United Kingdom – Social Security Agreement with Republic of India

Key Highlights

Provisions under DCC

• Persons covered: The DCC applies to individuals engaged in employment who are, or have been, subject to the social security legislation of the U.K. or India. Coverage is not dependent on nationality.
  
  
• Equality of treatment: Individuals covered by one country’s legislation will be treated in the same manner as nationals of that country for social security purposes.
  
  
• Voluntary contributions: An individual subject to one country’s legislation may not make voluntary contributions to the other country for the same period.
  
  
• Certificates of coverage: Employees or employers should apply the competent authority for a certificate of coverage confirming continued home‑country social security contributions during a temporary posting.

Basic provisions

• General principles: Under the DCC, an individual is subject to the social security legislation of only one country at a time. The default rule is the “pay where you work” principle (lex loci laboris), meaning that an individual working in a country is ordinarily subject to that country’s system.
  
  
• Detached worker rules:
  • An individual who is employed in one state by an employer normally operating there and is posted by that employer to the other state to perform work on their behalf, shall remain subject to the social security legislation of the state where the activities are normally carried out, provided the anticipated duration of such work does not exceed 36 months.
    
    
  • This provision also extends to an individual posted from the territory of a third country not party to the DCC, provided that the individual pays, or is liable to pay, contributions under the legislation of the state where their employer was established immediately before being posted. Additionally, it encompasses an individual who pursues an employed activity in the other state due to personal choice, so long as this activity is undertaken with the employer's agreement.
    
    
  • An individual who has completed a period of employed activity in the other state while remaining subject to the legislation of the state where their employer is established shall not be eligible to commence a new period under this provision until a waiting period of six months has elapsed since the end of the previous period.
     
• Exceptions: Competent authorities of both countries may agree on exceptions for particular individuals or categories of individuals. In exceptional situations, this could allow employees to remain within their home‑country system for 36 months. Special provisions apply to mariners, aircraft crew, government employees, and armed forces personnel.

What the DCC does not cover

• Aggregation of contribution periods: The DCC is not a totalisation agreement and, therefore, it does not stipulate that periods of insurance under the legislation of one state shall be taken into account by a competent state as though they were completed under the legislation of that state.
  
  
• Exportability of benefits: No provision for the export of cash benefits for the person or their family.
  
  
• Multi-state workers: No rule for individuals working simultaneously or alternately in both countries.
  
  
• Self‑employed individuals: The DCC applies only to employed persons and contains no provisions for self-employed individuals.
  
  
• Grandfathering provisions: Neither the DCC nor the Explanatory Memorandum² published by the U.K. Government specifies any grandfathering provisions for workers already in a cross-border situation at the date of entry into force of the DCC.

Entry into force

The DCC will take effect the day after both countries exchange written confirmation that domestic legal requirements have been fulfilled.

Contacts