While the rulebook says that signboards should include a display in Devnagari also, the MNS has been adamant that the Marathi font should be the boldest. President of the MNS labour union, Manoj Chavan, said those who don’t comply will have to “face the consequences”. “We have waited long enough,” he said. “Shopkeepers have to decide whether they want to save their shops or save their nameplates that don’t have Marathi. The outcome will be there for all to see on Friday.”

According to the Shops and Establishments Act, 1961, violating the rule attracts a fine of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000, applicable till the owners include Devnagari in their signboards. But MNS leaders are now calling the fines “merely symbolic”. General secretary of the party Shirish Parkar said: “Had the state government or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation been really concerned about Marathi signboards they wouldn’t have sat on it for all these years. The BMC has collected some fines, but more serious action needs to be taken.”

Stating that other states, particularly in the South, enforce the rule regarding signboards in the local language, MNS men said they are expecting to receive precise instructions on how to protest non-compliance from Raj Thackeray himself, who is to address a meeting on Wednesday.

“We will definitely not blacken signboards. It will be more serious than that,” said MNS divisional president Yeshwant Killedar from the Prabhadevi-Mahim area. He admitted that his partymen had been warning shopkeepers in this area, following which around 90 per cent have already made the change.

The MNS has also refused any extension of the August 28 deadline. Pointing out that similar directions on Marathi nameplates had been issued by the BMC too, Parkar said genuine cases could be given some more time to make the switch. He also cited a telecom major, which he said had asked the party for an extension of five days, to erect 1,500 Marathi signboards at its outlets in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad.