Good news for Mumbaikars as they can now wine and dine till 1:30 am after 708 days. Restaurants in the city earlier had to stop operations early due to Covid-19 related restrictions.
The state government has now eased restrictions in fourteen districts including the metropolis and hence restaurants have started working as per pre-Covid timings with 100 per cent capacity from Friday.
The announcement has brought relief to many in the hospitality industry while others are urging the state government to further ease restrictions in the remaining districts too.
As of now, Thane district collector has eased restrictions in Thane and Navi Mumbai. This will boost economic activities for hotels and restaurants which can now run with 100 per cent capacity till 1:30 am.
Speaking about the dire need to ease relaxations further, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) senior vice president Pradeep Shetty said, “While this is a big relief for restaurants in these districts, the remaining restaurants in the State continue to suffer. Not only are these restaurants continuing to operate at 50 per cent capacity but also timing restrictions have not been lifted for restaurants in the remaining 22 districts. Also, the MICE segment across hotels and independent venues has taken a major beating all through the last couple of years. All kinds of events and social gatherings should be now allowed to operate at full capacity like it was prior to March 2020. The hospitality industry needs this urgently”.
As per the Indian Hotel & Restaurant Association (AHAR), the new guidelines will benefit the 14 districts while the rest are unnecessarily bearing the brunt for no fault of theirs. According to AHAR President Shivanand Shetty, “We are yet to hear from the state government on our request for a 50% waiver in license fees and hope it gets approved as the industry really needs some government support”.
Meanwhile, the Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India Vice President Gurbaxish Singh Kohli highlighted that non-uniform guidelines across districts remain a cause of concern for both the hospitality industry and travellers.
“The government will now need to lift all kinds of restrictions across the state and country and allow businesses and life to return to the pre-pandemic times. We request the governments of both the State and the Centre to bring back regularity and uniformity in operations to encourage and promote travels so that the wheels of the doomed hospitality industry can start to circulate”, he added.
