Mumbai: Marathi signboards deadline extended to June 30 now

A jeweller in Goregaon West changes his shop’s signboard to Marathi. File pic

The BMC has extended the deadline for compliance with the Marathi signboards order for shops and establishments. After the state government's decision, the civic corporation had set a deadline of May 31, which it had later extended to June 10 and now after consultation with shop owners at ward level meetings, there will be no action on non-Marathi signboards at least till June 30.

As per the amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Act, 2022, all shops will have to compulsorily display Marathi signboards in Devanagari script. The order mentioned that if these boards display the name in more than one language, the Marathi font should not be smaller than the other scripts. The order is binding on all kinds of shops, including garment stores, groceries, offices, restaurants, bars and theatres, irrespective of the size and locality.

The BMC started awareness drives and declared rules to adhere to in Devenagari script boards in the second week of May. But shop owners asked for more time as changing boards is expensive. "The decision to extend the deadline has been taken after discussions with shop owners" said Sanjog Kabre, deputy commissioner, BMC.

"We have been constantly requesting the corporation to give us more time as it is not easy to change boards overnight. The corporation should focus on awareness before taking stringent action," said Viren Shah, president of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA). There are more than 5.08 lakh licence holders and 40 per cent of them will have to change name boards, which is around two lakh shops and restaurants.