Last reviewed: 25 September 2026. Open a current account, apply for a tender, or take a shop on rent anywhere in Maharashtra and someone will ask for your "Shop Act licence" or "Gumasta". What they mean is the registration certificate or intimation receipt under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 — a state labour-law compliance that applies to shops, offices, godowns, hotels and most commercial establishments, including startup offices in Thane, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune. This guide covers who must register, who only intimates, the 60-day deadline, documents, the online process and the penalties for ignoring it.
Updated for the 2025 amendment: The Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, promulgated in October 2025 and followed by the Amendment Bill (L.A. Bill No. LXXXIX of 2025) to replace it, raised the Section 6 registration threshold from 10 to 20 workers, the daily working limit from 9 to 10 hours, the spread-over to 12 hours, the continuous-work limit before a rest interval from 5 to 6 hours, and the quarterly overtime cap from 125 to 144 hours. Check the current text on the Labour Department portal for the final enacted position and effective date before relying on it.
Shop Act, Gumasta, Shops & Establishment — are these different?
No — three names for one compliance. "Gumasta" survives from the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, which Maharashtra replaced with the 2017 Act. The 2017 law moved the entire process online, replaced inspectors with Facilitators, allowed long-validity certificates and removed the compulsory weekly closed day. If a bank, mall, aggregator or licensing authority asks for any of these names, the document they want is your Section 6 certificate or Section 7 receipt.
Who must register and who only intimates: Section 6 vs Section 7
| Particulars | Section 6 registration | Section 7 intimation |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | Establishments employing 20 or more workers (10 before the 2025 amendment) | Establishments with fewer than 20 workers |
| Time limit | Within 60 days of commencing business | Within 60 days of commencing business |
| What you get | Registration certificate | Receipt of intimation (accepted by banks as business proof) |
| Validity | Period you opt for, up to 10 years | One-time; no expiry |
| Renewal | Apply at least 30 days before expiry | Not applicable — shift to Section 6 once workers reach 20 |
| Direct penalty for default | Contravention exposure under Section 29 (see penalties below) | ₹1,000 for failure to intimate |
Counting your workers correctly matters. Members of the employer’s family are exempt from the Act, and persons occupying confidential, managerial or supervisory positions are also outside its protective net. Factories covered by the Factories Act, 1948 and government establishments are excluded altogether.
Worked example — a Thane boutique. The owner works the counter with her husband (family member — exempt), 8 sales staff and 1 accountant. Worker count = 9, so a Section 7 intimation is enough. She commences business on 1 August 2026, so the intimation is due by 30 September 2026. In November she opens a second counter and hires 11 more staff — the count touches 20, and a Section 6 registration application must now be made. (Under the pre-amendment threshold of 10, she would have needed Section 6 registration at 10 workers.)
How to apply online: step-by-step
- Create a profile on the Aaple Sarkar / MahaOnline portal and select the Labour Department’s Shops & Establishment services.
- Choose registration (20+ workers) or intimation (below 20 workers), fill the establishment form — trade name, nature of business, address, employer and manager details, male/female worker count — and pick the validity period where applicable.
- Upload documents (checklist below), pay the portal-computed fee and submit.
- Download the digitally issued certificate or receipt from the portal; verify every field the moment it is issued and apply for correction immediately if anything is wrong.
Document checklist:
- PAN and Aadhaar of the proprietor / authorised signatory, with a passport photo.
- Premises proof — electricity bill, property tax receipt or registered rent agreement; landlord NOC if rented.
- Photo of the establishment showing the name board (put up the Marathi board before you shoot it — see below).
- For companies and LLPs — certificate of incorporation, and board resolution or authorisation for the signatory.
- Worker headcount details; a cancelled cheque is often sought for records.
Keep it current: changes and renewal
Notify changes — trade name, address, nature of business, employer or headcount — on the portal within the prescribed 30-day window, and calendar the renewal at least 30 days before a Section 6 certificate expires. An expired certificate is treated as non-registration, and tender or bank documentation built on a lapsed Shop Act document tends to fail verification at the worst possible time.
The Marathi signboard rule
Since the 2022 amendment, every establishment — including those with fewer than 10 workers — must display its name board in Marathi (Devanagari script), and the Marathi text cannot be in a smaller font than any other language on the board. Establishments serving or selling liquor cannot use the names of legendary personalities or historical forts. Municipal drives in Mumbai and Thane have enforced this actively, so fix the board before the premises photo goes into your application.
Employer obligations that come with the licence
| Area | What the Act requires (as amended in 2025) |
|---|---|
| Working hours | Maximum 10 hours a day (9 before the amendment) and 48 hours a week; spread-over up to 12 hours a day; a rest interval of at least 30 minutes after 6 continuous hours (5 before the amendment) |
| Overtime | Beyond the daily limit or 48 hours a week, wages at twice the ordinary rate; overtime capped at 144 hours in any three months (125 before the amendment) |
| Weekly rest | Every worker gets a paid weekly rest of 24 consecutive hours; the establishment itself may operate all days with staggered offs |
| Leave | 8 days casual leave with wages per year, earned leave of 1 day per 20 days worked, and 8 paid festival holidays |
| Women on night shifts | Permitted between 9:30 pm and 7:00 am only with consent and prescribed safety, dignity and doorstep-transport arrangements |
Worked example — overtime. A worker’s ordinary rate is ₹80 per hour. In August she works 2 extra hours beyond the 10-hour daily limit on 6 days — 12 overtime hours. Overtime wages = 12 × (₹80 × 2) = ₹1,920, over and above normal wages, and those 12 hours count towards the 144-hour quarterly ceiling.
