Two months, 3% of shops inspected: Why Mumbais Marathi signboard drive has stalled

Names of shops written in Marathi script are seen at Dadar in Mumbai on 24 July 2026. Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee.Two months after Mumbai’s shops and commercial establishments were given a deadline to put up Marathi signboards, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) enforcement drive has inspected about 3 per cent of them, civic records show. Of the 36,773 establishments covered in that period, 1,124 were found to be without Marathi signboards, a non-compliance rate of about 3 per cent among those checked.Data submitted to the BMC’s Law Committee shows the survey to identify non-compliant establishments has been slowed by acute staff shortages as well as the deployment of civic personnel for the Census and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. According to the BMC’s Shops and Establishments Department, only 57 of the sanctioned 127 inspector posts are filled, leaving the department at 45 per cent strength. It has to survey about 10.83 lakh shops and commercial establishments across the city’s 26 wards. The inspections are being carried out by a task force constituted under the direction of Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi, who had warned that establishments failing to install Marathi signboards would face “Shiv Sena-style” action. In May, Ghadi gave shops and establishments two months to comply. Civic officials say that target was never achievable. “Each municipal ward has between 25,000 and 40,000 shops and establishments, depending on its size, while every ward office has only two to three inspectors. It is simply not possible to inspect all establishments and ensure compliance within two months,” a civic official said. Earlier this week, Law Committee chairperson Diksha Karkar wrote to Industries and Marathi Language Minister Uday Samant seeking an urgent meeting to resolve bottlenecks in implementing the signboard rules. She had earlier written to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide seeking a meeting on the issue, and received no response.Story continues below this ad Names of shops written in Marathi script are seen at Dadar in Mumbai on 24 July 2026.Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee.“The issue of Marathi signboards has remained unresolved for a long time and there is a need for a clear standard operating procedure. More than 50 per cent of the posts in the Shops and Establishments Department are vacant and should be filled at the earliest,” Karkar told The Indian Express. “We also need a proper staff deployment mechanism. Many inspectors are assigned to national duties such as the SIR and Census. While these assignments are important, there has to be a balance so that work on Marathi signboards is not affected,” she said. In the same letter, Karkar flagged flaws in the online registration system, claiming it inflates the number of registered establishments. “If an applicant makes an error during registration, the system creates a fresh registration without cancelling the earlier one, leading to artificially inflated figures,” the letter states. It also points out that the portal allows registrations for establishments on footpaths, streets and service lanes, creating urban management challenges for the civic administration. In February 2022, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously amended the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, making Marathi signboards mandatory for all shops and commercial establishments in the state, with Marathi lettering larger and more prominent than text in any other language.Story continues below this ad The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association challenged the amendment in the Supreme Court, which granted an interim stay in 2022. The stay was vacated in September 2023, after which the BMC gave establishments until November 2023 to comply before beginning enforcement. Under the enforcement mechanism, the BMC first issues notices to non-compliant establishments. It then levies a penalty of Rs 2,000 per reg