The Haryana Assembly on Monday passed a Bill raising daily working hours from nine to ten, while keeping the weekly cap unchanged at 48 hours for employees working in shops and private commercial establishments.
The Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2025 seeks to amend the existing Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.
Labour Minister Anil Vij said the Bill aims to reduce the compliance burden on small establishments. He added that the reforms are meant to support economic growth while continuing to protect workers’ rights. However, Congress MLA Aditya Surjewala strongly disagreed, questioning whether the move was about ease of doing business or about legalising “modern-day slavery”.
Vij told the House that the Bill would benefit both workers and shopkeepers. He said it was designed to serve the interests of employees as well as traders.
The Bill also includes a provision to raise the permissible overtime limit per quarter from 50 hours to 156 hours. This, the government said, would help shops and commercial establishments manage peak business periods more effectively.
Another provision allows an increase in the maximum continuous working period without rest from five hours to six hours.
Surjewala moved an amendment, supported by Congress legislators, seeking to retain the existing nine-hour work limit. However, the amendment was rejected by the House through a voice vote.
Speaking during the debate, Surjewala pointed out that the Bill increases daily working hours to ten and also raises the overtime limit from 50 to 156 hours. According to him, this would effectively mean two extra hours of work every day.
He questioned how workers would manage personal and family life if they were made to work 12 hours a day for six days a week. Surjewala again asked whether the move truly promoted ease of doing business or amounted to legalising modern-day slavery.
Vij explained that the Bill also increases the threshold for mandatory registration from zero employees to establishments with 20 or more workers. He said this step would reduce the compliance burden on small businesses, encourage job creation, and remove fear related to regulatory non-compliance.
Under the new provisions, establishments with fewer than 20 workers will no longer require a registration certificate. Instead, they will only need to submit an intimation about their business, Vij said.
Earlier, registration was mandatory for every shopkeeper, regardless of the number of workers employed.
Vij noted that in states like Karnataka, shopkeepers are still required to register even if they do not employ a single worker.
Surjewala, however, claimed that more than 80 per cent of shops and establishments employing fewer than 20 workers would now fall outside the scope of the Act.
Vij clarified that the increase in daily working hours to ten hours, including rest intervals, remains subject to the weekly limit of 48 hours. He said the measure is intended to boost economic activity, create employment, and give establishments flexibility during emergencies, peak demand, or staff shortages.
The Labour Minister said he studied data from several states before finalising the Bill. He pointed out that Haryana now mandates registration only for establishments with 20 or more workers.
He added that Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha also require registration only for establishments employing 20 or more workers.
Similarly, Vij said daily working hours are fixed at ten hours not only in Haryana but also in states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.
The Bill was one of eight legislations passed on the final day of the Winter session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
The Bills included the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Haryana Abadi Deh (Vesting, Recording and Resolving of Ownership Rights) Bill, 2025; and the Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025.
The Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill was passed to amend certain enactments for decriminalisation and rationalisation of offences to further improve trust-based governance for ease of living and ease of doing business.
The Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill had been introduced to reduce 164 minor criminal provisions in 42 state Acts across 17 departments by removing obsolete and redundant clauses, introducing civil penalties and administrative actions for minor technical and procedural lapses, and decriminalising minor and technical offences through the elimination of penal provisions.
Also Read: Haryana Assembly passes privilege motion, Cong stages walkout
Follow us
