Maharashtra Factories (Second Amendment) Rules, 2025- A comprehensive modernisation of Maharashtra’s Factory compliance framework

The Government of Maharashtra, through its Industries, Energy, Labour & Mining Department, has issued the Maharashtra Factories (Second Amendment) Rules, 2025 (“Amendment Rules”), via dated 3 October 2025. This is a major overhaul of the earlier Maharashtra Factories Rules, 1963 under the Factories Act, 1948, and brings into sharp focus three intersecting themes: digital governance, worker-wellbeing (particularly health & safety), and gender-inclusive workplace regulation.

Key employer implications

For employers operating manufacturing units, industrial parks, or factories in Maharashtra, these changes require urgent attention. The Amendment Rules impose a number of new obligations and procedural shifts that cannot be treated simply as paperwork updates they reflect a shift in regulatory philosophy. Below are some critical employer takeaways:

1. Full digitalisation of licensing, registration & renewals

Under Rules 3, 5, 6, 8, 14 & 15, the Amendment Rules mandate that all factory-licence applications, renewals, notices of occupation and managerial-change filings must now be made electronically (e-Form 1, 4 etc.). References to “duplicate”, “triplicate”, or manual submissions have been deleted. Practically, this means that operators must ensure their digital-filing architecture is operational, their authorised signatories hold reliable digital signatures, and their teams are trained in e-portal workflows. Delays or misfiling could trigger non-compliance even if substantive safety or operational standards are otherwise met.

2. Certificate of stability & structural compliance

A new Rule 3-A has been introduced, under which any non-hazardous factory building must have a Certificate of Stability (Form 1A) issued by a “competent person” within twelve months of the licence being issued under Rule 6A. The responsibility now firmly lies with the occupier. For employers, this means structural-engineering audits or certifications need to be lined up, and internal timelines must be tightened to avoid licensing consequences.

3. Revised fee schedules (Schedules A & B)

Schedules A and B governing licence fees for general factories and power-generating stations respectively have been wholly substituted. Fees are now graduated based on installed capacity (horsepower/megawatts) and worker-strength, with large-scale units seeing higher bracketed fees (for example, a 1000-worker factory with certain horsepower may face a licence fee of Rs 1,38,600 or more). Employers should reassess budgeting for licence renewals, align their cap-ex plans accordingly, and ensure forecasting factors in these incremental costs.

4. Enhanced worker health & safety protocols

New Rule 18-A mandates that all workers aged 45 years and above (outside hazardous units) must undergo medical examinations by a qualified practitioner, ESIC/SVIS doctor or institute, with results entered online via Form 7-A within 15 days. Rule 73-ID introduces mandatory mock drills every six months (covering fire, chemical-leak, explosion scenarios) with reports submitted to inspectors within 15 days of each drill. For employers: your Health & Safety (“H&S”) calendar must now reflect these timelines; your internal SOPs must show names, schedules and digital registers, your EHS budget must factor in third-party audits and new audit governance.

5. Gender-sensitive protections for women workers

Under Rule 102-B, the amended framework sets out detailed requirements for women employed in night shifts (7 pm–6 am) including: secure transportation to and from work, well-lit pathways and amenities, CCTV coverage (retention 45 days), written consent forms retained for three years, minimum presence of two women at any time on shift, and grievance-mechanism meetings every eight weeks. Further, Rule 114 & 114-A extend protection to pregnant and lactating women prohibiting them from hazardous operations (teratogenic/carcinogenic), mandating protective equipment and training in local language. Employers must ensure their HR policies, shift-rosters, transport-arrangements, grievance-forums and CCTV systems are compliant failure could lead not just to inspector findings but potential employment-law claims.

6. Rationalising thresholds for medical officers

Rule 73-W revises thresholds for when factories must appoint medical officers: small units escalate from 50 workers to 150; medium correspondingly; large from 500 to 1,000 workers. Medical-officer applicants must now have at least three years’ experience in industrial health. This eases some burdens for smaller units but increases employer accountability for properly credentialled health-personnel when required.

Strategic and operational priorities for employers

• Audit internal compliance status: Map current factory licences, digital-filing readiness, medical-examination schedules, mock-drill calendar, and women-night-shift protections.
• Update policies and SOPs: Your factory-operations manual, HR handbook and EHS protocol must explicitly reference the Amendment Rules and implement the new forms, time-limits and systems.
• Budget and forecasting: Factor the increased licence/renewal fees, health-safety cost increases, transport/grievance-mechanism for women, updated medical-exams and audits.
• Train and inform: Conduct trainings (multilingual where required) for operations teams, HR, safety officers, and women workers to ensure awareness of rights and responsibilities.
• Document and digitise: Maintain proof of e-filings, digital signatures, licenses, Form 1A certificates, medical registers, mock-drill logs, CCTV recordings, consent forms and women-night-shift compliance. Inspectors will increasingly expect digital audit-trails.
• Review multi-location strategy: If you operate factories across states, align the Maharashtra unit(s) to this regime and identify any differences from other state frameworks or central codes (e.g., Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020). The amendments align with national digital-governance and ESG (environmental, social, governance) expectations.

Conclusion

The Maharashtra Factories (Second Amendment) Rules, 2025 represent the most substantial update to the state’s factory regulation in a decade or more. They signal a shift from purely procedural oversight to a layered model of digital governance, preventive health, gender-sensitive safety, ESG alignment. For employers, they present both an opportunity and a mandate: to streamline compliance, modernise operations, protect workers more effectively, and position their factories as future-ready. Ignoring the changes is not an option the consequences of non-compliance are far greater than delayed licence renewals; they include reputational damage, operational interruption and legal liabilities.