From November 28 onward, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to take stringent legal measures against shops and establishments in Mumbai that fail to display signboards in Marathi, in compliance with the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017. As per this initiative, a penalty of Rs 2000 per staff member per shop will be imposed by the civic body.
This decision follows a Supreme Court directive on September 25, granting shopkeepers a two-month timeframe to install Marathi signboards across Maharashtra.
According to reports, the BMC's inspection drive, initiated on October 10, has already issued notices to over 3,000 non-compliant shops within nine days. The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), representing around five lakh shopkeepers, had challenged the state government's mandate for Marathi signboards on every shop last year. The Supreme Court, on September 25, granted Mumbai retailers a two-month window for compliance.
Viren Shah, the president of FRTWA, highlighted the federation's efforts in raising awareness through a WhatsApp campaign to inform retailers about the legal requirement. Shah emphasized that the BMC possesses the authority to take action against those who have not complied with the signboard change. According to Shah, the city has issued approximately 5.5 lakh shop establishment licenses, with three lakh being shops and the remaining comprising establishments like clinics and private offices. He noted that 80 per cent of shops have already adhered to the rules and updated their signboards.
In 2018, the state government mandated all shops and establishments to have signboards in the Devnagri script. However, some establishments with fewer than 10 employees attempted to circumvent this rule by displaying the shop name in English capital letters while featuring Marathi signage in lowercase. In March 2022, the state legislature approved an amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, enforcing the inclusion of Marathi signboards with Devnagri lettering equal in size to the English lettering for all shops and establishments.