Shops, restaurants and other establishments in Maharashtra can now stay open 24x7

Nagpur: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday amended the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Service Condition) Act, 2017 and issued a notification allowing shops and hotels to be kept open 24 hours.

The notification covers hotels, restaurants and malls, but excludes bars, pubs, wine shops and discotheques which currently have restricted timings.

"The amendments now allows all shops to remain open in three shifts. It can remain open for 24 hours and all seven days. It is mandatory to give one day leave to employees every week," said Maharashtra labour minister Sambhaji Nilangekar-Patil.

The notification has made it clear that smaller establishments do not need to get licences but they must register online with the authority concerned.

The amended legislation exempts small and medium-sized establishments which have fewer than 10 workers, or employees working from home, or which are run as online business from registration for a licence.

This relaxation is expected to benefit about 22 lakh establishments, the minister said.

"Maharashtra is the first state to implement the Shops and Establishments Act to free shopkeepers from licence inspectors," said Nilangekar-Patil.

"This will also end the harassment in the inspector raj of the civic body as shopkeepers can register online," he added.