Voters will get up to 20 percent discounts in select shops, restaurants and multiplexes in Mumbai after showing the inked finger, Election Commission officials announced here on Friday.
Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra on November 20.
The initiative, aimed at encouraging voting, was being undertaken after holding discussions with associations of traders, multiplex owners and restaurant owners, said an official.
The poll body on Friday launched `Utsav Nivadnukicha, Abhiman Maharashtracha', (Festival of Elections, Maharashtra's Pride), a voting awareness campaign which aims to increase voter turnout.
The event at the Gateway of India was attended by officials of the Election Commission, the Mumbai police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation besides celebrities including actor Varsha Usgaonkar, Mohan Joshi, Rohit Shetty and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane. India Post also released a special cancellation at the function which will be in operation till November 20.
Farogh Mukadam, nodal election officer for Mumbai, said the discount initiative was the brainchild of Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, the district election officer for Mumbai city and the Mumbai suburban district.
Gagrani conducted a meeting with representatives of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, Multiplexes Association of India, Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, Association of Hotel and Restaurants, and some other trade bodies on October 31. -- PTI