The BMC will conduct a ward-by-ward review to determine whether the deadline should be extended further

Even after two deadlines, several traders in the city have demonstrated an inability to display the Marathi signboards and have requested additional time. According to civic officials, the BMC will now conduct a ward-by-ward review of the situation before deciding on the extension.

 

The previous deadline expired on May 31, after which the BMC decided to extend the deadline by one month, which will end on June 30. The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) has requested that the deadline be extended by six months once more. The additional municipal commissioner, Asheesh Sharma, convened a meeting at the BMC headquarters to discuss the issue. The meeting was attended by Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special) Sanjog Kabre, Chief Officer of the BMC's (Shop and Establishment) Sunita Joshi, and representatives of the traders association.

 

The introduction of the above law all at once will overburden the scarce resources of signboard manufacturers, who are currently facing a severe labour shortage, resulting in skyrocketing prices for new signboards, according to the traders association. However, the BMC administration has disagreed with the association's request for a six-month extension. Kabre stated, "We will conduct a ward-by-ward review of the city's Marathi signboard situation. We will make a decision by the end of this month after determining how many of them have not changed and why."

 

"The BMC assured that they will decide about the extension of the deadline after their ward-wise reports are ready," said Viren Shah, president of FRTWA. So we will wait for their decision; in the meantime, we are attempting to meet with Subhash Desai, Maharashtra Industries Minister, about extending the deadline for Marathi signboards.

 

The Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, was amended to require all shops in Mumbai to display Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script. It also states that the font size of the letters in the Marathi language should be prominently visible and larger than the fonts used on the signboards in other languages.

 

 

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