Salary Slip Format in India: Mandatory Components

Short answer: under the labour codes, every employer must give each employee a wage slip. The Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 prescribe it as Form V under rule 52, issued electronically or on paper on or before the day wages are paid. A good payslip shows who paid whom for which period, the days paid, every earning, every deduction and the net amount, with enough identifiers (PAN, PF and ESI numbers) for the employee to check their tax and contributions.

Is a salary slip mandatory?

Yes. The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force on 21 November 2025, and the central rules made under it were notified in May 2026. Rule 52 requires a wage slip in Form V to each employee. States make their own rules for establishments they govern, and some were still finalising them at the time of writing, so your state's form may differ in layout. The substance is the same: the employee must be able to see how their pay was arrived at.

Payslips also matter outside the law. Banks ask for them for loans, landlords for rent agreements, and the next employer for salary verification. A payslip that does not reconcile with the bank credit or the annual TDS certificate creates questions for the employee later.

What a payslip should show

Header

• Employer's name and address; the company logo is optional.
• Pay period (month and year) and date of payment.
• Employee name, employee code, designation and department.
• Date of joining.
• PAN, PF account number or UAN, and ESI number where applicable.
• Bank account (last digits) or mode of payment.

Attendance

• Days in the period, days paid, leave taken and loss-of-pay days.
• Overtime hours, if any are paid.

Earnings

• Basic pay and dearness allowance.
• House rent allowance.
• Other allowances, each named (conveyance, special allowance and so on).
• Overtime, bonus, arrears and incentives, each on its own line.
• Gross earnings.

Deductions

• Employee's provident fund contribution.
• Employee's ESI contribution, if covered.
• Professional tax, in states that levy it.
• TDS on salary.
• Recoveries: advances, loans, canteen and so on, each named.
• Total deductions and net pay, preferably also in words.

A sample payslip layout

Here is a simple layout for a ₹47,000 monthly salary. The figures are an example, not a recommended structure.

Payslip for October 2026 — Sharma Design Studio Pvt Ltd, Pune
Employee	Anil Kumar (EMP-014)	Designation	Senior Designer
Date of joining	12 July 2023	PAN	ABCDE1234F
PF / UAN	On file	Days paid	31 of 31
Earnings	₹	Deductions	₹
Basic	25,000	Provident fund (12% of basic)	3,000
HRA	10,000	Professional tax	As per state slab
Special allowance	12,000	TDS on salary	1,500
Gross earnings	47,000	Total deductions	4,500 + PT
Net pay		42,500 less professional tax

Two things to notice. First, ESI is not shown because it applies only to employees below the ESI wage limit; if an employee is covered, it gets its own line. Second, the allowances excluded from "wages" (HRA and special allowance here, ₹22,000) are under half of the ₹47,000 total. If excluded allowances are more than half, the Code on Wages adds the excess back into wages, which raises PF and gratuity. Check this when you design a salary structure; our guide on CTC, gross and in-hand salary explains the parts.

Common payslip mistakes

• Lumping allowances into one line. The employee cannot check HRA for their tax claim.
• No days-paid figure. A loss-of-pay deduction then looks like an error.
• Net pay that does not match the bank credit, usually because a recovery was made outside payroll.
• TDS on the payslip that does not add up to the annual TDS certificate. Reconcile every quarter, not in May.
• Issuing payslips weeks after salary is paid. Under rule 52 it is due on or before payment.
• Changing the format every few months. Pick one, and keep it.

What does not belong on the payslip

A payslip shows what the employee earned and what was deducted from it. Costs the employer bears on top of salary are part of CTC, not of the payslip's earnings:

• Employer's PF contribution. Some employers show it as a memo line below the totals, which is helpful, but it must not be added to gross earnings and then deducted again.
• Employer's ESI contribution, for the same reason.
• Gratuity provision. Gratuity is paid when the employee leaves, not each month.
• Insurance premiums the employer pays, unless your policy recovers part of them from salary.

If the offer letter quoted a CTC, a short memo box on the payslip showing employer contributions helps the employee reconcile the two without confusing the net pay.

Paper, PDF or email?

The central rules allow the slip in electronic form. A PDF emailed or available in an employee login is enough, as long as the employee can get it on or before payday and keep it. Keep your own copy for as long as your CA advises; payslips are the first thing asked for in a labour inspection or a tax query about salary.

Where Grovia fits

In Grovia's HR module, each monthly payroll entry holds basic, HRA, other allowances, overtime and bonus; PF, ESI, TDS and other deductions; working, present and leave days; and the net amount, paid date and payment mode. HRA and PF can be set per employee as a percentage or a fixed amount. The payslip page shows your company name, address and logo, and the employee's code, PAN, PF and ESI numbers and bank details, with a Print / Save PDF button. There is no separate professional tax line: record it under other deductions. For the payroll side as a whole, see payroll software for small business.

Figures checked on 1 November 2026. Tax and labour rules change, and several states are still finalising their rules under the labour codes; confirm the current position with your CA before you act on it.

Grovia runs payroll and payslips alongside leads, quotations, GST invoices, payments and your team in one place. Start a free 14-day trial (no card needed).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it mandatory to give salary slips in India?

Yes. Under the Code on Wages and the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, employers must issue a wage slip in Form V on or before the day wages are paid. States may prescribe their own format.

Can a salary slip be sent by email?

Yes. The central rules allow the wage slip to be issued electronically, so a PDF by email or in an employee login works.

What deductions appear on an Indian payslip?

Typically the employee's PF contribution, ESI if covered, professional tax in states that levy it, TDS on salary, and any named recoveries such as advances.

Does the payslip need the employee's PAN?

It is not the core of the wage slip, but showing PAN, PF and ESI numbers lets the employee match the payslip with their tax and contribution records, and most employers include them.