Nagpur: Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) submitted a representation to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray requesting extension of timings of restaurants in Maharashtra.
The timings of the restaurants have been capped till 10:30pm across the state due to Covid-19 restrictions. The association has recommended restoring the operation timings of hotels and restaurants as per the license held by the establishments all days of the week. The letter also mentioned that the association has requested the government to offer relaxation on the basis of vaccination of staff.
The original timing of operation of bars and restaurants is 1:30am. The association stated that restaurants in Maharashtra were allowed to operate under 50 per cent capacity with restrictions since October 2020. After the second wave hit the state, several other restrictions were imposed on the restaurants causing huge losses.
“The rental and salary expenses, servicing of old debts, negative cash flows and statutory payment obligations have made running a hotel or restaurant a most unviable and unsustainable business under the present situation and all the revival efforts have gone down the drain,” said HRAWI president Sherry Bhatia.
Amongst every other sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospitality sector in the country has taken the biggest hit. Businesses related to the sector have come to a standstill after the first lockdown was imposed. Almost 30 per cent of the restaurants and hotels in the country have been shut down permanently due to huge losses incurred by them.
