Retailers seek time to display Tamil nameboards; Madras High Court directs Chennai Corporation to consider plea

Shops at Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai. Image used for representational purposes only | Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran

The Madras High Court has directed the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to consider a representation made by an association of retailers to grant them more time to comply with the legal mandate to display nameboards in Tamil, followed by English and then any other language.

Justice V. Lakshminarayanan disposed of a writ petition filed by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) by directing the civic body to consider its March 21, 2025, representation, seeking extension of time, within four weeks and not to take any coercive action against the retailers until then.

The petitioner’s counsel Vijayan Subramanian told the court that the retailers were forced to approach the court as there was a threat of them being penalised under the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishment Act of 1947 if they do not display Tamil nameboards by May 30, 2025.

Stating that most retailers had put up signage boards using certain fonts and colours to distinguish their brand from others, the petitioner association said it would take significant amount of money, time, and energy to either replace the boards or put up new boards with Tamil names.

Though the members of the association were willing to comply with the legal requirement of displaying their nameboards in Tamil prominently, they would require the grant of a reasonable amount of time to do so, in view of the financial constraints and other problems in ensuring immediate compliance, the petitioner said.

The association feared that the corporation officials might begin issuing show cause notices and imposing fines ranging from ₹500 to ₹2,000 on hoteliers and retail shops that fail to display their nameboards in Tamil prominently.

Published - May 26, 2025 10:56 am IST