Shop Act License in MP (2026): Gumasta Registration on the Portal, Fees, Hours and the 2025 Amendments

If you run a shop, office, showroom, clinic, coaching centre, restaurant or hotel in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain or any other notified town in Madhya Pradesh, the "shop act licence" — still called a gumasta licence by most people in the State — is the registration under the Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1958. Three amendments in 2025 changed how it works: certificates are now generated by a portal, the fee has a statutory ceiling, and overtime is counted by the quarter. This guide is for owners, small employers and their accountants. It covers who must register, the fee, how to apply, the hours rules, women at night, penalties and a worked example for an Indore store.

Quick answer

Every shop and establishment in an area where the Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1958 applies must register. Since 15 December 2025, you apply on the Labour Department's online portal within 30 days, and the portal generates a digital registration certificate once the details and fee are received. The fee is set by the rules but cannot exceed ₹2,500 per establishment.

• No headcount exemption: even a one-person shop registers

• Update changes within 7 days; report closure within 10 days

• Auto-approval since 12 September 2025, but false documents lead to cancellation

• Extra hours capped at 144 hours in a quarter; overtime paid at twice the ordinary rate

What the MP shop act covers

The Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1958 (Act 25 of 1958) regulates working conditions in shops, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants and eating houses, theatres and other places of public amusement. A "commercial establishment" is wide: offices of any trade or profession, banks, insurance and brokerage offices, agencies and clinics are included. The Act sits alongside the Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Rules, 1959, which set the forms and, until the rules are rewritten for the new portal, the fee.

The Act does not automatically cover every village. Section 1(4) applies it first to the local areas listed in Schedule I — including Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Sagar, Ratlam, Dewas, Khandwa, Burhanpur and other municipal areas — and lets the State extend it to further local areas by notification. In practice it now applies in all the cities and most towns. If your shop is in a gram panchayat area, ask the district Labour Office whether the Act has been extended there before you assume you are outside it.

The Act has five practical parts for a small business: registration, hours and rest, a weekly closing day, leave with wages, and restrictions on employing children, young people and women at night. The gumasta certificate is a labour-law document. It is not the municipal trade licence, and it is not a GST or Udyam registration, although banks and payment gateways often ask for it as proof that the business exists at the stated address.

The December 2025 overhaul: portal-generated certificates

The Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 25 of 2025) received the Governor's assent on 15 December 2025 and came into force the same day, on publication in the Gazette. It was introduced in the Assembly on 1 December 2025 as Bill No. 19 of 2025 and rewrote the registration chapter.

Registration is now a portal function. The new section 6 still says every establishment covered by the Act must be registered, but the employer now applies on the portal notified by the Labour Department, within 30 days of the date the Act starts to apply to the establishment. The application gives the names of the employer and manager, the postal address and date business started, the establishment's name and its category — shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or place of amusement. Once the portal receives the information and the fee, it generates the registration certificate itself. You must display it prominently at the premises.

The fee is capped. Section 6(4) says the registration fee will be as prescribed in the rules but cannot exceed ₹2,500 per establishment. The old section 6(6), which had capped the fee at five rupees and been overtaken by later rules, has gone.

Changes and closure are self-service. Under the new section 7, you must update any change in the registered details on the portal within 7 days; the portal amends the register and issues an amended or fresh certificate. Under section 8, you must update closure within 10 days, after which the portal removes the establishment from the register and cancels the certificate.

Fewer inspections for small units. Inspections are now allotted through a "central inspection system", and an amended section 41(3) bars Inspectors from using their powers in an establishment employing 20 or fewer employees unless the Labour Commissioner, or an officer he authorises, permits it. The earlier 2014 version of this protection applied only to units with fewer than ten employees. The Act's duties still apply to small units; the change only limits routine visits.

