Maharashtra Retailers appeal for deadline extension to change signboards in Marathi

Mumbai, Sept 28 (KNN) Retailers Association of India (RAI) has urged Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde to extend the deadline mandating the predominant use of Marathi - Devanagari script on signboards till March 31, 2023.

This mandate was introduced through an amendment in the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act of 2017 which was recently enforced in Mumbai.

Retailers have expressed full support for the government’s initiative to ensure that the font of the Marathi- Devanagari script should not be smaller than the font of the other scripts.  

Expressing the concerns of retailers, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI, said, “Retailers are in full support of the government’s initiative to change the signboards prominently to Marathi- Devanagari script, and are in the process of doing so. However, we are requesting ease of the deadline taking into consideration the logistical and financial constraints that the retailers have been facing to implement this change. We are hopeful that the Government of Maharashtra will be considerate and supportive of our appeal and grant the extension to complete this mandate.” 

RAI has highlighted that retailers that are operating in multiple outlets at a large scale are finding it difficult to meet the deadline as changing the signboards is a time-consuming process. 

Availability of suppliers is also being a challenge as such suppliers are not easily available, said the retailers.

Heavy rainfall during the ongoing monsoon season is also hindering retailers in recreating and installing the entire structure of the signboard.

Retail in India continues to be one of the largest industries in the country contributing to over 10 per cent of the GDP and providing employment to about 50 million Indians.  (KNN Bureau)