BMC sends over 3000 notices to establishments not having Marathi display boards

In a crackdown against shopowners and traders who have not set up signboards displaying the name of their establishments in Marathi, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued notices to 3,040 shops and establishments who are yet to set up Marathi signboards.  In February 2022, the state government unanimously passed a resolution at the legislative assembly in February by amending the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, thus mandating setting up of signboards above all the shops and commercial establishments in the State displaying the names of the establishments in Marathi language.

The order also stated that the font size of the Marathi language should be bigger and bolder than the font size of any other language on the signboard. The BMC had since been carrying out inspections in markets and public spaces checking the display boards of shops and has begun penalising the owners.  However, the move was discontinued after the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) had approached the Supreme Court (SC). The SC later issued a temporary stay in 2022 and had asked the civic authorities to file a reply. However, the stay was revoked in September, 2023  and the civic body had given establishments time till November that year for setting up Marathi signboards. Following this, the BMC started taking action on the establishments.

Furthermore, the BMC’s records show that till date the authorities have penalised more than 522 shops and establishments generating Rs 46 lakh in penalties.  “The notices were served under section 35 of the state shops and establishments act and these entities will now have to appear in the Bombay High Court (HC) which, following the judgement will decide on the amount of penalty that is to be levied on them,” said a civic official.  The official said that the maximum penalty amount is Rs 2,000 per registered employee in each shop or establishment. He said that the court may also amend the rate depending on its findings and the facts presented. “At present there are more than 10 lakh shops and commercial establishments in Mumbai and less than 50% of the shops have Marathi signboards set up on them.

We are taking photographs of the shops as evidence as we send them notices,” the official said.  The BMC has appointed 60 inspectors at various ward and zonal levels to inspect the shops. Each of these officers inspect around 50 shops every day and the BMC targets to inspect 2,000-3,000 shops per day in Mumbai.