Ramzan: Shops allowed to operate till 5 am

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has issued an order permitting shops and establishments in the state to operate beyond their regular hours till 5:00 am for the month of Ramzan. Labour Commissioner M Dana Kishore on Wednesday issued an order to this effect.

The modified closing time, valid from February 19 to March 20, will ensure that citizens can safely shop and dine during the cooler night-time hours, after breaking their day-long fasts.

As per the order, all shops and establishments have been exempted from provisions of Section 7 (1), 12 (1) and 31 (1) of the Telangana Shops and Establishment Act 1988 from February 19 and March 20. So, shops can remain open during sehri time, during the holy month.

Section 7(1) stipulates that no shop shall open earlier or close later than the hours fixed by the government, while the other two sections deal with employees’ holidays and working hours.

However, these exemptions are subject to certain conditions. The Commissioner has directed that employees must be paid overtime wages at twice their ordinary rate and that employees who work on holidays must be given a compensatory holiday. Additionally, employees are also not allowed to work for more than 13 hours on any day, including Sunday.

Meanwhile, in a safety measure, women employees are prohibited from working past 8:30 pm and are exempt from extra holiday shifts.