Employment · Template

Internship agreement format for India

The internship is the engagement most likely to be run on a WhatsApp message, and the one most likely to produce a surprise later: an intern who turns out to own the code they wrote, or a company that assumed the POSH Act did not reach them. The Act names interns expressly.

Quick Statutory Answer

Is an intern covered by the POSH Act? Yes, expressly. The definition of "employee" in s. 2(f) of the POSH Act, 2013 includes a person engaged as an intern or probationer, with or without remuneration. Your policy, your Internal Committee and your complaint process all extend to them from day one.

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Internship Agreement format

The full text of this document as VidhiSar drafts it, with every blank shown in square brackets. Copy it or download it as a Word file and fill it in yourself — or answer a few questions and VidhiSar fills it in and prints a formatted PDF. Clauses that apply only in some cases are left out here; the drafting flow adds them when your answers call for them.

PARTIES

This Internship Agreement ("Agreement") is made on [Agreement Date] between [Company Legal Name], having its principal place of business at [Company Address] ("Company"), and [Intern's Full Name], residing at [Intern's Residential Address], presently enrolled at [College / University] ("Intern").

NATURE OF ENGAGEMENT

The Company offers, and the Intern accepts, an internship in the role of [Internship Role]. This is a fixed-term learning engagement and not an offer of employment. Nothing in this Agreement creates a contract of employment, a contract of apprenticeship under the Apprentices Act, 1961, or any expectation of employment at the end of the internship term.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Term. The internship shall run from [Start Date] to [End Date], unless extended by mutual written agreement or terminated earlier under Clause 8.

2. Stipend. The Company shall pay the Intern a stipend of Rs. [Monthly Stipend] per month, subject to any deduction required by law. The stipend is paid in support of the Intern's learning engagement and is not wages for work done under a contract of employment.

3. Hours and Location. The Intern shall be engaged for approximately [Expected Hours Per Week] hours per week at [Place of Engagement], or remotely where the Company permits. The Company shall not require hours that conflict with the Intern's academic obligations.

4. Supervision and Learning Outcomes. The Intern shall be supervised by [Supervising Mentor Name], who shall assign work of a kind that develops the Intern's skills in the stated role and shall certify completion at the end of the term.

5. Confidentiality. The Intern shall not, during or after the internship, disclose or use any confidential information of the Company or its clients, including source code, customer data, pricing, financials and unreleased product information, except as required to perform the assigned work.

6. Intellectual Property. All work product created by the Intern in the course of the internship, and all intellectual property in it, shall vest in the Company, and the Intern hereby assigns all such rights to the Company. The Intern shall, on request, execute any further document required to give effect to this assignment. The Intern retains the moral rights that are not assignable under Section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

7. Protection Against Sexual Harassment. The Intern is an "employee" for the purposes of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and is fully covered by the Company's POSH Policy and entitled to approach its Internal Committee at [POSH Internal Committee Email]. The Company shall provide the Intern with a copy of that Policy at the commencement of the internship.

8. Termination. Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving seven (7) days' written notice. The Company may terminate immediately for a breach of Clause 5, Clause 6 or the Company's code of conduct. On termination, the stipend shall be paid on a pro-rata basis up to the last day of engagement.

9. Certificate. On satisfactory completion of the term, the Company shall issue an internship completion certificate stating the role, the duration and the work performed.

10. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of India and the courts at [Courts Having Jurisdiction] shall have jurisdiction.

EXECUTION

The parties have executed this Internship Agreement on the date first written above. Where the Intern is below eighteen (18) years of age, this Agreement shall additionally be signed by their parent or lawful guardian.

Internship Agreement format (India): page one of the document, with each blank to fill in shown in brackets

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What this document must contain (Clause-by-Clause Matrix)

Internship Agreement — Mandatory Clause Matrix & Statutory Protection (2026)
Essential Clause	Legal Purpose & Protection	Governing Law / Benchmark
A fixed term, with a start and an end date	An internship with no end date starts to look like employment, and the label you used will not decide that question — the substance of the engagement will.	POSH Act, 2013 — s. 2(f)
The stipend, and what it is not	Record it as support for a learning engagement rather than wages for work under a contract of employment, and state the payment cycle. If the engagement is in substance employment, calling the payment a stipend will not change the obligations that follow.	Apprentices Act, 1961
An express statement that this is not employment or apprenticeship	A contract of apprenticeship under the Apprentices Act, 1961 is a different legal relationship with its own registration, training and record-keeping duties. Say which one you have entered rather than leaving it to be worked out afterwards.	Copyright Act, 1957 — s. 17
Assignment of the intern’s work product	The copyright vesting rule follows a contract of service, and an intern’s status is precisely the ambiguity you do not want sitting under a feature you shipped. Assign it expressly.	POSH Act, 2013 — s. 2(f)
Confidentiality scoped to what an intern will actually see	Interns are routinely given production access and customer data on day two. The obligation should be plain enough that an undergraduate reads it and understands it.	Apprentices Act, 1961
POSH cover, stated, with the Internal Committee contact	An intern is covered by the POSH Act whether or not your agreement mentions it. Naming the Internal Committee and its email address is how the intern actually finds out that the route exists.	Copyright Act, 1957 — s. 17
Supervision, and a completion certificate	A named mentor and a certificate at the end are what make this a learning engagement rather than unpaid labour with a nicer word attached.	POSH Act, 2013 — s. 2(f)

