Mumbai 24 hours: Eat at your favorite restaurant mid night, watch a movie or shop after 12 mid night!

Now enjoy a midnight meal at a local restaurant, watch your favourite movie at any point of the night as the state government has issued a notification to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishment Act, 2017, on Tuesday, allowing shops, restaurants (that do not serve alcohol), cinema halls, salons, hyper malls and businesses such as banks, medical establishments and tax consultancies, to remain open 24x7 in Mumbai. The amendment was passed by both Houses of the state legislature in August. The notification was issued after the governor gave his nod. “We expect women-driven businesses to get a boost from this move. At least five lakh new licences are estimated to be issued under the act in the near future,” labour minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar said. Businesses keen on going all night will only have to give an online intimation to the ministry, including the number of employees they have hired. The Act, however, has provisions to safeguard the interests of workers and ensure the safety of women. The establishment will have to ensure protection to women by ensuring their safety, dignity and protection from sexual harassment. The employer will also have to provide transportation for women working after 9.30pm. “Of the 35 lakh shops and establishments, nearly 22.10 lakh are with zero employees and run by proprietors, while another 12.13 lakh (with 35.32 lakh workers) have between one and nine workers, and 84,702 establishments (32.22 lakh workers) have 10 or more workers,” said Nilangekar Patil. -PTC News