Mumbai: Just 1,515 or 5% out of 30,474 shops inspected so far by the BMC are not complying with the Marathi signboard rule, said a civic official. In the last two weeks, the municipality fanned out across the city's 24 wards to check if the establishments have put up boards displaying their names in Marathi in Devanagari script. As per the latest data gathered till Monday, the D ward (Malabar Hill, Grant Road) accounted for 21 non-compliant establishments, while the S ward (Vikhroli, Bhandup) had 19 such shops.
Between November 28 and December 11, the erring shops were handed inspection notices in accordance with the sections 35 and 36A of the amended Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act. Next, the civic body will move court seeking directions to penalise the shops. The Act's section 29 allows for a maximum penalty of Rs2,000 per employee and a maximum fine of Rs1 lakh per establishment. The fine amount will be decided by the court. The BMC clarified that a penalty of Rs2,000 will be slapped everyday on the shop if they violate the rule continuously.
The action comes after the two-month deadline set by the Supreme Court for the shops to install Marathi signboards in Devanagari script expired on November 25. In January 2022, the government amended the aforementioned Act, making it compulsory for establishments to display signboards in Marathi with the font size equal to other languages on them.
In September 2022, the apex court had restrained the civic body from taking coercive action against non-compliant shops. It had given the directive while hearing a petition filed by the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association which had challenged the constitutionality of the amendment.
