Restaurants, bars and banquet halls in the city are grappling with financial losses as restrictions come into force to control the spike in Covid cases. While restaurants and bars are allowed to open with 50% capacity with restricted timings, banquet halls have been closed as per the Covid Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
Ranjan Puri, owner of the Grand Imperia Banquet Hall in Azadpur, said the government should have made some long-term plans instead of completely shutting down the banquet halls. “In 2020, even when the government was not ready, their solution was to shut down the banquet halls. Today they say they have a plan and are well prepared, yet their solution is to close our business. If restaurants and bars can be asked to operate with restricted numbers, why not us? If Delhi Metro can run with 50% capacity, why can’t we? They could have put only a limit on the number of people allowed in the banquet hall,” he said.
Kabir Suri, co-founder and director of Azure Hospitality, who is currently the president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) – an umbrella body of over 20,000 eateries across India – said the order is a blow to the restaurant industry. . Delhi, which had just started recovering in the last quarter of 2021 after a gap of 18 months.
“It is a double whammy – on one hand, there is a 50 per cent ban on sitting, on the other hand, time has been cut. If people are already following the distance rules, then what is the need for early closure? Also, there is no clarity on deliveries – earlier, food delivery was considered a part of essential services.”
Vidur Kanodia, founder of Padmanabhan restaurant in Janpath, which also runs two nightclubs in Aerocity – Cafe One 8 and Club BW – said that if the ban continues for a longer period, they will have no option but to shut down the restaurant. Is. “With such high fares at a place like Janpath, it is not possible to maintain so many restrictions. Landlords may not understand. If this situation persists for a long time, we will have to close the restaurant as there is no way to cover the loss. Especially, at this time of year, when we’ve just started to recover and look forward to the festive weekend, it just turns up the feeling. ,
Even for nightclubs, Kanodia says, “We had a good Christmas weekend, so now for New Year’s Eve and beyond, if we have to close by 10, it doesn’t work.” Is”.
Many believe this ordering is different from the restaurant and hospitality industry. Priyank Sukhija, founder of First Fiddle F&B Pvt Ltd, which owns restaurant brands such as Lord of the Drinks, Warehouse Cafe, Dragonfly and Lazy Affair, said, “It is unreasonable to think that the virus becomes more viral after 11 pm. Is. I understand that 50 percent restaurant capacity is necessary but the night curfew is isolating the restaurant community.
Riyaz Amlani, CEO of Impresario Handmade Restaurants, which runs enterprises like Social and Smoke House Delhi, said the loss per restaurant could be around a few lakh rupees. “Obviously, it will affect us negatively. The hospitality is waiting for the festive season to make up for the losses incurred in the last two years. A lot of planning and preparations have been done at a great expense to prepare for the new year. With the sudden cancellation, all the restaurants I have spoken to are disappointed and in great despair,” he said.
Rahul Singh, founder and CEO of The Beer Cafe, however, said that though they would make up for the loss, the well being of the economy ultimately depends on the well being of the people and this should be taken into account.
“It had to happen. From what we know, this virus spreads very fast, so such measures were needed. We have to brace for it. The only thing is that the night restrictions don’t make much sense. Me Looks like it has to do with preventing people from gathering during the festive season. Sales will drop, but we will take some sensible control measures. Like last time, we lost a lot of perishable items, we don’t have it anymore Will try to replicate that,” he said.
Chef Harangad Singh, Founder, Cloud Kitchen Parat and Me-awww said, “Following the announcement of curfew, we are closing the outlets at 10.30-10.45 pm due to non-availability of passengers. It is affecting our business but it is the law of the government so we are following it. Also, we are taking all precautions to ensure that the food reaches their homes safely.”
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