Bihar Withdraws Its 2025 Shops & Establishments Act: What the Repeal Ordinance Signals for Employers

The Bihar Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Repeal) Ordinance, 2026, was promulgated on 28th May 2026 and published in the State Gazette on 1st June 2026. It repeals the 2025 Act (Bihar Act-09 of 2025) with immediate effect.

The reason is the point. Once the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, came into force in the state on 21st November 2025, it covered much of the same ground as the state act. Rather than run two overlapping regimes—and with an eye on attracting industrial investment—Bihar chose to step back and let the Central Code occupy the field.

What it means for employers in Bihar:

• Shops and establishments are now regulated under the OSH Code framework, not a separate State S&E law.

• The OSH Code works on applicability thresholds (broadly, ten or more workers). Smaller units that were covered simply as "shops" may now fall outside a dedicated registration regime—each case needs checking.

• The savings clause is narrow: it preserves only proceedings already instituted under the old Act. It does not expressly carry over existing registrations or accrued rights, so don't assume seamless continuity.

The bigger signal: as the four labor codes roll out, older state shops & establishments laws increasingly overlap with the center's framework. Bihar may be the first to formally retire its S&E statute on this logic—it is unlikely to be the last. Multi-state employers should expect their S&E compliance map to keep shifting, state by state.

If you operate in Bihar, now is the time to re-base your registrations and service documentation on the OSH Code rather than the repealed act.