In a bid to boost local businesses, Telangana government granted shops, restaurants and cafes permission to run 24x7, seven days a week. The state government issued an order in this regard earlier this week, but was made public on Friday, sending some cheers down to eligible business owners.
"The Telangana government, hereby, issue guidelines for granting exemption from Section 7 (opening and closing hours) of the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988 to all Shops & Establishments as defined in Section 2 (21) of the Telangana Shops & Establishments Act 1988 for operating 24x7 in the State," the order issued by the Labour department stated.
With this progressive move, Hyderabad will now be a city that never sleeps, just like Mumbai that are open all the time.
"This comes as great news for those whose daytime regimen does not allow them to savour the city and all that it has to offer. From entertainment to recreation to food and beverage, players in all sectors can leverage this ruling to extend their current products and services, or innovate upon more novel initiatives," Ashish Chowdhury, a brand strategist with That's No Moon, was quoted as saying by Hindu.
What are the guidelines?
The government order is not without guidelines. The government aims to preserve the welfare of employees by order establishments to include overtime wages, consent of women to work in the night shift, to and fro transport for women employees in night shift, weekly working hours and other clauses.
Notably, establishments applying for 24x7 operation must pay an annual fee of Rs 10,000 for each store.
The guidelines further note:
- Issuance of ID cards, weekly offs for employees
- Weekly working hours must be mentioned
- Overtime wages
- Compensatory holiday with wages in lieu of employees attending duty on a notified national /festival holiday
- Maintenance of records and furnishing returns as prescribed by the state government within time
