Harassed by the licences department of the BMC and the police, retail traders of the city have demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state government should come up with uniform rules for malls and retail shops, since they believe the police and the administration favour malls by allowing them to operate all seven days a week and until late in the evening, while conduct raids on small shops and force them to shut down.
Harassed by the licences department of the BMC and the police, retail traders of the city have demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state government should come up with uniform rules for malls and retail shops, since they believe the police and the administration favour malls by allowing them to operate all seven days a week and until late in the evening, while conduct raids on small shops and force them to shut down.
FRTWA writes to BMC chief, CM
Recently, all ward offices had conducted surprise raids and booked shopkeepers after seizing their goods. Fed up, the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) has now written to the municipal commissioner and the chief minister, explaining the disparity between the treatment meted out to both.
Lakhs of small shopkeepers get raw deal
"We would like to bring to the notice of the authorities that there is a huge competition among big retail chains and malls against lakhs of small shopkeepers. On many occasions, on Sundays and festival days, shops are open to cater to customers' demand. There are hundreds of malls running 365 days a year and stores inside malls do not have any licences to operate on Sundays, but if any small shop is open on a Sunday, the BMC licence officers visit the shopkeeper, and harass and extort him," said Viren Shah, president of FRTWA.
No simple procedure to apply for licences
The association could not find a simple procedure to obtain licences for small stores. They were asked to find the related information from the labour ministry, which has not stated any specific procedure on procuring licences. Nor is there any single window to procure them by filing a simple form or undertaking, trader said.
Warped process inflating corruption
"The process is so complicated, with lengthy paperwork and too many windows, so traders have no choice but to adhere to the demands made by these local officers, because of which corruption increases. We have requested the authorities to bring a law to allow shops to remain open on all days and follow labour laws by paying extra salary to the shop staffers on Sundays, give them a weekly off, or allow them to work on a rotation basis, so they can survive in a healthy, competitive environment," said Shah.
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