The four Labour Codes, in force from 21 November 2025, also deal with wages, working conditions and safety. Where they overlap with the state Act, check both before fixing hours, overtime and leave policies.
Shop Act vs the other registrations a new business needs
| Registration | Law / purpose | Does Shop Act replace it? |
|---|---|---|
| Shop Act (this guide) | State labour law for the premises and its workers | — |
| GST registration | Tax on supplies once thresholds or compulsory categories hit | No — independent tests |
| Udyam (MSME) | Central registration for MSME benefits, including the Section 43B(h) payment discipline your buyers track | No |
| Professional tax (PTEC/PTRC) | Maharashtra levy on the entity and on salaries — see our state-wise professional tax guide | No — register separately |
| FSSAI licence | Mandatory for food businesses — thresholds in our FSSAI 2026 guide | No |
| Municipal trade licence | Local-body permission for specified trades (eateries, health, hazardous) | No — check your corporation’s list |
Incorporated recently? Slot the Shop Act into the sequence in our first-year compliance checklist for new companies, and note that the new labour codes operate alongside — not instead of — the state Shops & Establishments Act.
Penalties: what non-compliance actually costs
| Default | Exposure |
|---|---|
| Failure to give the Section 7 intimation | Penalty of ₹1,000 |
| Contravention of the Act or Rules (including operating unregistered) | Up to ₹1,00,000, plus up to ₹2,000 per day while the default continues (Section 29) |
| Second or subsequent contravention | Up to ₹2,00,000 |
| Worker injured in an accident linked to a violation | Imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine of ₹2,00,000 to ₹5,00,000 (Section 30) |
Common mistakes we see
- Assuming GST or Udyam registration makes the Shop Act unnecessary — banks and licensing authorities ask for it separately.
- Missing the 60-day window because the "shop isn’t earning yet" — the clock runs from commencement of business, not first profit.
- Staying on a Section 7 receipt after the headcount reaches 20 — the Section 6 registration becomes due.
- Letting a multi-year certificate quietly expire — renewal needs a 30-day head start.
- Photographing the premises with an English-only board — the Marathi Devanagari board is mandatory for all establishments.
- Ignoring registers, leave and overtime records — the certificate is the start of the compliance, not the end of it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Gumasta licence the same as Shop Act registration?
Yes. "Gumasta licence" is the old colloquial name from the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 era. In Maharashtra that law has been replaced by the Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, so what banks and vendors call a Gumasta today is the Section 6 registration certificate or the Section 7 intimation receipt issued online.
I run a proprietorship with no employees. Do I need Shop Act registration?
The Act’s registration and intimation duties are triggered by worker headcount, so a zero-worker proprietorship is strictly outside the mandatory net. In practice, most proprietors still file the Section 7 intimation voluntarily because the receipt is widely accepted by banks as proof of business for opening a current account and works as address evidence for other registrations.
How long is the registration valid and when should I renew it?
A Section 6 registration certificate is issued for the period you opt for, up to a maximum of 10 years, and the renewal application must be made at least 30 days before expiry. A Section 7 intimation is a one-time filing with no renewal — but once your establishment employs 20 or more workers (10 before the 2025 amendment), you must obtain the Section 6 registration.
What is the government fee for Shop Act registration in Maharashtra?
The fee is computed by the portal based on your worker slab and the number of years you opt for; the Section 7 intimation carries only a nominal charge. Third-party websites quote widely different amounts, so rely on the fee shown on the Aaple Sarkar / MahaOnline payment screen at the time of submission.
Do I still need Shop Act registration if I already have GST or Udyam?
Yes, they serve different laws. GST is a tax registration, Udyam is an MSME benefits registration, and the Shop Act registration or intimation is a labour-law requirement for the premises where you carry on business. One does not substitute for another, and banks often ask for the Shop Act document specifically.
Can my shop stay open all seven days? Can women work night shifts?
The 2017 Act does not force a weekly closed day on the establishment — it requires every worker to get a paid weekly rest of at least 24 consecutive hours, so staggered weekly offs are the norm. Women may work between 9:30 pm and 7:00 am only with their consent and where the prescribed safety, dignity and doorstep-transport arrangements are provided.
We assist with Shop Act registrations and intimations, PTEC/PTRC and the rest of the premises-level compliance stack — documentation, filing and renewals handled end to end.
Shop & Establishment Registration PTEC / PTRC Professional Tax Talk to usThis article is a general guide based on the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 and Rules, 2018, as amended in 2025, as in force on 25 September 2026. Portal fees, screens and document lists change from time to time; verify the current requirement on the official portal or take professional advice for your specific facts before acting.