Mumbai: Following the Supreme Court's directives 5,217 shops and establishments in the city have to put up Marathi sign boards. The Apex Court on Monday asked Mumbai retailers to put up Marathi signboards in two months to benefit from the festive season.
As per the amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2017, all shops in Mumbai should mandatorily display sign boards in Devanagari script. As per the rule, the font size of the letters should be prominently visible and should be larger than the fonts of other languages used on the signboards. Last year, the civic body started action against shops and establishments who fail to comply with the rule. After extending the deadline thrice till September 30, 2022, the BMC announced a fine of ₹2,000 per employee of the shop in case of violations. The BMC had to stop the action after the Supreme Court restrained the civic body from taking coercive action while hearing a petition filed by the federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) who had challenged the constitutionality of the amendment.
However, as per the recent order of the Supreme Court, the retailers will have to comply with the rules. "There are five lakh shops and establishments in the city. As per the inspection conducted in November 2022, our team visited 28,653 shops and establishments. We found 23,436 of them having Marathi sign boards as per the Act and have sent notices to 5217 who failed to do the changes. We have yet to read the copy of the Supreme Court, after which we will send fresh notices to the shops and establishments without Marathi signboards," said a senior civic official.
