Karnataka Shops and Establishment Registration for Restaurants (2026): Fees and the New Rules

Every restaurant, café and bar in Karnataka has to register under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act within 30 days of opening. You apply on the labour department's e-Karmika portal, and the fee depends on how many people you employ: ₹810 for 1 to 9 staff, ₹5,400 for 10 to 19. The Act's own definition of a commercial establishment names "a hotel, restaurant, boarding or eating house, a cafe or any other refreshment house", so there's no question it covers you.

The rules changed on 4 September 2026. Karnataka's Amendment Act 38 of 2026 made the registration valid until you close, raised the fines and decriminalised most offences. This guide covers the fees, the process, the new rules, and the staff rules that come with the certificate.

Key takeaways

• Register within 30 days of opening. The 30 days run from "the date on which the establishment commences its work", under section 4 of the Act.
• Most restaurants pay ₹810 or ₹5,400. The fee table was revised in early 2025 and runs by headcount, from ₹405 with no employees to ₹1,01,250 above 1,000.
• No more five-year renewals. Since 4 September 2026, a registration "shall be valid until the closure or cessation of business of the establishment".
• Fines went up, jail mostly went away. Missing registration now carries a fine of up to ₹3,000 for a first offence, and most offences can be settled by paying half the fine.
• The registration brings staff rules with it. Nine-hour days, double-rate overtime, a weekly day off for every employee, and conditions for women working after 8 pm.

Who needs Shops and Establishment registration in Karnataka

Every restaurant, café, bar, bakery-café and cloud kitchen in an area the Act covers needs it, whatever its size. The fee schedule even has a line for establishments with no employees, so don't wait until you hire. Members of your own family don't count as employees under the Act's definition, but they don't remove the need to register.

The registration is separate from your other licences. It sits alongside your FSSAI licence, your city trade licence and GST, and it's issued by the labour department, not the municipality. If you're opening in Bengaluru, our guide to the BBMP trade license covers the city side, and our restaurant licence checklist puts all of them in order.

There's one new exemption. The 2026 amendment says the Act doesn't apply to an establishment "employing ten or more workers, if already registered under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020".

In practice, that changes little for now. Law firm L&E Global noted in October 2026 that Karnataka hasn't yet notified its rules under that Code, so there's no working registration to use instead. Register under the Shops Act unless your adviser tells you otherwise.

Karnataka Shops and Establishment registration fees

The fee is a one-time payment set by your number of employees. Karnataka revised Schedule I of its Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules in early 2025, and these are the current figures:

Source: the revised Schedule I as published by Lexplosion in February 2025, citing the Karnataka Gazette; the same figures appear in India Briefing's June 2026 summary, citing e-Karmika. The portal assesses your fee when you apply, so pay what it shows.

Notice the jump at 10 employees. Going from 9 to 10 staff takes the fee from ₹810 to ₹5,400, so count correctly. The Act's definition of employee covers permanent, contract, piece-rate and commission staff, and apprentices, so your part-time kitchen helper counts too.

How to register on e-Karmika

You apply online through the labour department's e-Karmika portal. Since the 2026 amendment, the Act itself says the application, the fee and the certificate all go "through electronic or digital mode". The steps:

1. Create an account. Choose new registration and enter the establishment's name, address, owner details and employee count. Login details come to your email and phone.
2. Fill in Form A. This is the statement section 4 asks for: the employer's and manager's names, the postal address and the establishment's name, plus the details the form prescribes.
3. Upload your documents. Have the owner's PAN and ID, address proof for the premises (rent agreement or property papers), and your partnership deed or incorporation certificate if you aren't a sole owner.
4. Pay the fee online. The portal works out the amount from your headcount.
5. Download and display the certificate. Section 4(2) says it "shall be prominently displayed at the establishment". Put it near your FSSAI licence.

On paper, the amendment also shortened the inspector's deadline. Section 4(3A) now gives the inspector seven days instead of thirty to refuse with reasons, after which the establishment "shall be deemed to have been registered".

The catch is that the consolidated Act on the state's law department site still notes that this clause, added in 2005, "is yet to be brought into force". Don't treat silence as approval. Wait for the certificate.

What changed in September 2026

The 2026 amendment came into force on 4 September 2026, when it was published in the Karnataka Gazette. For a restaurant owner, five changes matter.

Registration no longer expires. The new section 4(5) reads: "The registration once issued under section 4 shall be valid until the closure or cessation of business of the establishment." Before this, certificates lasted five years and you paid the full fee again to renew.

There's a loose end. Section 4(4), which still says a certificate is valid "for five years" and must be renewed, wasn't removed. L&E Global flags the clash in its note. Until the labour department clarifies it, keep your certificate safe and check its status on e-Karmika before the old five-year date comes round.

You can't keep staff's original documents. New section 6-C says no employer shall retain "original educational certificates, experience certificates or any other original documents of an employee". Many restaurants still hold a cook's or steward's originals as security against them leaving. Return them, and take photocopies instead.

Service certificates within seven days. New section 6-B requires you to issue a service certificate within seven days of an employee asking for one. When a captain leaves for another job and asks for proof of service, you have a week.

Higher fines, mostly without jail. The table below compares the old and new penalties under section 30 and related sections.

Most offences can be settled. Under the new section 33-A, the labour officer can compound an offence by collecting 50 percent of the fine for a first offence and 75 percent for a repeat. The same offence can't be compounded more than twice in a year. You also get a right to be heard first, and an appeal to an officer of at least Assistant Labour Commissioner rank within 30 days.

