State plans survey of shops, commercial establishments

The Labour Department has undertaken a survey of shops and establishments in the State with the dual intention of making its services available online and bring those who have not registered their commercial activity under its purview.

Geographic Positioning System (GPS) maps of all shops and establishments are being prepared under the survey. Every shop and establishment is being surveyed and measured for this purpose.

A digital data will be prepared to enable the department to provide its services such as registration, renewal of the registration certificate, filing of returns and amendments to the certificates online.

Deputy Labour Commissioner (in charge of survey) A H Umesh said Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited has been entrusted with conducting the survey.

Survey work underway

Of the five regions of the department, the survey work is already underway in three of them – Bangalore Region 1, Bangalore Region 2 and
Hassan.

Steps are being taken to launch it in two other regions of Belgaum and Gulbarga,
he said. According to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1962, shops mean any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers and includes offices, storerooms, godowns or warehouses.

Commercial establishments mean 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.

The Act, which intends to regulate the condition of work and employment, has made it mandatory for all shops and establishments to register, obtain a certificate and get it renewed once in five years.

Without registration

However, a large number shops and commercial establishments in the State are functioning without registering themselves.

Currently, 3,14,042 shops and commercial establishments are registered in the State.

Umesh said the survey also intends to make all business ventures coming under the Act register themselves. One of the contract conditions for the survey is that the number of registration should go up to seven lakh in the State.

During the survey, unregistered business ventures will be identified and made to obtain the registration certificates.

The department has already introduced the online registration system for owners of new shops and commercial establishments in the two regions of Bangalore and Hassan.

They have to identify themselves on the GPS map and fill in the online form for registration.

The department is digitising the data of those who have already registered, he said.