Mumbai bars get relief as BMC withdraws circular on liquor sales

 Restaurants and bars in Mumbai have got relief after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday withdrew its notification restricting liquor sales in restaurants to 11.30 pm.

 The notification was issued on Friday evening sending restaurants and bars into a tizzy. While some restaurant owners did not received the official notification, others said complained to their association that they received the notification on whatsapp and were unsure of its legitimacy. Based on information received from its members, the Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) then sought immediate clarification from the BMC and requested its withdrawal.

 

“We are glad that the BMC understood the kind of disorder such last minute notifications can cause to the restaurant industry and withdrew last evening’s notification restricting sale of liquor post 11:30 pm. We thank the Commissioner of the MCGM and the Principal Secretary Excise for expeditiously issuing a fresh notification withdrawing the restriction. The Hospitality industry has been struggling to stay afloat since the lockdown was implemented by the government. The earlier notification would have just compounded to the industry’s woes, but by withdrawing it swiftly, the government has instilled our faith back in it,” said Sherry Bhatia, President, HRAWI. 

 

Restaurant owners also questioned the logic of ban on liquor sales post 11.30 pm

 

 “How is that going to help control Corona numbers? Are we saying that Coronavirus gets activated between 11:30 pm to 1:30 am? The earlier circular was issued on a Friday evening. This would’ve effectively killed our weekend business. As it is, we are emerging from an unprecedented crisis. Weekday business is almost non-existent. Weekends are the only time we do any kind of business. Weekend business just helps us reduce our losses. To restrict operations at a time like this would be equivalent to killing us. Fortunately, the decision has been reversed and we are thankful to the government, and the BMC for it,” said a restaurateur who wished to remain anonymous.

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, HRAWI spokesperson & Vice President, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) said the notification issued at a short notice had caused chaos and there was little clarity if it was effective immediately or Friday night. He said notifications on whatsapp will open scope for malicious and fake notices and the government should stick to proper channels and grant adequate time for compliance. 

“We thank the BMC and Excise departments for understanding our predicament and for immediately acting on it and taking back an order which would’ve hurt an already ailing industry even further,” Kohli said. 

The restaurants and hotel industry had earlier expressed their anguish at the union budget 2020-21 not providing any relief to the industry trying to recover from the Corona lockdowns in a scenario where demand has been hit majorly. The budget speech apparently made no reference to the restaurants and tourism industry. The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India had written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding the lowering of the present threshold from Rs 200 crore to Rs 25 crore per hotel for classification as infrastructure for hospitality projects. Lowering of the threshold would enable hotels to avail term loans at lower interest rates and have a longer repayment period.