The staff rules that come with registration

Registration is the easy part. The Act also sets working conditions, and an inspector checks these, not just whether the certificate is on the wall.

• Hours. No more than nine hours a day and 48 a week, with overtime capped so the total stays within ten hours a day and 50 overtime hours in three months (section 7).
• Overtime pay. Twice the normal rate for anything over nine hours a day or 48 a week (section 8).
• Breaks. No stretch longer than five hours without a rest of at least an hour, and the whole working day, breaks included, can't spread over more than 12 hours (sections 9 and 10). A split shift of 11 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 11 pm fits within that.
• A weekly day off. Every employee gets "at least one whole day in a week as a holiday", with no wage cut for it (section 12).
• Leave. One day of paid leave for every 20 days worked, plus up to 12 days a year for sickness or other reasonable cause (section 15).
• Appointment orders. A written order with name, designation, wage scale and terms within 30 days of hiring (section 6A).

Pay has to meet Karnataka's minimum wages too. The state revised them across 81 scheduled employments in a May 2026 notification, India Briefing reported. Our guide to restaurant labour cost in India covers what a realistic staff bill looks like.

Women working after 8 pm

The Act defines night as a period that includes 8 pm to 6 am. A woman employee "who is so willing" may work at night under section 25, subject to conditions. The ones that remain after the 2026 amendment include:

• her willingness in writing
• free transport from home and back, with adequate security and GPS tracking
• work on a rotation basis
• enough security guards on the night shift
• separate rest rooms, toilets and lockers

The amendment removed eight of the more detailed conditions, including driver background checks, route planning and a control room. It also replaced the jail term for breaking these rules with a fine of at least ₹10,000. Under section 25(2), failing the conditions can also cost you your registration certificate. For a restaurant where women servers, hosts or cashiers close at 11 pm, the written consent and the drop home are the two you must get right.

Staying open late or 24x7

Registration doesn't fix your opening hours, but the Act lets the state do so by notification. In September 2024, Karnataka permitted establishments "employing ten or more persons to be open on 24 X 7 basis on all days of the year for a period of three years". The conditions: extra staff so everyone gets a weekly day off by rotation, wages paid into bank accounts, eight-hour days, and the transport and consent rules for women.

The labour department's permission isn't the whole story. When the order came out, Deccan Herald reported that Bengaluru restaurants were allowed to stay open till 1 am, and that the city's hotels association was still seeking police permission to go further. Bars are separate again: their hours come from the excise licence, covered in our guide to the CL-9 licence in Karnataka.

A worked example

Take a new café in Indiranagar, Bengaluru, opening on 1 December 2026 with an assumed staff of 12: four in the kitchen, five on the floor, two at the counter and one cleaner. The owner's brother runs the cash desk but isn't counted, because family members aren't employees under the Act.

• Fee: 12 employees falls in the 10 to 19 band, so ₹5,400, paid once.
• Deadline: 30 days from opening, so by 31 December 2026.
• If they miss it: a fine of up to ₹3,000 for a first offence, which the labour officer can compound at 50 percent, so ₹1,500.
• Renewal: none, under the 2026 amendment, as long as the café keeps trading.

Under the old rules, the café would have paid ₹5,400 again every five years. Over ten years of trading, the amendment saves it ₹10,800 in renewal fees. Two of the floor staff are women closing at 11 pm, so the owner needs their written consent and a safe drop home for both.

FAQ

Is Shops and Establishment registration mandatory for restaurants in Karnataka?

Yes. The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act names hotels, restaurants, eating houses and cafés as commercial establishments, and section 4 requires every employer to register within 30 days of the business starting. The fee table includes establishments with no employees, so a small café or cloud kitchen needs it too.

What is the Shops and Establishment registration fee in Karnataka?

It depends on headcount. Under the Schedule I revised in early 2025, it's ₹405 with no employees, ₹810 for 1 to 9, ₹5,400 for 10 to 19, ₹13,500 for 20 to 49 and ₹27,000 for 50 to 99. It's a one-time fee, since the September 2026 amendment removed five-year renewals.

Do I need to renew my Karnataka Shops and Establishment certificate?

Not under the 2026 amendment, which says a registration is valid "until the closure or cessation of business". The older five-year clause wasn't deleted, though, so the two provisions conflict. Keep your certificate and check its status on e-Karmika near its old five-year date until the labour department clarifies the position.

What is the penalty for not registering under the Karnataka Shops Act?

Since September 2026, a fine of up to ₹3,000 for a first offence and up to ₹5,000 for a repeat, under section 30. Most offences can be compounded by paying 50 percent of the fine the first time and 75 percent after that, as long as the same offence hasn't been compounded twice in a year.

Can women staff work night shifts in a Karnataka restaurant?

Yes, if they're willing in writing and the restaurant meets the conditions in section 25. These include free transport home with security and GPS, rotation, security guards and separate facilities. Breaking them carries a fine of at least ₹10,000 and can lead to cancellation of the registration certificate.

What to do next

If you're opening a restaurant in Karnataka, count your staff, including part-timers and contract workers, and register on e-Karmika in your first month. If you already hold a certificate, check it's displayed, return any original documents you're holding for staff, and set a seven-day turnaround for service certificates.

The same headcount drives your labour bill every month. dineomAI takes orders at the table from a QR code, so a smaller floor team can serve a full room. Book a short demo to see it on your own menu.