MP shop act at a glance (2026)

30 days

To apply on the portal

from the date the Act applies

₹2,500

Maximum registration fee

actual fee set by rules

7 days

To update changes

closure: 10 days

144 hours in a quarter

Extra-hours cap

was 6 hours a week

Gumasta licence fees and renewal

The Act now fixes only the ceiling. The actual amount is whatever the rules prescribe, and the portal calculates it when you apply. We could not find a revised fee schedule for the new portal in any official source as of October 2026. Several online guides still quote small slab fees by headcount under the 1959 Rules; we could not verify those against a current official text, so we have not reproduced them. Treat any figure the portal shows, up to the ₹2,500 ceiling, as the government fee, and treat anything an agent charges above it as a service charge.

On renewal, the position has changed. The old section 6(5) allowed the Government to require renewal of certificates at intervals of a year or more, and older guides describe a five-year cycle. The substituted section 6 has no renewal sub-section at all. The certificate is generated by the portal and remains on the register until you report closure or the department cancels it. If someone asks you for a "renewal fee" for an MP gumasta certificate issued under the new system, ask them to show where the portal demands it.

How to apply for a gumasta licence on the MP portal

You reach the shops and establishments services through the Labour Department's website, which links to the MP Online labour portal for applications, payment and certificate download. The steps below reflect the portal flow described in the Act and the Labour Commissioner's 2025–26 circulars.

Registering under the MP Shops and Establishments Act

1. 1

   Open the Labour Department portal

   Go to the shops and establishments section of the Labour Department, Madhya Pradesh website and sign up or log in to the MP Online labour services with your mobile number.

   Open Labour Department MP
2. 2

   Fill in the establishment details

   Employer and manager names, postal address, date business started, establishment name, category (shop, commercial establishment, hotel, restaurant, theatre), weekly closing day and number of employees.

3. 3

   Upload documents

   Proof of ownership or tenancy (rent agreement or registered sale deed), identity proof and photograph of the applicant, a clear photograph of the shop, and the signed application.

   Tip: Unsigned, blurred or edited uploads are exactly what the April 2026 random checks look for.

4. 4

   Pay the fee online

   The portal calculates the fee; the Act caps it at ₹2,500 per establishment. Keep the payment receipt.

5. 5

   Download and display the certificate

   Once the details and fee are received, the portal generates the digital registration certificate. Print it and display it prominently at the premises.

Documents to keep ready

• Aadhaar and PAN of the proprietor, partners or directors, and a recent photograph
• Rent agreement or registered sale deed for the premises, with a recent electricity or property-tax bill
• A clear photograph of the shop front showing the name board, taken without editing
• Partnership deed, LLP agreement or certificate of incorporation, where relevant
• List of employees with designation and date of joining
• Any licence the trade needs before opening, such as FSSAI for food businesses

Auto-approval and the April 2026 crackdown

From 12 September 2025, according to a Labour Commissioner circular of 19 September 2025, the portal began issuing shop registrations fully automatically once the documents were uploaded and the fee paid. That made registration fast, but it also let some applicants obtain certificates on incomplete or false information.

On 9 April 2026 the Labour Commissioner issued circular 7237-90 to every district office. It records that random checks had found incomplete entries, unsigned applications, missing or edited shop photographs and wrong addresses. District offices must now verify at least 10% of the certificates they issue against the documents. Where a certificate is proved to have been obtained on false or fabricated documents — rent agreements, sale deeds, identity papers or photographs — it is to be cancelled with immediate effect. Where documents are unsigned, blurred or unreadable, the shop gets a show-cause notice. Where a shop is found permanently closed or does not exist, the office prepares a panchnama and starts cancellation. The department is also setting up SMS alerts to tell applicants when a registration is cancelled, so that they can respond.

The practical lesson is simple. Auto-approval is not a guarantee. Upload a signed application, a true photograph of the actual shop and a tenancy document in your own name, and keep the originals. A cancelled certificate can cost you a bank account or a payment-gateway listing at short notice.

Working hours, overtime, weekly holiday and leave

Daily and weekly limits. Under section 11(1), no employee in a shop or commercial establishment may work more than 48 hours in a week. Within that, the daily limit is 9 hours in a shop and 10 hours in a commercial establishment. Hotel, restaurant and theatre staff have their own sections with a 48-hour week and nine-hour day.

