3 under the wage rules
Employee register, wage register, and attendance register cum muster roll. The OSH Code adds one more at ten or more workers.
Source: Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026, rule 51(1); G.S.R. 343(E), 8 May 2026
Free PDF pack
Muster Roll, Wage and Attendance Register Formats for Indian Employers
The three registers rule 51 actually requires, reproduced from the gazette. Including the bit most pages skip: whether the central forms are the ones that bind you, or whether your state's rules do.
- Forms I, IV and IX, column by column
- Central or state, settled on page one
- Electronic is expressly allowed
Instant download. No card needed.
Attendo presents
Statutory Register Formats Pack
For Indian employers
3
under the wage rules
ATTENDO PRESENTS
What's inside
Three registers, column by column
Each reproduced from the gazette, with a note on the columns people leave blank.
Chapter 1
Whose rules bind you
Central sphere or state sphere, settled before you print anything. It decides whether these exact forms apply or whether they are a model.
Chapter 3
Form I, employee register
Thirty-six fields, one row per person, from employee code through to remarks. Everything else refers back to it.
Chapter 4
Form IV, wage register
Thirty-three columns covering rate, amount earned, every deduction, net payment, and what any fine was imposed for.
Chapter 5
Form IX, muster roll
Attendance and muster roll are one document now. In and out for every day of the month, plus the tour column everyone forgets.
Chapter 6
Eleven checks
Run before anyone official asks, which is the worst moment to find a column has been empty for a year.
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Registers that agree
Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) keeps the employee, attendance and wage data as one set, so the three registers cannot disagree.
Why this matters
The first question is not what the form looks like
It is whether the form you are looking at is the one that binds you, and for most employers the answer is no.
There is no single national set of register formats. The Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026, notified on 8 May 2026, prescribe Forms I, IV and IX for establishments where the Central Government is the appropriate government: railways, mines, oilfields, major ports, banking companies and central undertakings. Everyone else is in the state sphere and follows their own state's rules. Bihar notified its own in July 2026 and other states are following.
That sounds worse than it is. Every version sits under the same Code and asks for the same things, so the central forms are a good model wherever you are. Build your records around these columns and the gap between you and your state's version will be a heading rather than a missing field. What you should not do is print the central forms and assume they are yours.
Two details in the rules are worth more than the forms themselves. Registers may be kept electronically or in physical form, so a spreadsheet is compliant and bound paper registers were never required. And they must be preserved for five years from the date of the last entry, which is a rolling date rather than a financial year, so a register still in use has not begun its five years.
The registers connect to everything else. Form IV carries the overtime hours that our overtime calculation template works out, Form IX carries the attendance the leave encashment calculator depends on, and the labour codes readiness kit covers the rest of what changed when the codes commenced.
Preview
Three registers, and one wage slip
The whole obligation under rule 51 and rule 52, in four lines. Shorter than the stack of registers most employers think they need.
- Each row gives the form, what it is, and the rule that requires it, so you can check it against the gazette yourself.
- The muster roll and the attendance register are the same document now. If you keep two, one of them is doing nothing.
- Every column of all three forms is reproduced in the file, including the ones that are usually left empty.
| Form | What it is | Rule | Electronic? | Keep for | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form I | Employee Register | 51(1)(i) | Yes | 5 years | 04 |
| Form IV | Wages, overtime, fines, deductions | 51(1)(ii) | Yes | 5 years | 05 |
| Form IX | Attendance Register cum Muster Roll | 51(1)(iii) | Yes | 5 years | 06 |
| Form V | Wage slip, at or before payment | 52 | Yes | Issued | 03 |
| All four | Central Rules 2026 | 08 |
Key stats
Three numbers from rule 51
5 years from the last entry
Not five years from the year end. A register still being written in has not started its five years yet.
Source: Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026, rule 51(4)0 paper required
The rule says electronically or in physical form, so a spreadsheet counts. Bound registers were never the point.
Source: Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026, rule 51(1)
Common mistakes
6 Register Mistakes Indian Employers Make
Using the central forms in the state sphere
The Central Rules bind railways, mines, banks and central undertakings. Most private employers follow their state's rules instead. The forms usually look the same, but the numbers have to be checked rather than assumed.
Keeping a muster roll and an attendance register
They are one document under rule 51, the Attendance Register cum Muster Roll in Form IX. Keeping both means maintaining something twice and giving yourself two records that can disagree.
Recording a fine without a reason
Form IV asks what the fine was imposed for and on what date, in its own columns. A deduction with no recorded reason is very hard to justify, and fines have to be recorded in that register specifically.
Confusing the rate with the amount
Form IV has separate columns for the rate of wages and the amount actually earned. Filling one and leaving the other is the commonest gap in a wage register, and it makes the arithmetic impossible to follow.
Leaving the tour column blank
Form IX asks for brief details of any assignment outside the workplace. Left empty, a day away from site reads as absence, which is a query nobody needs.
Counting five years from the wrong date
Retention runs five years from the date of the last entry, not from the year end. A register still in use has not begun its five years, so archiving by financial year destroys things early.
Comparison
What a register download usually is
A register format online
Often a pre-2025 form
- Forms from Acts the codes repealed
- Silent on central versus state
- Muster roll and attendance as two documents
- No mention of the retention period
- Assumes bound paper registers
Free either way
This pack
From the 2026 gazette
- Forms I, IV and IX as notified in May 2026
- Settles which sphere you are in, first
- One combined register, as the rule has it
- Five years from the last entry, stated
- Says electronic is expressly allowed
Get all three formats
One PDF, three registers, every column. Short form, instant download.
FAQ
Common questions
Is this register formats pack really free? +
Yes, completely. No card and no trial. The form asks for your name, work email, phone and city, then the file downloads straight away. The Attendo team may follow up about payroll software, and you are free to say no thanks.
Which registers are compulsory under the new labour codes? +
Three under the wage rules, and one more under the OSH Code. Rule 51(1) of the Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 requires an Employee Register in Form I, a Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions in Form IV, and an Attendance Register cum Muster Roll in Form IX. The muster roll and the attendance register are one document now, not two. A wage slip in Form V goes out separately, on or before payment. Section 33 of the OSH Code then requires its own register of hours, rest days, leave, overtime and attendance, which overlaps heavily but is a separate duty. That one applies to establishments of ten or more workers.
Do these exact forms apply to my business? +
Only if your appropriate government is the Central Government, which covers railways, mines, oilfields, major ports, banking companies and central undertakings. Most private employers are in the state sphere and follow their own state's Code on Wages rules. States generally mirror the central forms, which is why these are worth having as a model, but check your state's form numbers before adopting them wholesale.
Can registers be kept on a computer? +
Yes. Rule 51(1) says the registers may be maintained electronically or in physical form, so a spreadsheet or a payroll system is fine. One practical consequence: Form IV has a signature column that the form itself says is needed where the register is physical, so keeping it electronically removes a monthly chase.
How long do we have to keep them? +
Five years, and the clock runs from the date of the last entry rather than from the end of the year. Rule 51(4). That is worth setting up properly, because a register that is still being written in has not started its five years yet.
A
About Attendo
Attendo, formerly Petpooja Payroll, is payroll and attendance software used by more than 40,000 businesses in India. It keeps the employee, attendance and wage data as one set, so the three registers cannot disagree with each other. See what it does, or browse all the free HR templates.
Attendo
Registers without the retyping
One set of data behind all three, kept for five years without anyone filing.
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