Mumbai: From Tuesday, all shops, hotels, and other commercial establishments in Mumbai will face legal action from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) if their nameplates and sign boards are not displayed in Marathi (Devanagari) script. The decision comes in the wake of the Supreme Court (SC) making the use of Devanagari boards mandatory across Maharashtra.
The apex court had given time to put up Devanagari boards by November 25, but the civic body will initiate action from Tuesday (November 28), since Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were holidays.
“As per the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, the civic body will levy a penalty of Rs 2000 per staffer per shop for failing to display signboards in the Marathi (Devanagari) script. Furthermore, the BMC will also register an offence against violators and said it will bring their violations to the SC’s notice,” said a senior civic official.
The apex court on September 25 had given the shopkeepers in Mumbai a two-month deadline to install Marathi signboards. The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), with around five lakh shopkeepers as members, had moved the SC last year to challenge the State Government’s last year rule mandating Marathi signboards outside every shop, big and small.
However, the SC ruled in favour of the State Government saying that in Maharashtra, the signboards should be in the Marathi language.
Following the verdict, the BMC initiated an inspection drive from October 10 and served notices to non-compliant shops.
Viren Shah, FRTWA president, who had been vocal against the use of Marathi signboards, said that they will obey the SC directives and have started complying with it. “Everyone must comply. I have already installed the Marathi signboard in my showroom ‘Roopam’ in South Mumbai and I appeal to others to do so immediately. As per our records, 80 per cent of shops have already followed the rules and changed the signboards.”
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has threatened to take action ‘in their own style’ if the Supreme Court ‘deadline’ for putting up signboards of shops and hotels in Marathi (Devanagari script) is not adhered to. The signboards of shops and other establishments should be in the regional language (Marathi in Maharashtra), said Thackeray.
In March 2022, the state legislature approved the amendment of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, making it mandatory for all shops and establishments to have Marathi signboards, with the Devanagari lettering being equal in size to that of English.