Extra hours. Section 11(2) lets an employee work beyond those limits for a capped amount of extra time. Until September 2025 the cap was six hours in any week. The Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 20 of 2025), assented on 9 September and published on 11 September 2025, replaced that with 144 hours in a quarter in sections 11(2), 16(2) and 21(2). The change matters in festival seasons: you can now concentrate extra hours in a busy fortnight as long as the quarterly total stays within the cap. Separately, on up to six days a year fixed by rule for stock-taking or accounts, section 11(3) allows extra hours up to a total of 24.

Overtime pay. Section 55 entitles an employee who works beyond the limits to wages at twice the ordinary rate. The Code on Wages, in force since 21 November 2025, also sets overtime at twice the normal rate, so the two laws point the same way.

Spread-over. Under section 12, the working day including rest cannot spread over more than 12 hours in a shop or commercial establishment, rising to thirteen hours if the shop closes for a continuous three hours that day.

Weekly closing day. Section 13 requires every shop and commercial establishment to close on one day a week, fixed at the start of the year, notified to the Inspector and shown on a notice at the premises. You may change it no more than once in three months. Employees may not be called in to work on the closed day, and no wages may be deducted for it.

Leave. Section 26 gives an employee privilege leave for a total of one month after every twelve months of continuous employment, and casual leave of up to 14 days a year, with limits on how much privilege leave can accumulate. Leave is paid at the average daily wage of the previous three months, excluding overtime.

MP working-time rules in 2026

Rule	Shops	Commercial establishments
Weekly limit	48 hours	48 hours
Daily limit	9 hours	10 hours
Extra hours cap (since 11 Sep 2025)	144 hours in a quarter	144 hours in a quarter
Overtime pay	Twice the ordinary rate	Twice the ordinary rate
Spread-over	12 hours	12 hours
Weekly closing day	One fixed day	One fixed day

Weekly limit

Shops

48 hours

Commercial establishments

48 hours

Daily limit

Shops

9 hours

Commercial establishments

10 hours

Extra hours cap (since 11 Sep 2025)

Shops

144 hours in a quarter

Commercial establishments

144 hours in a quarter

Overtime pay

Shops

Twice the ordinary rate

Commercial establishments

Twice the ordinary rate

Spread-over

Shops

12 hours

Commercial establishments

12 hours

Weekly closing day

Shops

One fixed day

Commercial establishments

One fixed day

Women at night: the June 2025 notification

Section 25 restricts women from working between 9 pm and 7 am. On 27 June 2025 the State issued a notification under section 3(2), replacing an earlier one of 1 August 2022, that switches off that restriction for shops and commercial establishments that meet five conditions. The employer must take each woman's written consent and employ women at night in batches of at least five. The Maternity Benefit Act and related laws must be followed. The workplace must be safe and secure, with women guards at entry and exit where ten or more women are employed. Toilets, washrooms and drinking water must be available, with well-lit, CCTV-covered passages to them and a separate rest room where ten or more women work. The employer must comply fully with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 — see our POSH compliance guide.

Before rostering women after 9 pm (notification of 27 June 2025)

0/7

• Written consent from each woman employee
• At least five women on the night shift
• Maternity Benefit Act followed
• Women guards at entry and exit (10+ women employed)
• Lit, CCTV-covered passage to toilets and drinking water
• Separate rest room (10+ women employed)
• Internal Committee and POSH Act compliance

Share Print

Draft fire and hazard rules for registered shops

In June 2026 the Labour Department published draft Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Fire and Hazard Prevention) Rules, 2026, under section 33 as rewritten in 2014, with seven days for objections. The draft would apply to every shop and commercial establishment registered under the Act. It proposes BIS-standard fire extinguishers inspected every six months and serviced annually, illuminated exit signs, two emergency exits where structurally feasible, a six-monthly mock drill, an annual electrical inspection by a licensed contractor, a designated fire-safety person, a fire safety register for the Inspector, and fire alarms and smoke detectors for establishments with ten to fifty employees. Larger premises and high-risk ones such as malls, hotels, cinemas and warehouses would need sprinklers or a fire NOC.

