Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the Delhi Government's Labour Department's proposal to allow 83 more commercial establishments including major brands in retail, fashion, e-commerce, logistics and food sector to operate round the clock. Presently there are 524 establishments are operating on the basis of 24x7. With the fresh 83 approvals, there will now be 607 such shops and establishments situated at various locations in the national capital that will give impetus to economic activities.
"These commercial establishments have been given exemptions under Sections 14, 15 & 16 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954 that enables commercial establishments to operate on a 24X7 basis. This is the fourth such proposal which has been cleared by Saxena since October 2022 when first such exemption to operate on the 24x7 basis was given to 314 establishments followed by 55 and 155 in April and June respectively this year ," Raj Niwas official said.
Some of these shops and establishments that figured in the list of 83 are Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited involved in the retail trade of readymade garments and accessories, e-commerce giant Amazon Transportation Service Pvt. Ltd. having delivery stations, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. engaged in retail trade business like departmental and convenience stores, Nykaa Fashion Pvt Ltd and FSN Brands Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Both dealing with cosmetic and beauty products) and Bikanerwalla International having chain of sweets shops.
Hennes and Mauritz Retail Pvt. Ltd. dealing with retail of readymade garments and accessories, AR Milk and Products involved in sale of dairy products, e-commerce firm Link Logistics Limited, I-T firm PCC Softech Pvt. Ltd, 24x7 Departmental Store Storex, FMCG distributors Link Logistics Limited, InstaKart Services Pvt. Ltd. doing business of courier and logistics, are some of the other business entities whose applications for exemption to operate 24x7 have been approved.
Saxena appreciated the chief minister and the labour department over the applications being cleared expeditiously, the official said. According to him, the LG underlined that low disposals may often point towards callousness, carelessness and extraneous considerations being at play while deciding on proposals where departmental discretion is involved.
"The LG said there is a need to mitigate any such consideration in the interest of transparent governance and all measures suggested earlier like developing a 'Single Window System' as an integral portal for approving be followed strictly," the official said.
Saxena also directed the labour department to submit within 15 days the reasons why applications that were rejected during the last year were disposed of and what has come out of them in case of re-application.
He stressed that it will also be in the interest of a conducive and investor-friendly business environment and resultant economic growth of the city, apart from providing entrepreneurship.
The LG also directed the department to consider setting up a facilitation or enabling mechanism for applicants. He has also asked for developing a feedback module to identify hitches in the whole process and provide resolution to the same on a real time basis.
The exemptions under sections 14, 15 and 16 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act are given to establishments engaged in providing essential services. These sectors include e-commerce, grocery stores, hospitality, airport services, cargo services, cold storage and warehouses, security services and other similar services
