83 businesses get nod to stay open 24x7, Delhi to have 607 such outlets

The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has approved a proposal to allow 83 more commercial establishments to operate 24/7 in the capital, bringing the total to 607. The move aims to promote ease of business and create employment opportunities. The exemptions are given to establishments providing essential services such as e-commerce, grocery stores, hospitality, and security services.

Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Thursday approved the labour department’s proposal to allow 83 more commercial establishments to operate on a 24-hour basis in the Capital. With this, 607 establishments, including major retail, food and beauty brands, have received the nod in the last two days, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

These sectors include e-commerce, grocery stores, hospitality, airport services, cargo services, cold storage and warehouses and security services. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Officials from the LG office said that exemptions for these shops have already been approved by the chief minister and labour minister, after which the files were forwarded to him.

“Continuing with the efforts to promote the ease of business and creating employment opportunities, the proposal of the labour department to exempt another 83 establishments under Sections 14, 15 and 16 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954, which enables commercial establishments to operate on a 24X7 basis, has been approved by LG,” said an official from LG’s office.

This is the fourth such proposal that has been cleared by Saxena since October 2022. The first exemption to operate on 24-hour basis was given to 314 establishments, followed by 55 and 155 in April, June and August this year respectively. Now with the fresh 83 approvals, there will be 607 such shops and establishments situated at various locations in the national capital that will give impetus to economic activities, officials added.

LG appreciated that the applications are being cleared expeditiously in comparison to the times when those pending since 2016 came up for the go-ahead signal as late as 2022. He added that the single-window system for this should also be established soon and has also asked the department to develop a feedback module to identify hitches in the whole process and provide resolution to the same on a real-time basis, officials said.

Saxena also directed the labour department to submit within 15 days, detailing reasons as to why the applications were rejected during the last one year and what has come out of them in case of re-application.

“This will also be in the interest of conducive and investor friendly business environment and resultant economic growth of the city, apart from aiding entrepreneurship,” LG said.

He informed that some of the shops that have been given approval to operate for 24 hours include readymade garments retail stores, e-commerce giant, departmental and convenience stores, cosmetic and beauty stores and sweets shop chain.

The exemptions under Sections 14, 15 and 16 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act are given to establishments engaged in providing essential services to the people. These sectors include e-commerce, grocery stores, hospitality, airport services, cargo services, cold storage and warehouses and security services.