A fixed term, with a start and an end date — An internship with no end date starts to look like employment, and the label you used will not decide that question — the substance of the engagement will.
The stipend, and what it is not — Record it as support for a learning engagement rather than wages for work under a contract of employment, and state the payment cycle. If the engagement is in substance employment, calling the payment a stipend will not change the obligations that follow.
An express statement that this is not employment or apprenticeship — A contract of apprenticeship under the Apprentices Act, 1961 is a different legal relationship with its own registration, training and record-keeping duties. Say which one you have entered rather than leaving it to be worked out afterwards.
Assignment of the intern’s work product — The copyright vesting rule follows a contract of service, and an intern’s status is precisely the ambiguity you do not want sitting under a feature you shipped. Assign it expressly.
Confidentiality scoped to what an intern will actually see — Interns are routinely given production access and customer data on day two. The obligation should be plain enough that an undergraduate reads it and understands it.
POSH cover, stated, with the Internal Committee contact — An intern is covered by the POSH Act whether or not your agreement mentions it. Naming the Internal Committee and its email address is how the intern actually finds out that the route exists.
Supervision, and a completion certificate — A named mentor and a certificate at the end are what make this a learning engagement rather than unpaid labour with a nicer word attached.

When you need this

Before an intern starts, particularly one who will touch code, designs or customer data
When a college requires a letter of engagement before it will credit the internship
When you are paying a stipend and want it clear that it is not wages under a contract of employment
When the internship might lead to an offer, and you want no implied promise that it will
When the intern is under eighteen and a parent or guardian has to sign as well

The law that governs it

POSH Act, 2013 — s. 2(f) — The definition of "employee" expressly extends to a person engaged as an intern or a probationer, whether the engagement is for remuneration or not. An intern can therefore bring a complaint to your Internal Committee, and every workplace obligation under the Act runs to them.
Apprentices Act, 1961 — The Act governs apprentices engaged under a contract of apprenticeship, with its own obligations on stipend, training, registration and records. An internship is not automatically an apprenticeship, and the two should not be documented as though they were interchangeable.
Copyright Act, 1957 — s. 17 — First ownership of copyright turns on the work being made in the course of employment under a contract of service. Where the engagement is deliberately not employment, that route to ownership is not available and an express written assignment is what gives the company title.

Common mistakes

Running the internship on an email chain while directing the person exactly as you direct an employee
Assuming an unpaid internship carries fewer obligations — the POSH duty does not turn on whether you pay
Leaving intellectual property to inference, then finding that a shipped feature was written by someone who never assigned anything
Implying in writing that a job follows, without intending to commit to one
Not obtaining a guardian’s signature where the intern is a minor

Frequently asked questions

Is an intern covered by the POSH Act?

Yes, expressly. The definition of "employee" in s. 2(f) of the POSH Act, 2013 includes a person engaged as an intern or probationer, with or without remuneration. Your policy, your Internal Committee and your complaint process all extend to them from day one.

Do I have to pay provident fund or ESI on a stipend?

It depends on whether the relationship is in substance employment and on each scheme’s own applicability tests. A genuine fixed-term learning engagement paid a stipend is treated differently from employment, but the label on the document is not what decides it. Confirm the position for your establishment with whoever runs your payroll rather than assuming the word "intern" settles it.

Can an internship turn into employment automatically?

Not by itself, but conduct can create an expectation — an intern kept on indefinitely, given employee duties and reviewed like an employee is not obviously an intern any more. If you do not intend an offer to follow, say so in the agreement and keep the engagement genuinely time-bound.

Is an internship the same as an apprenticeship?

No. An apprenticeship under the Apprentices Act, 1961 is a registered contract with statutory training and stipend obligations attached. An internship is an ordinary contractual engagement. Documenting one as the other creates obligations you did not plan for, or forfeits protections you thought you had.

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