Some workers gathered at the factory gate after the morning shift, believing they were being denied their bonus. The situation settled after the matter was explained and the labour department intervened, he added.

The protest was dispersed within 20 to 30 minutes, and normalcy was restored, Kumar said. “No case has been registered and there was no law-and-order situation,” he added.

The labour department clarified that workers employed during the previous financial year were eligible for the applicable bonus in the current payment cycle, subject to prescribed conditions. Employers are required to disburse the bonus within eight months of the close of the financial year, making November 30 the deadline for the relevant payment cycle.

“Those who joined establishments after April 1, 2026, will become eligible in the next financial year, provided they fulfil the prescribed conditions. However, some of these newly recruited workers are also demanding the bonus immediately, without understanding that their eligibility is linked to the period for which they have worked. This is one of the major reasons behind the confusion,” Pandey said.

In a report published on October 28, HT had reported that police described the claims as false, misleading and baseless.

Police had also initiated legal action through the cyber crime branch against the person accused of preparing and circulating the misleading content, invoking relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.