We could not confirm whether the draft has been notified in final form. Even so, the basics in it — working extinguishers, clear exits and a register of servicing — are cheap to put in place and are what a local fire authority would expect anyway.

Worked example: an Indore clothing store

Jain Fashions opens on M.G. Road, Indore on 1 November with ten sales staff, a cashier and a security guard supplied by an agency, twelve people in all.

Registration. Indore is a Schedule I area, so the Act applies from the day the store opens. The owner applies on the portal by 1 December, within 30 days, choosing the "shop" category and Tuesday as the weekly closing day. She pays the fee the portal calculates, which cannot exceed ₹2,500, and prints the certificate for the cash counter. Because the store employs fewer than twenty-one people, a routine inspection needs the Labour Commissioner's permission, but every rule on hours, holidays and wages still applies.

Overtime. In the Diwali fortnight, a sales assistant works 54 hours in one week, six beyond the weekly limit. On the State's unskilled rate of ₹12,575 a month (about ₹484 a day), and taking an eight-hour day as the base, his ordinary rate is about ₹60 an hour. At twice that rate, the six extra hours cost about ₹726. Those six hours count towards the 144 hours in a quarter cap for the October–December quarter. Well-run stores pay above the minimum, so use actual wages and check the current rates on our Madhya Pradesh minimum wages page.

Changes. In March she moves to a larger shop on the same road. She updates the address on the portal within 7 days and downloads the amended certificate before the bank asks for it.

Other compliance. With more than ten employees she checks ESIC coverage, sets up an Internal Committee under the POSH Act because she employs 10 or more workers, registers for professional tax in Madhya Pradesh and will need PF registration once headcount reaches 20 or more employees.

Penalties, compounding and inspections

Section 44 of the Act, as amended in 1982, punishes most contraventions — failing to register, breaching the hours, holiday and leave rules, or employing a child, young person or woman in breach of the Act — with a fine of ₹50 to ₹500 for the employer and the manager each. If a failure to register continues after conviction, a further daily fine applies. Making false entries in registers is more serious: section 47 allows up to a year's imprisonment, a fine, or both. Repeat offenders face enhanced fines under section 48.

Since the 2014 amendment, section 53 lets an authorised officer compound a first offence, or an offence committed more than two years after the previous one, for a composition fee of between half and the whole of the maximum fine. Compounding before prosecution ends the case; compounding after prosecution starts counts as an acquittal.

The fines are small, but they are rarely the real risk. A cancelled certificate, a show-cause notice under the April 2026 circular, or an inspection that moves on to wage registers and minimum-wage payments under the Labour Codes can cost far more.

MP gumasta registration — what to do

Step 1

Check the Act applies to your area

Step 2

Apply on the portal

within 30 days

Step 3

Pay fee

capped at ₹2,500

Step 4

Display the certificate

Step 5

Update changes

within 7 days

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Assuming small shops are exempt. Unlike Rajasthan or Haryana, Madhya Pradesh has no headcount exemption from registration. The 2025 relief for units with up to twenty employees is about inspections, not registration. Fix: register even if you work alone.

Paying for "renewal". The substituted section 6 has no renewal provision. Fix: if your old certificate shows an expiry date, ask the district Labour Office whether it has been migrated to the portal register instead of paying an agent.

Uploading weak documents. Blurred rent agreements, unsigned forms and stock photographs are the main reasons certificates are now being cancelled. Fix: re-upload clear, signed copies and keep the originals.

Forgetting to update the portal. A new address, a change of manager or a jump in staff numbers is a change in particulars. Fix: update within 7 days, and report closure within 10 days so you are not treated as an operating business.

Running seven days a week without a closing day. Section 13 still requires one weekly closing day unless the State has exempted your class of shop. Fix: notify a closing day and display it.

Assuming the Labour Codes replaced the Shops Act. The four Codes came into force on 21 November 2025, but State shops acts continue alongside them. Follow both, and pay overtime at the higher rate where they differ. Our Labour Codes guide tracks the changes.

