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Karnataka Amends Shops Act, Removing Night-Shift Safeguards for Women
Karnataka changed a law that affects shops and commercial workplaces.
The change removes several detailed safety rules for women who travel to or from work at night.
These rules included checking drivers, watching travel routes and sometimes providing security guards.
They also kept workers’ addresses and phone details private.
A workers’ union called KITU says this could make night-shift employees less safe.
The union wants the removed rules brought back.
The law still has other conditions for employing women at night.
The government has not yet given a detailed public explanation for removing these specific rules.
Karnataka’s 2026 amendment removes clauses 25(1)(h) to 25(1)(o) from the Shops and Commercial Establishments law.
The deleted clauses covered driver verification, route monitoring, vehicle checks, security guards and transport-control arrangements.
They also protected women employees’ contact details and addresses and addressed pickup and drop-off sequencing.
The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union criticized the change and called for the safeguards to be restored.
Other Section 25 provisions remain, while the amendment also grants establishments lifetime registration validity and makes procedural changes.
- Who
- The Karnataka government, employers, women employees and the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union are involved.
- What
- Karnataka amended its Shops and Commercial Establishments law, removing eight groups of night-shift safeguards for women employees.
- Where
- Karnataka, particularly workplaces in the information technology and IT-enabled services sectors.
- When
- The amendment received the Governor’s assent earlier in 2026 and took effect after publication.
- Why
- The stated policy reason for deleting the safeguards has not been publicly detailed by the state government; KITU says the removal weakens worker safety.
Worker-safety concerns
Legal and administrative position
Effect on women’s night-shift safety
Worker-safety concerns
KITU says deleting the transport, driver-verification, route-monitoring and security provisions dilutes protections for women workers, especially in IT and IT-enabled services.
Legal and administrative position
The amendment does not remove every legal condition governing women’s night-shift employment; other Section 25 provisions and obligations under other laws remain applicable.
Employer compliance
Worker-safety concerns
KITU argues that employee safety should not be treated as a compliance burden and has urged the government to restore the deleted provisions.
Legal and administrative position
The amendment includes procedural and compliance-related changes, but the state government has not issued a detailed public explanation of why the eight clauses were omitted.
Key facts
- Law
- Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2026
- Removed provisions
- Clauses 25(1)(h) through 25(1)(o)
- Affected workers
- Women employees working night shifts
- Deleted safeguards
- Driver verification, route monitoring, vehicle checks, travel-control arrangements and some security deployment
- Privacy protection removed
- Confidentiality provisions covering women employees’ personal contact details and addresses
- Remaining requirements
- Other provisions under Section 25 and obligations under other labour, workplace-safety and sexual-harassment laws continue to apply
- Additional change
- Establishment registrations now have lifetime validity
Quotes
Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU)
A trade union representing employees in Karnataka’s information technology and IT-enabled services sectors
“The amendment removes key safeguards relating to transportation, driver verification, route monitoring and security escorts for women working night shifts.”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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