PUNJAB REGULARIZATION OF SERVICE ACT 2018

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THE PUNJAB REGULARIZATION OF SERVICE ACT 2018  
(XV of 2018) 
CONTENTS 
1. Short title, extent, application and commencement 
2. Definition 
3. Regularization, etc 
4. Procedure for regularization 
5. Scrutiny Committees 
6. Appointments 
7. Termination of contract  
8. Determination of seniority 
9. Pay fixation 
10. Option for regularization  
11. Legal framework 
12. Appeal or review 
13. Rules 
14. Removal of difficulties 
15. Saving 
 
 
TEXT 
1
THE PUNJAB REGULARIZATION OF SERVICE ACT 2018 
(XV of 2018) 
[30th April, 2018] 
An 
Act 
to provide for appointment on regular basis. 
It is necessary in public interest to provide for the appointment on regular 
basis of certain employees presently serving o n contract; and, for matters connected 
therewith.  
Be it enacted by Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as follows:  
1. Short title, extent, application and commencement .– (1) This Act may be 
cited as the Punjab Regularization of Service Act 2018. 
 (2) It extends to whole of Province of the Punjab. 
2
[(3) It shall apply to all the persons employed on contract in a 
department, who have completed three years continuous service before 
or after the commencement of the Act.] 
(4) It shall come into force at once. 
2. Definition.– In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires– 
(a) “Act” means the Punjab Regularization of Service Act 2018.  
(b) “Commission” means Punjab Public Service Commission. 
(c) “contract employee” means an eligible person appointed on contrac t in 
a department immediately before the commencement of the Act but 
does not include a person appointed  to a post in a project, 
programme, project management unit, project management office, time 
bound (one-time) development activity or as work-charged employee or 
an employee on daily wages; 
(d) “department” means the department as defined in the Punjab 
Government Rules of Business 2011 and includes an attached 
department or a special institution; 
(e) “Government” means Government of the Punjab; 
(f) “regularization” means the appointment of an eligible contract 
employee on regular basis, with immediate effect, in accordance with 
the Act; and 
                                                 
1This Act was passed by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on 27 April 2018; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab on 
30 April 2018; and, was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated: 30 April 2018, pp. 7585-7587. 
2Substituted by the Punjab Regularization of Service (Amendment) Act 2019 (XXIII of 2019), published in the Punjab Gazette 
(Extraordinary), dated: 13 December 2019, pp. 2537-2538, s.2 
(g) “special pay package” means a special pay package, otherwise than 
the basic pay scales and includes Management Position Scales. 
3. Regularization, etc .– (1) Notwithstanding the mode or manner of 
appointment, or any deficiency or defect in the procedure or anything contained in 
the Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974 (VIII of 1974), the rules framed thereunder or any 
recruitment policies, any person appointed on contract, immediately before the 
commencement of the Act, shall be deemed to have been validly appointed and 
such appointment shall not be called in question. 
Explanation.– The expression ‘appointed’ includes the e xtension, from time to time, 
of the term of the contract. 
3
[(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, the contract employees 
who have continuously been serving as such for a period not less than three years 
shall be eligible to be considered for appointment on regular basis if: 
(a) a regular vacancy allocated for initial recruitment is available for 
regularization; 
(b) he is qualified for the post; 
(c) he has not been appointed on a special pay package; 
(d) his performance during the period of contract has remaine d 
satisfactory; and 
(e) he does not opt to continue as contract employee.] 
4. Procedure for regularization .– (1) The case of a contract employee 
appointed on the recommendations of the Commission shall be submitted to the 
appointing authority for regulariz ation without reference to the Commission or the 
Scrutiny Committee. 
(2) If the post falls within the purview of the Commission but the contract 
employee was appointed otherwise than on the recommendations of the 
Commission, the case shall be referred to the Commission for recommendations4[: 
 Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in this subsection 
and subject to section 3 of the Act, the Chief Minister may, in relaxation of the 
provisions of the relevant rules, in the public interest, specify po sts and 
regularize the services of the contract employees, without reference the case 
to the Commission.] 
(3) If the post is outside the purview of the Commission, the case of a 
contract employee shall be placed before the Scrutiny Committee constituted un der 
the Act for recommendations.  
5. Scrutiny Committees .– (1) The appointing authority shall constitute one or 
more Scrutiny Committees for purposes of the Act. 
                                                 