Official links

• Labour Department, Madhya Pradesh — shops and establishmentsPortal entry, register of shops, report unregistered units
• Labour Department notificationsSecond Amendment Act 2025, women's night-work notification
• Labour Commissioner circularsCircular of 9 April 2026 on auto-approved registrations
• MP Shops and Establishments Act, 1958 with 2014 and 2025 amendments (PDF, PRS)Full text
• Act 20 of 2025 — gazette copy (PDF)144 hours a quarter, published 11 Sep 2025

What to do next

Check that the Act applies where your shop is, then apply on the Labour Department portal within 30 days of opening, with clean, signed documents and a true photograph of the premises. Display the certificate, fix a weekly closing day, and set up an hours and overtime register so the quarterly cap is easy to track. Check pay against the Madhya Pradesh minimum wages; our salary slip generator itemises overtime clearly and the hourly rate calculator works out the double rate. If you have a branch in Jaipur too, see the Rajasthan shop act guide.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Is a gumasta licence mandatory in Madhya Pradesh?

Yes, for every shop and establishment in an area where the Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1958 applies, which covers the cities and towns notified by the State. Section 6, as substituted from 15 December 2025, requires the employer to apply on the Labour Department portal within 30 days of the Act applying to the establishment. There is no headcount exemption from registration.

What is the gumasta licence fee in MP?

The Act now says the fee will be whatever the rules prescribe but cannot exceed ₹2,500 per establishment. We could not find the current fee schedule in an official source, and older guides quote slabs under the 1959 Rules that may be out of date. Pay only the amount the Labour Department portal calculates when you apply.

Does the MP shop act registration need renewal?

The new section 6, in force since 15 December 2025, does not contain the old power to demand periodic renewal. The certificate is generated by the portal and stays on the register until you report closure. You must still update any change in your details within 7 days and report closure within 10 days.

How long does gumasta registration take in Madhya Pradesh?

Usually minutes. Since 12 September 2025 the portal has issued registrations automatically once the documents are uploaded and the fee is paid. A Labour Commissioner circular of April 2026 orders random checks of at least 10% of certificates and cancellation of any obtained with false or incomplete documents, so upload clear, signed papers.

What are the working hours under the MP Shops Act?

An employee may work up to 48 hours a week, with a daily limit of 9 hours in a shop and 10 hours in a commercial establishment. Since September 2025 extra work is capped at 144 hours in a quarter rather than six hours a week, and overtime is paid at twice the ordinary wage rate.

Can women work at night in MP shops?

Yes, on conditions. A June 2025 notification lifts the 9 pm to 7 am bar in section 25 if the employer takes written consent, employs women at night in batches of at least five, follows maternity law, provides a safe workplace with women guards where ten or more women work, lit and CCTV-covered access to facilities, and complies with the POSH Act.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 13 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1958 (Act 25 of 1958) with amendments of 2014 and 2025 appended — PRS Legislative Research (gazette texts) · accessed 13 October 2026
2. 2.Madhya Pradesh Gazette Extraordinary No. 254, 11 September 2025 — Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 20 of 2025) — Law and Legislative Affairs Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh (gazette copy via Simpliance) · accessed 13 October 2026
3. 3.Madhya Pradesh Gazette Extraordinary No. 320, 1 December 2025 — Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025 (Bill No. 19 of 2025) — Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretariat (gazette copy via Simpliance) · accessed 13 October 2026
4. 4.Labour Department, Madhya Pradesh — Notifications, Circulars and Acts & Rules listings — Labour Commissioner, Madhya Pradesh · accessed 13 October 2026
5. 5.Circular 7237-90, 9 April 2026 — cancellation of auto-generated registrations issued on incorrect or false documents — Labour Commissioner, Madhya Pradesh, Indore · accessed 13 October 2026
6. 6.Labour Department, Madhya Pradesh — shops and establishments services — Labour Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh · accessed 13 October 2026
7. 7.Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Act, 2025 explained — SCC Online · accessed 13 October 2026
8. 8.Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Act, 2025 — TeamLease RegTech · accessed 13 October 2026