Mumbai: Upset shopkeepers say current timings impractical; demand 5-day weeks, afternoon work hours

A shopkeeper dresses a mannequin as his garment shop reopened in Lalbaug on Tuesday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

On Day One of the left-right rule for shops selling non-essential products, BMC ward offices were in chaos. Fuming shopowners opposed to the alternate-day operations based on the side of the road they are on, descended on ward offices for clarity on Tuesday. Traders argued that the formula did not work last June either.

A clothing store reopened in Lalbaug on Tuesday. Pics/Bipin Kokate

The retailers association has demanded that shops be allowed to open for five days a week with extended times suitable for customers.

Shops selling non-essential products have been shut for the past month-and-a-half amid lockdown-like restrictions brought on by the second Covid-19 wave. While the state government has allowed such shops to open, the civic body has put certain restrictions.

Also Read: Mumbai: Relaxations for shops, but movement still curbed

How will clients remember?

As per the civic body's notification on Monday, shops selling non-essentials on one side of the road will remain open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and shops on another side will remain open on Tuesday and Thursday.

In the following week, the days will be reversed. They can operate only between 7 am and 2 pm.

"No one had a clue which shops should open on Tuesday morning. The notifications from wards came in the afternoon. And such a formula didn't work in June 2020 also. How will customers remember which shops open on which days?" said a shopkeeper in Dadar.

"The formula is clear and it is to maintain social distancing. All shopkeepers will get equal opportunity to open their shops, they just have to wait for another week," said a ward officer from western suburbs.

Shops keep their shutters half open in a Borivli market in April. File pic

Chandan Vasariya, a garment shop owner in Dadar East told mid-day, "There are hardly a few cases in the city then why such hard restrictions on shops? My shop was open on Tuesday till 2 pm but not a single customer came. We need permission for at least five days a week. Business has already stopped, the staff has gone to their villages and customers won't come during the rainy season. So we should be allowed to operate from 9 am to 5 pm."

Change operating hours

Pravin Chheda, ex-corporator and secretary of Akhil Ghatkopar Vyapari Mandal, said, "The local ward officer and police were cooperating with us on Tuesday. We can comment on the alternate days formula in a week or two. But we have strong objection over the timings. Who will come to the shops early in the morning from 7 am to 10 am? Women generally go shopping after finishing house chores. So instead of morning, the corporation should allow us to open shops from 10 am to 6 pm."

A shopkeeper from Ghatkopar said, "Shopkeepers were doing business by standing in front of closed shutters. Many of them got notices from police and the BMC. Does the government want them to do business out of fear? It is time to help them and customers."

"The first day was very dull and almost like lockdown. No customers came at Lamington Road, Grant Road. The BMC's orders came through the D ward at noon. Till that time, police were clueless about which side will remain open. It will take some days for customers to understand the opening pattern. Again more confusion will prevail next Monday when the days get reversed. The left-right formula is difficult to implement practically," said Mitesh Mody, president of All India Electronics Association.

Association speaks

"Alternate days of opening shops created confusion and the timing is not practical. Customers don't come between 7 am and 2 pm to shop for non-essentials. The shops should be allowed to open from afternoon to evening and it will help in social distancing," said Viren Shah, president of FRTWA (Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association).

He added that the order will only help e-commerce and hit the 2.5 lakh standalone traders selling non-essential items and their staff. There a total of 3.5 lakh retailers in the city, 50,000 of which sell non-essentials in markets and malls and 50,000 sell essential products. - Inputs from Pallavi Smart

9 am-5 pm
Operating hours demanded by shopkeepers

2.5 Lakh
No. of shops selling non-essentials in city as per FRTWA

3.5L
Total no. of retailers in city as per FRTWA

50K
No. of shops selling non-essentials in markets, malls