Sections 89 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
These four short sections close the Act's housekeeping. Section 89 makes fees and a surcharge payable as prescribed and ties action and filing to payment. Section 90 protects a servant who obeys a master in good faith. Section 91 stops ownership declarations about unregistered layout-designs from being registered under the Registration Act, 1908. Section 92 binds the Government.
This article reflects the Act as amended up to 3 October 2026 (the Act has not been amended since it was enacted in 2000). Check sicldr.gov.in for later notifications. Sections 89 to 92 have been in force since 1 May 2011. A filing calendar built under IP portfolio management should list each fee before the step it unlocks.
Fees and surcharge are as the Central Government prescribes. The Registrar does not act until a fee payable for the act is paid, and a document is deemed not filed until its fee is paid. A servant who in good faith obeys a resident master's instructions, and gives full information on demand, is not liable under Chapter IX. A document declaring ownership of an unregistered layout-design cannot be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. The Act is binding on the Government.
Section 89: fees and surcharge
89(1): the power to prescribe
"There shall be paid in respect of applications and registration and other matters under this Act such fees and surcharge as may be prescribed by the Central Government." The Act names no amount. The amounts are in the Rules, and the word "surcharge" is in the section, but the Rules' Schedule I, as notified in 2001, is the source of the fee figures; see Schedule I. The Registry's forms page, checked on 3 October 2026, lists the same amounts. This article does not restate any amount.
89(2): no act until the fee is paid
"Where a fee is payable in respect of the doing of an act by the Registrar, the Registrar shall not do that act until the fee has been paid." The prohibition is on the Registrar. If a fee is unpaid, he cannot proceed. This matters for steps such as registration, certified copies and extension of time.
89(3): no filing until the fee is paid
"Where a fee is payable in respect of the filing of a document at the" Registry, "the document shall be deemed not to have been filed at the Registry until the fee has been paid." So the date of filing of a document that needs a fee is the date the fee is paid. This can affect any period that runs from filing. A cheque or draft that is not accepted is a risk; the payment mode is set by the Rules, rule 10 as amended in 2012. See Rules 10 and 11, and check the Registry's website for the current payment mode.
| Subsection | Rule | Effect for a filer |
|---|---|---|
| 89(1) | Fees and surcharge as prescribed | Look to the Rules and Schedule I |
| 89(2) | Registrar does not act until the fee is paid | Pay before expecting action |
| 89(3) | Document deemed not filed until the fee is paid | Filing date follows payment |
Section 90: saving for servants
"Nothing in Chapter IX shall be construed so as to render liable to any prosecution or punishment any servant of a master resident in India who in good faith acts in obedience to the instructions of such master, and, on demand made by or on behalf of prosecutor, has given full information as to his master and as to the instructions which he has received from his master."
Three conditions: the servant has a master resident in India; he acts in good faith in obedience to the master's instructions; and, on demand made by or for the prosecutor, he has given full information about the master and the instructions. The saving covers Chapter IX, the offences chapter. It sits beside the employee defence in section 61, which applies to section 56 and has three different conditions; see sections 60 to 62. The two provisions are not the same, and an accused may need to consider both. The word "servant" is not defined in the Act, and the text does not say whether it covers every employee. The company-liability rules in sections 63 to 67 fall in the same chapter.
Section 91: the Registration Act, 1908
"Notwithstanding anything contained in the Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908), no document declaring or purporting to declare the ownership or title of a person to a layout-design other than a registered layout-design shall be registered under that Act."
Read plainly: an ownership declaration about an unregistered layout-design cannot be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. The reason is not in the text. The effect is that title to a registered layout-design is recorded in the Registry's register, and a deed that merely declares ownership of an unregistered design is outside the Registration Act's machinery. The Registration Act is an older statute; check the current law on registration of documents before relying on this reference. Assignments of registered layout-designs follow section 23, not the Registration Act route for declarations of this kind.
Section 92: Government bound
"The provisions of this Act shall be binding on the Government." This is the whole of section 92. A Government department or public sector undertaking that copies, imports or sells a registered layout-design is within the Act, subject to the specific Government-use route in section 51. The offence provisions are likewise addressed to "any person", and the Act does not set a separate Government immunity.
A worked example
A fabless company files a document that needs a fee but sends payment by a mode that is not accepted. Under section 89(3), the document is deemed not to have been filed until the fee is paid properly, which can move the filing date and any period counted from it. Meanwhile an employee of the company's trading arm, who obeyed his manager's written instruction to ship a batch of chips, is later named in a section 56 complaint. He gave full information when the prosecutor asked. Section 90 is available to him if its other conditions are met, and the section 61 defence may also be considered. The company also asks whether a notarised declaration of ownership of its unregistered design can be registered under the Registration Act, 1908; section 91 says it cannot.
Need help with fees and filings?
If you are planning filings across several layout-designs and want each fee and date tracked, our IP portfolio management team can maintain the calendar for you.
Key takeaways
- Fees and surcharge are as prescribed; the amounts are in Schedule I of the Rules, not in the Act.
- The Registrar does not act, and a document is not deemed filed, until the fee is paid.
- Section 90 saves a servant who acts in good faith on a resident master's instructions and gives full information on demand.
- Ownership declarations about unregistered layout-designs cannot be registered under the Registration Act, 1908.
- The Act binds the Government.
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Disclaimer: Based on the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 (never amended; commencement as notified in 2004, 2011 and 2014) and the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Rules, 2001 as amended by G.S.R. 689(E) of 14 September 2012, as consulted on 3 October 2026. Check sicldr.gov.in for later notifications and current forms and fees. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.