The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 is an Act to provide for the regulation of conditions of work and employment in shops and commercial establishments in the state of Karnataka

Registration of Establishments

Every new establishment in Karnataka shall get it registered under the provisions of The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 within 30 days of commencement of work.

An application must be submitted to the Inspector of the area concerned with requisite fee along with the following details:

After verification of the correctness of the details and documents submitted, the Inspector shall register the establishment and shall issue a registration certificate to the employer.The registration certificate shall be prominently displayed at the establishment. In Kartataka, Shops and Commercial Establishments certificate shall be initially issued for a period of five years and shall be renewed before the expiry of the period of registration certificate on payment of prescribed fee. 

Changes in Registration Details

The employer shall notify any change in respect of any information contained in registration certificate to the Inspector within fifteen days of changes and the Inspector shall make the change in the register of establishments and shall amend the registration certificate or issue a fresh registration certificate, if necessary

Closing of Establishment

Within 15 days of his closing the establishment, the employer shall notify the date of closure to the Inspector and return the registration certificate. On receipt of information, the Inspector shall remove such establishment from the register and cancel the registration certificate.

Issue of Appointment Orders

Every employer, employing any person in his establishment, shall issue an appointment order in writing to the employee indicating the name, designation, salary / wage scale and terms and conditions of his employment within thirty days from the date of appointment.

Hours of Work

No employee in any establishment shall be required or allowed to work for more than nine hours on any day and forty-eight hours in any week. The total number of hours of work including overtime shall not exceed ten hours in any day except on days of stock-taking and preparation of accounts. Also, the total number of overtime hours worked by an employee does not exceed fifty in a period of three continuous months.

Extra wages for overtime work

In case of an employee works in any establishment for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week he shall be eligible for wages at twice the rate of normal wages in respect of such overtime work.

Interval for rest

The periods of work of an employee in an establishment in a day has to be fixed so that time of work shall not exceed consecutive five hours and the employee must be allowed to take an interval of rest of at least one hour. Also, the periods of work of an employee in an establishment shall not be spread over more than twelve hours in any day including his interval time.

Prohibition of employment of Children

No child shall be required or allowed to work in any establishment.

Exemptions under Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act

Provision of Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act are not applicable to

• offices of or under the Central or State Governments or local authorities, except commercial undertakings;
• any railway service, water transport service, postal, telegraph or telephone service, any system of public conservancy or sanitation or any industry, business or undertaking which supplies power, light or water to the public
• railway dining cars
• establishments for the treatment or care of the sick, infirm, or the mentally unfit
• establishments of the Food Corporation of India
• offices of legal practitioners and medical practitioners in which not more than three persons are employed;
• offices of a banking company
• any person employed about the business of any establishment mentioned in clauses (a) to (f) aforesaid
• persons occupying positions of management in any establishment
• persons whose work is inherently intermittent such as drivers, care-takers, watch and ward staff, or canvassers; and
• persons directly engaged in preparatory or complementary work, such as, clearing and forwarding clerks responsible for the despatch of goods.

Exemptions from Opening and Closing hours and Weekly Holidays

The following category of establishments are exempted from the provisions of from Opening and closing hours and Weekly Holidays

• shops dealing mainly in medicines or medical or surgical requisites or appliances;
• clubs, residential hotels, boarding houses, hostels attached to schools or colleges, and establishments maintained in boarding schools in connection with the boarding and lodging of pupils and resident-masters;
  • “residential hotel” means any premises in which business is carried on bona fide for the supply of dwelling accommodation and meals on payment of a sum of money to a traveller or any member of the public or class of the public.
• stalls and refreshment rooms at railway stations, bus stands, ports or aerodromes;
• shops of barbers and hairdressers;
• shops dealing mainly in meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy produce (except ghee), bread, confectionery, sweets, chocolates, ice, ice cream, cooked food, fruits, flowers, vegetables or green fodder;
• shops dealing in articles required for funerals, burials or cremations;
• shops dealing in pan (betel leaf), pan with beedies or cigarettes, or liquid refreshments sold retail for consumption on the premises;
• shops dealing in newspapers or periodicals, editing sections of newspaper offices and offices of news agencies;
• cinemas, theatres and other places of public entertainment and stalls and refreshment rooms attached to such cinemas, theatres and places of public entertainment;
• establishments for the retail sale of petrol;
• shops in regimental institutes, garrison shops and troop canteens in cantonments;
• tanneries;
• retail trade carried on at an exhibition or show, if such retail trade is subsidiary or ancillary only to the main purpose of the exhibition or show;
• oil-mills and flour-mills not registered under the Factories Act, 1948;
• brick and lime kilns;
• commercial establishments engaged in the manufacture of bronze and brass utensils so far as it is confined to the process of melting in furnaces.
• Information Technology Establishments;
• Information Technology enabling services or establishments;
• Bio-Technology and Research Centres or establishments of epidemic and other diseases.

The State Government may by notification exempt establishments from all or any of the provisions of this Act subject to such conditions as may be specified in the notification.where the nature of work is,-

i. intermittent, or

ii. seasonal, or

iii. for a short duration, not exceeding two months, and it is difficult to enforce the provisions of this Act

FAQ on Shops and Establishment Registration

What is a Shop?

A shop means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers, and includes offices, storerooms, godowns, or warehouses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business, but does not include a commercial establishment or a shop attached to a factory where the persons employed in the shop fall within the scope of the Factories Act, 1948

What is an Establishment?

An Establishment means a shop or a commercial establishment

What is a Commercial Establishment?

A Commercial Establishment means a commercial or trading or banking or insurance establishment, an establishment or administrative service in which persons employed are mainly engaged in office work, a hotel, restaurant, boarding or eating house, a cafe or any other refreshment house, a theatre or any other place of public amusement or entertainment and includes such establishments as the State Government may by notification declare to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act;

Who is a Child?

A Child means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year.

Who should obtain Shops and Establishment Registration?

Every Shops and establishments (including Company / LLP / Partnership & Proprietorship) have to obtain the registration under Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961

What is the timeline to obtain Shops and Establishment Registration?

Every Shops and establishments (including Company / LLP / Partnership & Proprietorship) have obtain the registration within 30 days of commencement of work.