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Restaurant Association requests Maharashtra govt. to extend business hours

The current time limit for pubs and nightclubs in Mumbai to stay open, set by the city's civic body, is 11:30 pm. According to police officials, the nightclubs are operating till 4 am.

Restaurant Association requests Maharashtra govt. to extend business hours
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Due to the lockdown of several months in the wake of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the revenue of the many restaurant and pubs and clubs in Mumbai has affected severely.

However, after 7 months of shut down, the state government issued guidelines for hotels, food, restaurants and bars allowing them to operate, with a capacity not exceeding 50 per cent of the total staff. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also directed all hotels and restaurants to operate at 33 per cent capacity to maintain social distancing.

Moreover, in December, the BMC started a major drive in pubs and restaurants by fining patrons who were not wearing a mask while the club owners are issued show-cause notices for violating the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 as they were running till late hours.

A recent raid that took place in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, December 22, at around 3 am the retired Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, Sussanne Khan and singer Guru Randhawa were arrested after a raid at Dragonfly Club near the Mumbai airport in Sahar area. A total of 34 people were arrested in the raid, including seven staff members of the Mumbai club.

Read More: Mumbai police raids pub; Sussanne Khan, Guru Randhawa and Suresh Raina arrested

The current time limit for pubs and nightclubs in Mumbai to stay open, set by the city's civic body, is 11:30 pm. According to police officials, the nightclubs are operating till 4 am. Hence, the staff members and owners are either booked or fined with a hefty amount for flouting the rules.

Echoing the view, Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) President Shivanand Shetty said, “We have asked our members to follow all the rules diligently. However, more stringent measures will push the industry into severe hardships. Many restaurants have not opened after the relaxation in October, an indication that they are closed forever. After months of being shut, many restaurants are just limping back to normalcy in the midst of all SOPs.”

While the Christmas and New Year’s is the time for restaurants, pubs and clubs owners to attract more customers. In the wake of a new strain of coronavirus, the Maharashtra government has imposed a night curfew in the state and city from 11 pm to 6 am till January 5.

Expressing his resentment, Shetty said, “We share the concern of the State Government in dealing with the pandemic especially in the wake of the new strain of coronavirus found in the UK. Besides, we have earlier maintained and again requesting the government to extend the business hours so the restaurant and bar owners can control and manage the crowd in a better way.”

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