Mumbai: 3.5 per cent shops still without Marathi signboards

Legal notices were issued to shops that did not put up the boards. File pic

Even after a warning from the BMC to slap double property tax on shops without Marathi signboards, 3.5 per cent shops are not displaying them. In the last 15 days, the BMC surveyed 1,281 shops, out of which 44 were not displaying Marathi boards as per the norms. There are around five lakh shops in Mumbai and the corporation appealed to citizens to give information about shops that had not displayed Marathi signboards.

After taking over as municipal commissioner, Bhushan Gagrani, in a meeting on April 8, strictly instructed to slap double property tax as a fine on shops and establishments for not putting Marathi sign boards. He was also instructed to cancel the licence issued for glow sign boards with immediate effect. But even after that, the number of shops not displaying Marathi boards hasn't come down.

In the last 15 days, the teams of BMC inspected 1,281 shops and found 44 of them (3.5 per cent) were not displaying Marathi boards as per the act. It is almost the same as the earlier action. A total of 87,047 shops and establishments have been inspected from November 28, 2023, till March 31, 2024. Out of this 84,007, about 96.50 per cent of shops and establishments were found to have put up nameplates written in Marathi Devanagari. Even though the BMC has formed a team at the ward level to inspect the shops, these days, most of the employees and officers are on election duty. The BMC appealed to the citizens to come forward to give information about the shops not displaying Marathi boards so that the corporation could take action against them.

According to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Act, 2022, all shops in the state must display Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script. In case there are multiple languages, the Devanagari font is not to be smaller than the others. The action against errant shops was stopped in November 2022 after an SC order put a stay on it. In an order on September 25, 2023, the SC gave establishments two months to comply with the Marathi signboard norm. Subsequently, on November 28, the BMC resumed action.

Legal notices were issued to the shops and establishments that did not put up the boards as per the rules. An official from the BMC said, "After hearing a total of 742 cases in the court imposed a total fine of Rs 57,04,600 on the shops and establishment professionals. Similarly, for 403 cases that came up for hearing before the municipal administration, a total fine of R38.28 lakh has been imposed. Out of this, 565 cases have been heard in the court in the last fifteen days and 60 cases heard in BMC in the last two weeks."

44
No of shops still without Marathi signboards