Shops open for 24 hours will now be a reality in Gujarat

Gujarat is taking its business first motto seriously. Deputy Cheif Minister Nitin Patel announced today that he is going to propose amendments to the Shop and Establishment Act in the upcoming Gujarat budget session so that shops can be open around the clock every day.

The proposed amendment states that shopkeepers can keep their shops open throughout the night, but some conditions apply. No one can stop shopkeepers from keeping their shops open day and night. This means that food establishments, medical shops can be open if they satisfy certain police rules.

Previously, the Maharashtra government had implemented the rule where establishments can be open 24*7 in December 2017.

As per records, there are 7 lakh shop certificates issued in Gujarat with 10 lakh employees working there. Now, if the shops will be open through the night, more employees will be needed and hence more jobs will be created. The amendment also states that girls can’t be employed in the night shift and women can only be employed from 6am to 9pm. Till now, the rules stated that employees working overtime had to be paid1 and half times their salary, but now it will be twice the salary.

This will be the first time a big amendment is being made to the  Shop and Establishment Act which was first established in 1948. Another major change being proposed is that businessmen don’t have to go to the government offices to renew their shop licenses every day. The Labour & Employment department of the Gujarat government is also proposing that businessmen need to only register their shop once, instead of doing it every year.

First, the rules required that a businessman has to register his business even if he manages his shop alone, but now businessmen doesn’t have to register his business unless he has more than 10 employees. In fact, the shopkeeper has to only inform the local government if he has less than 10 employees.