National Restaurant Association of India writes to Delhi CM, LG to allow restaur

NEW DELHI: The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Tuesday appealed to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor Anil Baijal to allow restaurants to resume operations and also called for an immediate removal of seating and timing restrictions for a faster recovery.

The association in its letter said the restaurant industry was facing the challenge of mere since over 25% of the industry has shut down permanently, leading to loss of jobs for more than 24 lakh workers.

While, the association said, it is understood that the government's top priority is people's health and preventing the spread of the disease, the restaurant industry appears to have been singled out with more stringent restrictions compared to all other sectors/activities.

"There is a need therefore to have a relook at the existing restrictions/curfews, and the same should not be based on the criteria or procedures set up to tackle the previous strains of the virus," said Prakul Kumar, the association's secretary general.

Experience over the last two waves shows that the pandemic graph in fact continued to decline after restaurants were opened up for operations. As an example, even in the current situation, Mumbai has seen a decline in numbers, without shutting down restaurants.

In Delhi, the restaurant industry had been operating at 50% capacity with restricted timings since the beginning of the pandemic – despite other activities like public transportation, metros, airlines etc. being permitted to operate at full capacity at various times during the last two years.

Earlier this month, Delhi implemented the Graded Response Action Plan under which restaurants, which were functioning on 50% capacity, were asked to shut down, with only takeaways and deliveries allowed. Despite restrictions, the association added that restaurants have continued to pay full license fees, rents and other overheads during this period.

The association said it wanted to be allowed to work beyond curfew hours to avoid overcrowding. 

There are about 96,000 eateries in Delhi which include both organised and unorganised players. Of this, close to 33,000 are organised with FSSAI numbers and GST registration. The association said revenue generated per year from organised restaurants in Delhi is about ₹31,132 crore and that Delhi eats out about six times a month in organised restaurants compared to the national average of 4.5 times a month.

Overall, the size of the restaurant industry shrank by more than 50% from ₹4,23,624 crore in FY20 to about ₹2,00,762 crore in FY21, the National Restaurant Association of India said.