3Substituted by the Pu njab Regularization of Service (Amendment) Act 2019 (XXIII of 2019), published in the Punjab Gazette 
(Extraordinary), dated: 13 December 2019, pp. 2537-2538, s.3 
4Added by the Punjab Regularization of Service (Amendment) Act 2021 (III of 20 22), published i n the Punjab Gazette 
(Extraordinary), dated: 12 January 2022, pp. 3407, s.2.  
(2) A Scrutiny Committee shall scrutinize the academic record and other 
relevant documents of the contract employee and verify that the contract employee 
is eligible and qualified for regularization. 
(3) The Scrutiny Committee shall forward its recommendations to the 
appointing authority. 
6. Appointments.– (1) Subject to the Act and the fulfilment of the conditions for 
regularization, the appointing authority shall: 
(a) in a case covered under subsection (1) of section 4 of the Act 
regularize the service of the contract employee with immediate effect; 
and 
(b) in a case covered under subsection (2) o r subsection (3) of  section 4 
of the Act, regularize the service of the contract employee if so 
recommended by the Commission or, as the case may be, the Scrutiny 
Committee with immediate effect. 
 (2) The service rendered by a contract employee shall not be counted for 
pensionary benefits or for any other purpose whatsoever. 
7. Termination of contract .– Notwithstanding anything contained in any law or 
the terms and conditions of the contract, the contract of a contract employee, who is 
not recommended for regularization by the Commission or, as the case may be, the 
Scrutiny Committee, shall be terminated forthwith. 
8. Determination of seniority .– (1) A contract employee, who is regularized, 
shall be placed at the bottom of the seniority list of the respecti ve cadre and shall 
rank junior to the other civil servants. 
(2) The inter se seniority of the contract employees, on regularization, shall 
be determined on the basis of their continuous service on contract and if the date of 
such continuous service of two or more contact employees is the same, the 
employee older in age shall rank senior to the younger. 
9. Pay fixation .– A contract employee, on regularization, shall be allowed the 
initial stage of the respective pay scale and the increments earned by him  during the 
contract appointment shall be converted into personal allowance but no other 
privilege allowed to a contract employee shall be admissible. 
10. Option for regularization .– A contract employee who does not wish to be 
regularized shall furnish his op tion to the appointing authority within sixty days from 
the commencement of the Act; otherwise, he shall be deemed  to have opted for 
regularization.  
11. Legal framework .– A contract employee, regularized under the Act, shall 
cease to be governed by the C ontract Appointment Policy 2004 and the terms and 
conditions of the contract and shall be regulated under the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 
1974 and the rules framed thereunder. 
12. Appeal or review.– (1) Subject to subsection (2), a contract employee who is 
aggrieved by the final order of the appointing authority under the Act may, except 
where the order has been made by the Chief Minister, within thirty days from the 
date of communication of the order, prefer an appeal through the concerned 
department to the  Appellate Committee constituted by the Chief Minister by 
notification in the official Gazette. 
 (2) Where the final order has been passed by the Chief Minister, the 
aggrieved contract employee may, within the period mentioned in subsection (1), 
submit a review petition through the concerned department to the Chief Minister. 
(3) The decision taken under subsection (1) or, as the case may be , 
subsection (2) shall be final. 
13. Rules.– The Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of the 
Act.  
14. Removal of difficulties .– If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any 
provision of the Act, the Chief Minister may, within two years of the commencement 
of the Act, make such order not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act, as may 
appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of removing such difficulty. 
15. Saving.– Notwithstanding anything in the Act, Government of the Punjab, 
Services and General Administration Department (Regulations Wing) Notification 
No.DS(O&M)(S&GAD)5-3/2013, dated 1 st March 2013 shall continue to apply to the 
employees mentioned therein.