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The Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2025 has been passed to amend the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.
While Labor Minister Anil Vij said the bill aims to reduce the compliance burden on small establishments through reforms to boost economic growth while ensuring continued protection for workers, Congress MLA Aditya Surjewala disagreed. Pointing to some of its provisions, he asked whether it amounts to ease of doing business or legalization of “modern slavery”.
Minister Vij said that this bill is beneficial for both workers and shopkeepers and it is in the interest of workers as well as traders.
There is also a provision to increase the permissible limit of overtime work from 50 hours to 156 hours per quarter, which will enable shops and commercial establishments to meet peak business demands more efficiently.
The Bill also has a provision to increase the maximum period of continuous work without rest from five to six hours.
Surjewala moved an amendment to retain the existing nine-hour limit, which was supported by his party’s MLAs, but it was rejected by the House by voice vote.
Surjewala said the bill has a provision to increase daily working hours from nine to ten, while overtime is proposed to be increased from 50 hours to 156 hours, which, he said, will result in two additional hours of work every day.
“Now, take 10 hours of work per day plus two hours of overtime. If a person has to work 12 hours a day, six days a week, how much time is left for him or her family?” He said.
Surjewala asked whether it was ease of doing business or legalizing modern slavery.
Vij told the House that increasing the limit for registration and other regulatory provisions of the Bill from zero employees to 20 or more employees in any establishment will boost employment generation and eliminate the fear of non-compliance to reduce the compliance burden for small businesses.
Vij said establishments with less than 20 workers will no longer require a registration certificate under the bill, but will only have to furnish information about their business.
Earlier it was necessary for every shopkeeper to register.
He pointed out that even today, in states like Karnataka, shopkeepers are required to register even if they do not have a single employee.
However, Surjewala claimed that more than 80% of shops and establishments which have less than 20 employees will be kept out of the provisions of the Act.
Vij said increasing the daily hours of work from the existing nine hours to ten hours, subject to a maximum of 48 hours in any week, including rest intervals. The measure aims to create more economic activity, increase employment opportunities and allow establishments to handle emergencies, peak demand or staff shortages without disruption.
Vij said that before finalizing this bill he studied the data of states across India. Registration has been made mandatory for establishments with 20 or more workers in Haryana.
Similarly, registration is mandatory for establishments with 20 or more workers in Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Similarly, the daily working hours in Haryana as well as Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are 10 hours.
The bill was one of the eight bills passed on the concluding day of the winter session of the Haryana Assembly.
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The bills include the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Haryana Abadi Deh (Vesting, Recording and Settlement of Ownership Rights) Bill, 2025; And the Haryana Public Trust (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025.
The Haryana Public Trust (Amendment of Provisions) Bill was passed to amend certain Acts to decriminalize and rationalize offenses to further improve trust-based governance for ease of living and ease of doing business.
The Haryana Public Trust (Amendment of Provisions) Bill was introduced to decriminalize 164 minor criminal provisions in 42 State Acts across 17 departments by removing obsolete and unnecessary clauses, introduce civil penalties and administrative action for minor technical and procedural lapses, and decriminalize minor and technical offenses by eliminating penal provisions.