Jul 27, 2026
Repeal of Bihar Shops and Establishments Act by Way of Ordinance
The Governor of Bihar has, by way of the Bihar Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Repeal) Ordinance, 2026 (‘Ordinance’) dated June 1, 2026, repealed the Bihar Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2025 (‘Bihar S&E Act’).
The stated rationale is the overlap between the Bihar S&E Act and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (‘OSH Code’) (with respect to certain provisions such as work hours, leave, etc.) and the need to eliminate overlapping provisions to accelerate industrial investment in the State.
Bihar is the first State to have repealed its Shops and Establishments (‘S&E’) legislation outright. However, since the Ordinance is inherently temporary in nature, the Bihar State legislature will need to enact a corresponding law ratifying the repeal, for the repeal to attain permanence.
Given these developments, it may be reasonable to expect similar actions in other States as well. The key question that remains is whether States will decide to follow Bihar’s lead in repealing S&E laws outright, or adopt a more limited approach of issuing clarifications / exemptions as done by Maharashtra and Haryana.
Other States Addressing Overlap Between State S&E Acts and OSH Code
Other States have also taken steps to address the overlap between their respective S&E Acts and the OSH Code:
- Maharashtra, by way of a Circular dated April 30, 2026, has clarified that establishments registered under the OSH Code are not required to separately register under the Maharashtra S&E (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, while requiring continued compliance with other provisions to the extent not inconsistent with the OSH Code;
- Haryana, by way of a Notification dated May 4, 2026, has issued a similar exemption as Maharashtra; and
- Madhya Pradesh has introduced the Madhya Pradesh Code on Empowering Work Spaces, 2026, which contemplates the repeal of the Madhya Pradesh S&E, 1958 and consolidation into a single State code aligned with the central labour codes, though this code has not yet been passed into law.