Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 · Chapter IV: Procedure, Powers and Duties of Authorities
Section 20: Commencement and conclusion of proceedings
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was repealed and replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
In plain words
This section says when conciliation, arbitration and adjudication proceedings start and end.
- Conciliation starts when the officer receives a strike or lock-out notice, or when a dispute is referred to a Board.
- It ends when a settlement is signed, when the failure report reaches the government or the Board's report is published, or when the dispute is referred for adjudication.
- Arbitration and adjudication start on the date of reference and end when the award becomes enforceable.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
(1) A conciliation proceeding shall be deemed to have commenced on the date on which a notice of strike or lock-out under section 22 is received by the conciliation officer or on the date of the order referring the dispute to a Board, as the case may be.
(2) A conciliation proceeding shall be deemed to have concluded—
(a) where a settlement is arrived at, when a memorandum of the settlement is signed by the parties to the dispute;
(b) where no settlement is arrived at, when the report of the conciliation officer is received by the appropriate Government or when the report of the Board is published under section 17, as the case may be; or
(c) when a reference is made to a Court, [Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal] under section 10 during the pendency of conciliation proceedings.
(3) Proceedings [before an arbitrator under section 10A or before a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal] shall be deemed to have commenced on the date or the [reference of the dispute for arbitration or adjudication, as the case may be] and such proceedings shall be deemed to have concluded [on the date on which the award becomes enforceable under section 17A].
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.