No emails after 6? Inside India’s ‘Right to Disconnect Bill’ and digital burnout

Introduced on the fifth day of proceedings, the private member’s bill seeks to give employees a legal right to ignore work-related calls, emails and messages outside contracted hours or on holidays. 

It came amid rising concerns over India’s always-on corporate culture and its impact on health and productivity.

The bill was moved by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, who argued that constant digital connectivity has blurred the line between professional and personal time. 

In a video message shared on X, she said the legislation aims to promote “a better quality of life and a healthier work-life balance by reducing burnout caused by today’s digital culture.”

At its core, the draft law states that employees should not be compelled to respond to any electronic communication from their employer once official hours have ended. The measure seeks to formalise boundaries that, according to Sule, have steadily eroded as remote working and smartphone-based office systems have become entrenched in many sectors.

The bill also proposes the creation of an Employees’ Welfare Authority, which would oversee implementation, ensure compliance, and advocate for workers’ digital rights. For employers who violate the rules, the draft outlines penalties, including a fine amounting to 1% of the total remuneration paid by the organisation. The intention, its author argues, is to incentivise companies to respect defined work limits.

Another key provision concerns unpaid labour. The bill stipulates that any employee required to work beyond official hours must receive overtime pay at the normal wage rate. This clause responds to widespread complaints that digital tools, though enabling flexibility, have fuelled a surge in uncompensated extra work in India’s knowledge-driven industries.

The proposal also includes softer measures, such as workplace counselling on healthy technology use and the establishment of digital detox centres designed to help workers reduce screen-time and rebuild personal relationships. These additions frame the bill not simply as a labour reform, but as a broader wellbeing intervention.

As a private member’s bill, the legislation faces long odds. In India’s parliamentary history, such bills are rarely enacted; most are either withdrawn after debate or lapse without a vote once the government responds. 

Nonetheless, Sule introduced two further private member’s bills the same day—one offering paid paternal leave and another seeking to grant platform-based gig workers minimum wages, regulated hours and social security protections.

India’s debate echoes international developments. Australia, for instance, passed its own Right to Disconnect law last year, allowing workers to decline after-hours calls and messages. 

That reform sharpened domestic scrutiny of workplace culture in India, particularly after the death of an EY employee in Pune reignited discussions about long working hours and the pressure to remain constantly reachable.