n Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the exemption u/s 14, 15 and 16 of the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act, 1954 to 32 establishments to work on a 24x7x365 basis. Of these, seven approvals have been granted to establishments that had applied for exemption for their women employees during night times. The exemptions have been given with fool-proof assurances about the safety of employees by the establishments.
These 32 applications, pertains to Logistics & Courier Services, Hotel & Restaurants, Retail Trade, Storage Management Services and Other Commercial Establishments related to Ayurveda and Food Items. These include, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd., Hiveloop, E-Commerce E-Pvt. Ltd., Sunny Ridge Kila Resorts, Scootsy Logistics, Organic India Pvt. Ltd. And Bikanerwala International.
“A total number of 52 online applications were received in Labour Department upto December 21, 2023, out of which 20 were incomplete / duplicate/deficient in certain respects and have been temporarily kept on hold till deficiency is removed. The remaining 32 applications have been proposed by the Department of Labour for grant of exemption under Section 14, 15 & 16 of Delhi Shops & Establishment Act, 1954. With this, the total number of establishments that have been granted exemptions, in last one year after Saxena took over, has risen to 667. Out of these, 29 applications were approved in August 2023 and 83 applications in November 2023,” Raj Niwas official said on Sunday.
Section 14 of Delhi Shops and Establishment Act regulates the Working Conditions of Young Persons and Women. It lays down that no young person or woman can be required or allowed to work, whether as an employee or otherwise, between 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. during summer (1st April to 30 September) and 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. during Winter (1st October to 31 March).
Section 15 regulates Opening and Closing Hours of Shops and Establishments. Such timings are / ought to be fixed by the Government by General or Special Orders.
Section 16 mandates that every shop and establishment shall remain closed on one day, after 6 working Days. Section 4 empowers the Government to grant exemption from the provisions of the Act to any shop / Establishment. In the present case, the applicants have sought exemption from Section 14, 15 & 16 of the Act.