Mumbai: From November 28, 2023, to March 31, 2026, the BMC's Shops & Establishments department filed cases in the magistrate's court against 3774 commercial establishments for failing to display their name boards in Marathi, and a fine of Rs. 1,91,48,975 has been imposed. The BMC's facilitators (formerly called inspectors) across 24 civic wards visited a total of 1,58,116 establishments in the three years and found 5,020 establishments not displaying nameplates as per the law.
Marathi Devnagari script mandatory as per Supreme Court order
Under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, and in accordance with the Supreme Court's October 2023 order, all shops and establishments in Mumbai are required to display a name board in Marathi Devnagari script. "It is not only the script, but also the size. The shops cannot have other scripts, such as Gujarati, Urdu, or any other language larger than Marathi, the state language. Our facilitators as of now only visit the shops on main roads, and due to lack of staff, we are yet to rigorously start inspection on internal roads and inside shopping centres," said a senior officer from the BMC shops & eastablishments department.
The officer added that the violators have the option to dispose of the case by displaying a Marathi name board as per the rules within eight days and paying a penalty to the BMC. "A total of 3774 court cases have been filed in the 24 Divisional Offices till 31.03.2026, out of which 3114 cases have been disposed of and the fine imposed by the magistrate court is Rs. 1,91,48,975. This fine goes to the state government. So far, 997 applications for settlement with compounding have been heard, and Orders to pay a total of Rs. 1,02,68,000 have been passed. 981 establishments have deposited a total of Rs. 99,28,000 as a mitigation fee in the Municipal Corporation's treasury. Legal action is being proposed in the remaining cases," the officer added.
The issue of commercial establishments failing or intentionally avoiding displaying Marathi nameboards has been highlighted time and again by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The party's group leader in the BMC, Yashwant Killedar said, "The action taken by the BMC is mearge. If they fall short of staff for inspections, they should start hiring. The civic body under the administrative rule in the last four years have had lacksidical approach and corrupt working style. I will raise this issue in standing committee and corporation house. All commercial establishments should follow the law of the land. Marathi nameboards should be displayed in Mumbai by all shops, may it be main roads, internal roads or shopping complexes and malls".
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