Taking into account the hardships caused by the curbs imposed on restaurants, the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), the apex body of the industry, wrote to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and also met the NCP Chief Sharad Pawar seeking their support to bail out the beleaguered industry.
This development came days after Maharashtra government announced fresh restrictions on January 8, which mentioned restaurants and eateries will operate at 50 per cent capacity, with the current number of visitors being displayed on the notice board. These too can only remain open till 10 pm.
Therefore, recently, AHAR, in a letter to the CM Uddhav Thackeray, requested to extend the timings of dine-in services in restaurants and bars from the current 10 pm to 12 am, as the current timings are unviable for restaurants to operate.
It also requested specific guidelines regarding availability of food delivery services round the clock for the benefit of consumers. In the letter, AHAR stated that this will help reduction in incidents of harassments during implementation, help in providing job opportunities to those rendered jobless because of the pandemic and also ensure regular flow of business to other ancillary services like farm produce, poultry products, fisheries, dairy products, transporters etc.
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Moreover, the AHAR President Shivanand Shetty in a meeting with NCP Chief Sharad Pawar requested him to support the restaurants’ demands.
Commenting on this, Shivanand Shetty, President, AHAR said, “Disruptions witnessed for the past two years have thrown the industry into dire straits forcing many businesses to shut. We have sought extension of dine-in services till 12am along with request for 50% reduction of FL III License Fee for the year 2022-23. This waiver will help in generating revenue for the Government and also help re-opening of establishments. This industry not only provides job opportunities but supports other allied sectors enormously and hence support from the Government is the need of the hour.”
In another letter AHAR appraised the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, about how the frequent disruptions has hit the industry and requested for reduction in the amount of FL III License Fee to the tune of 50% of the existing license fee, to compensate for the loss of regular business.
Also Read: Maharashtra: No Relaxation In Restrictions Till Middle Of February, Says Rajesh Tope
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