Looks like the cheer that restaurants and bars in Maharashtra felt was short-lived. Under Unlock 5.0 guidelines and Mission Begin Again, Maharashtra government had allowed bars and restaurants to reopen beginning October 5, 2020.
However, confusion over their closing times remain. Now, Hotel & Restaurants Associations (HRAWI) has written a letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking clarity on the issue.
Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the letter.
HRAWI, represents hotels and restaurants across the Western region including the States of Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, and the Union Territories of Diu Daman and Silvassa.
In a letter dated Oct 6, 2020, the association stated, “The Local Bodies (Municipal) are asking the establishments to close completely after 7 PM. As such there are different deadlines being imposed at the District / City. Municipal Corporations of Thane and Navi Mumbai have imposed 7PM deadline for Restaurants to shut down.”
“Further, at many places in Mumbai , the Police has also forced Restaurants to shut down stating that there is no clear permission to keep Restaurant open as usual and/or as per license conditions," the letter mentioned.
The government had allowed restaurants and bars to remain open with 50 percent capacity from October 5, however, the government did not specify closing timings.
Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, The Federation of Hotel & Restaurants Associations of India told Moneycontrol that 80 percent of the restaurant business comes from dinner.
“Maharashtra government wants us to shut restaurants and bars by 7PM, along with that they have also restricted seating capacity then how will restaurants make money,” Singh added.
The association of Western India also stated in the letter that Hospitality Industry is severely affected in this pandemic due to the complete lockdown of more than 4 months.
The association further pointed out that instead of easing and bringing relief to the Industry in the opening of Restaurants & Bars, the closure by 7 PM will result in immense losses.
Business during lunch is way below average and it is the dinner service that is a major contributor to the revenue. Furthermore, the members have incurred huge costs in mobilising restart of operations and such restrictions will be disastrous, the letter said.
While the food delivery business has done well, COVID-induced lockdown has affected dining out category the most.
According to a report by food delivery firm Zomato, 40 percent of the dining out restaurants may not reopen at all owing to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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