Conceeding to the request of several traders' association, the BMC has extended the deadline of Marathi signboards to be displayed prominently on the shops and commercial establishments in the city till June 30. The earlier deadline ended on May 31, after which the BMC took review and decided to give one month time to the traders.
As per the amendment in the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2017 all shops in Mumbai should mandatorily display Marathi signboards in 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 that are being used on the signboards. The order covers all kinds of shops and establishments like grocery shops, garment stores, hotels, restaurants, bars and theatres, irrespective of the size and locality. To follow the rules and display Marathi signboards the civic body had earlier set a deadline of May 31.
Since there are around five lakhs shops and establishments in the city, it is difficult to get the changes done in a short period, argued the traders association. The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association ( FRTWA) and Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) had requested the BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to extend the deadline for six months. The BMC administration took the review and finally agreed on Thursday to extend the deadline till June 30. The liquor shops will also have to make the other changes mentioned in the BMC notice by this date (June 30).
In this extended period if the shops and commercial establishments do not make the required changes then the violators will have to face legal action, warned the BMC administration. Viren Shah, president of ( FRTWA) has welcomed the decision of the BMC. "It will not be easy to make the required changes in a period of one month. But by extending the deadline the BMC has shown that they are positive about it. So we are sure we can get a further extension of three months," he said.
