Karnataka State Legislature enacted this Act to further amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961. The Act received the assent of the Governor on September 3, 2026, and was first published in the Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary on September 4, 2026. It was notified by the Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation Secretariat vide Notification No. DPAL 32 SHASANA 2026, signed by G. Sridhar, Secretary to Government, Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation. The Kannada text is stated to be an authoritative text under Section 6 of the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act, 2022.

The Act amends multiple sections of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, covering:

1. Exemption from registration for establishments already registered under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (new clause (k) in Section 3(1)
2. Introduction of electronic/digital mode for registration applications, issuance, renewal and related processes, and reduction of certain timelines under Section 4
3. Provision for registration to remain valid until closure of business, with omission of the renewal-related sub-section (6)
4. Increase in penalty amounts and removal of imprisonment provision under Section 4(8)
5. Electronic/digital notification to Inspector under Section 6
6. Insertion of new Sections 6-B (service certificate to be issued within seven days) and 6-C (prohibition on employers retaining employees’ original documents)
7. Updated statutory references replacing the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 with the Code on Wages, 2019 and Code on Social Security, 2020 respectively (Sections 21, 22)
8. Omission of certain clauses under Section 25(1
9. Revised penalty amounts under Sections 30 and 33
10. Substitution of Section 33-A relating to compounding of offences by the jurisdictional Labour Officer and
11. Insertion of new Section 33-B providing for appeal against orders passed under Section 33-A.

The amendments apply to shops and commercial establishments registered or regulated under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, and to employers and employees covered under the Act.