Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933

This 1933 Act prohibits parents or guardians from "pledging" a child's labour in exchange for payment or benefit, and criminalises both making such agreements and employing children whose labour has been pledged. Section 2 defines "an agreement to pledge the labour of a child" as any written or oral, express or implied agreement where a parent or guardian, in return for payment or benefit, commits to letting the child's services be used in employment -- with an exception for agreements that don't harm the child, involve no benefit beyond reasonable wages for the child's own work, and can be ended on no more than a week's notice. A "child" is defined as anyone under fifteen years old.

Section 3 declares any agreement to pledge a child's labour void -- it has no legal effect and cannot be enforced. Section 4 (as amended in 2022, applicable to Islamabad Capital Territory) makes it an offence for a parent or guardian to make such an agreement, punishable by a fine of not less than five thousand rupees and up to twenty thousand rupees.

Section 5 (also amended in 2022) separately penalises anyone who makes such an agreement with a parent or guardian (i.e., the other party to the pledge, such as an employer or intermediary): imprisonment up to six months, or a fine of not less than twenty thousand and up to fifty thousand rupees, or both, with a repeat conviction drawing at least six months' imprisonment or at least fifty thousand rupees' fine, or both.

Section 6 penalises actually employing a child whose labour has been pledged, if the employer knew or had reason to believe the pledge existed: the same penalties as Section 5 -- imprisonment up to six months, or a fine of twenty thousand to fifty thousand rupees, or both, with harsher minimums on repeat convictions.

This is an old 1933 law significantly modernised by a 2022 amendment that substantially raised the penalties (the amendment is explicitly noted as applicable to Islamabad Capital Territory) -- so while the core prohibition on child labour pledging remains, the specific fine and imprisonment figures reflect that 2022 update and should be checked against the current official text for the applicable jurisdiction.