Mumbai: 25 per cent of shops surveyed by BMC on Oct 10 lacked Marathi signboards

More than 1,630 shops surveyed on Monday had Marathi signage. Representation pic

BMC officials on Monday visited 2,158 shops across the city to see if they had put up Marathi signboards and found that 1,636 or 75 per cent had complied. There are around five lakh shops in the city. The third deadline for implementing Marathi signboards ended on September 30 - the first two being May 31 and June 30 - but the BMC took another week to decide on the action it would take against defaulters. On Friday, the corporation declared that it would start surveying shops from Monday and issuing notices to defaulters.

"There were 522 shops which did not display Marathi boards. We have issued notices to them to put up Marathi signage within seven days, as per the rules," said a BMC official. According to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Act, 2022, all shops in the state must display Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script. If these boards display the name in more than one language, the Marathi font should not be smaller than the other scripts and will have to be predominantly displayed. The order is binding on all kinds of shops, including garment stores, groceries, offices, restaurants, bars and theatres, irrespective of the size and locality.

Also Read: Mumbai: Shops get 10 more days to put up Marathi signboards

As per the Act, those found flouting the rule will be slapped with a fine of Rs 2,000 per person employed in these shops. Other cities and districts in Maharashtra are already implementing the law, but the BMC had extended the deadline repeatedly. The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) has challenged the constitutionality of the amendment. Viren Shah, president of FRTWA, wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the civic chief asking them not to take any coercive action as the matter is subjudice.

2,158
No of shops and establishments that the BMC officials visited to check signboards on Monday