It is past midnight. A resident needs bread, medicine, petrol, pet care services or even a spa session. Not long ago, that search ended in frustration — or a drive to Mohali. Tonight, it ends a few sectors away.The City Beautiful has stopped sleeping.A quiet but sweeping transformation is underway — 179 commercial establishments across Chandigarh now operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the numbers are climbing. The variety is extraordinary: food, tea, bakeries, dairy, chicken and meat, groceries, karyana stores, hotels, restaurants, clubs, fuel pumps, logistics, spas, salons, pet care, IT services, jewellery and pharmacy. Even Bhardwaj Ornaments in Sector 23-C keeps its shutters up through the night.FROM SECTORS TO VILLAGESThe night economy is not confined to elite northern sectors. Sector 8-B’s inner market alone hosts over 30 round-the-clock outlets. Sectors 22, 35, 15, 32, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46 and 47 all figure on the list. Manimajra has three 24×7 establishments. Villages within the UT — Khuda Lahora, Khuda Jassu and Burail — have their own neighbourhood stores open all night.Among the more unusual entries: SHA International Spa in Sector 7 and SKM Salon in Sector 8-B are open round the clock. Zigly, a pet care store in Sector 35-B, means emergency pet supplies are now accessible at 3 am. Blink Commerce — Zepto’s dark store network — has four locations registered. Tealicious Bar (Chai Sutta Bar) and the humble Punjabi Chai Churi stall both burn the midnight oil. A Sector 36-D establishment named M/s Clock Owl perhaps says it best.TWO NOTIFICATIONS, ONE TRANSFORMATIONTwo orders from Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria triggered this change. The first, dated August 14, 2025, invoked Section 28 of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, exempting all registered establishments from closing-hour restrictions the city had followed since 1953. The second, dated March 17, 2026, aligned conditions with the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 — extended to Chandigarh by the Union Home Ministry on December 5, 2025 — raising the permissible working day from 9 to 10 hours, the daily spread-over from 10 to 12 hours, and tripling the overtime ceiling from 50 to 144 hours per quarter.There is no licence, no file, no queue. Establishments simply submit an undertaking to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and follow the prescribed guidelines.WORKER SAFEGUARDS BUILT INThe notifications carry firm protections. No employee works beyond 10 hours a day or 48 hours a week. Overtime is paid at twice the normal rate, mandatorily credited to bank accounts. For women working past 8 pm — requiring written consent — GPS-enabled transport, security escorts, boarding registers and annual self-defence training are compulsory. CCTV with 15-day recording backup and emergency alarms are mandatory on all premises. Violations can result in cancellation of exemption.“No archaic provision should obstruct a legitimate business or a citizen’s genuine need,” Kataria told The Tribune.Speaking to this reporter, Deputy Commissioner and Labour Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, said, “Submit an undertaking, follow the guidelines, and you are ready to serve at any hour. We are here to facilitate, not obstruct.”For seven decades, Chandigarh paradoxically remained India’s most planned city yet oddly frozen after dusk. That era is over — one undertaking, one open shutter at a time.