Under the Shops and Establishments Act, which is being enacted by each State and Union Territory, various provisions with respect to conditions of work and employment in shops, offices, commercial establishments, and other related places of work. Among the other provisions, mandatory display of name of the Establishment in the local (state) language has also been incorporated by many states such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, which makes it mandatory for the Commercial Establishments to display their Name Board predominantly in the State Official Language often with specific rules for script, font size, placement, and prominence. A provision with respect to display of name board has also been mentioned in Companies Act, 2013.
Companies Act, 2013
According to Section 12(3)(a) of Companies Act, 2013,
- Every company must paint or affix its name and the address of its registered office on the outside of every office or place where its business is carried on, in a conspicuous position and in legible letters.
Karnataka
According to Rule 24A of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules, 1963,
- The Name Board of every establishment shall be in Kannada and wherever other languages are also used, the versions in such other languages shall be below the Kannada version.
- The Name Board in Kannada version shall be written more predominantly by providing more space than for other languages, if any.
Maharashtra
According to Section 36A of Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Act, 2022,
- The Name Board of every Establishment registered under Section 6 of Maharashtra Shops and Establishment Act, 2017, or of every Establishment to which Section 7 apply, shall be in Marathi language in Devnagari Script.
- The Employer of such Establishment may also have the Name Board in any other language and script in addition to Marathi language in Devnagari Script.
- Lettering in Marathi language shall essentially be written in the beginning on the Name Board and the font size of the letters in Marathi language shall not be smaller than the font size of the letters in any other language.
- No Establishment where liquor is served or sold shall have a Name Board in the name of legends or forts.
Tamil Nadu
According to Rule 15 of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Rules, 1948,
- The name board of every establishment shall be in Tamil and wherever other languages are also used, the version in English shall be in the second place followed by the versions in other languages, if any.
- The Tamil version shall be written predominantly in the name board by providing more space than for other languages.
- The Tamil letters in the name board shall be in the reformed script.
Odisha
According to Section 4(2-a) of the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2018,
- The name of the establishment shall be displayed in a sign board in front of the establishment in Odia language prominently in addition to other language, if any.
Punjab
According to Rule 23 of Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments (First Amendment) Rules, 2023,
- The Name Board of every establishment shall be in Gurmukhi script in Punjabi and wherever other languages are also used, the version in such other languages shall be below the Punjabi version.
- The name Board in Punjabi version shall be written more predominantly by providing more space than for other languages, if any.
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