The Government of Odisha on January 16, 2026, issued the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 to further amend the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1956.
The following amendments have been stated:
• For section 4, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-
“4. (1) On and from the date of commencement of the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, the employer of every establishment employing twenty or more employees shall, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of his business, apply for registration and obtain registration certificate;
(2) Every application for registration under sub-section (1) shall be made in such form and in such manner together with such fee, as may be prescribed; (3) The Inspector shall, on receipt of an application under subsection (2), register the establishment and issue a registration certificate to the employer within seven working days in such form, as may be prescribed. If the registration certificate is not issued by the Inspector within a period of seven working days from the date of receipt of application, the registration certificate shall be deemed to have been granted under this Act.”.
• In the principal Act, after Section 4, the following section shall be inserted namely :-
4A. The name of the establishment, irrespective of number of Employees, shall be displayed in a sign board in front of the establishment in Odia language prominently in addition to other language if any”.
• In Section 7, in sub-section (1),-
o for the existing words “nine hours”, the words “ten hours” shall be substituted;
o for the first proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:- “Provided that the total number of hours of work including overtime shall not exceed twelve hours in any day:”
o in the second proviso, for the word “fifty”, the words “one hundred and forty-four” shall be substituted.
• For Section 11, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-
“11. Every establishment in the State may remain open 24x7 subject to the condition that every employee shall be given overtime wages as per section 8 and one day weekly holiday as per Section 12. The employees shall be provided access to washroom, drinking water facilities, seating facilities and other basic amenities.”.
• After Section 23, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
23A. The State Government, may by notification in the official Gazette, allow employment of women employees during night with their written consent, subject to such conditions of safety, security and dignity of women, as may be prescribed.”.
It shall be deemed to have come into force on November 08, 2025.
[Notification No. 1359─I-Legis-24/2025/L]
