The civic deadline for shops and commercial establishments in the city to have Marathi signboards displayed prominently ended on Tuesday and now, the BMC is readying to ensure compliance. A team of civic officials will begin inspecting all the shops across the city from the second week of June, to assess compliance. Violators will be fined Rs 2,000 for each person employed in their shops or establishments. Meanwhile, the traders’ association has demanded an extension of the deadline since 40 per cent of the shops are yet to make the required changes.
As per the amendment in the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2017, it is mandatory for all shops in Mumbai to display Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script. It also mentions that the font size of the letters in the Marathi language should be prominently visible and should be larger than the fonts of other languages used on the signboard. The order covers all shops and establishments, such as grocery shops, garment stores, hotels, restaurants, bars and theatres, regardless of size and location. To ensure compliance with this rule, the civic body had set a deadline of May 31.
Now that the date is past, the BMC will begin inspection and act against violators. “We have formed a team of 75 inspectors who will go to their respective wards and inspect signages of all shops and establishments, checking for signboards in Marathi, according to the rule. Violators will be fined Rs 2,000 per employee in their shops. We will file cases against them in court and they will be fined there. The process will take a week or two, since we are working on it. However, Central government offices are exempted from this rule,” BMC officials said.
Even if the BMC is ready to take action, many shops in the city have yet to make the changes. Viren Shah, president of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), said, “The BMC should extend the deadline since there are almost five lakh shops and establishments in the city. Among them, 40 per cent of shops are yet to make the changes, and signboards cannot be changed overnight. We are also taking legal advice and if it is possible, we will file an appeal in the Supreme Court.” The Bombay high court had earlier dismissed the petition of the traders’ association.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
