Gurgaon: At least than 35 bars and restaurants in the city, including 11 in Cyber Hub, have shut down since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The excise and taxation department said in the past few months, several restaurant owners have approached them, offering to surrender their licence, as they are finding it difficult to survive in the current situation. Several new establishments have also surrendered their liquor licence and vacated their premises.

Aruna Singh, deputy excise and taxation officer (DETC), East, said 35 restaurant owners have surrendered their licences so far due to high operational costs and poor consumer demand. Although many restaurants have started their operations, but people are hardly visiting them. “We have already waived one-third of the licence fees, bringing it down to ?2 lakh. We have started the liquor licence renewal process for the next quarters. But we fear that more restaurant and pub owners might be prompted to surrender their licences.There is not even a single case where owners have resumed operations without liquor due to poor footfall,” she said.

There is a total of 327 restaurants, pubs and bars across the city. Most of the outlets are situated on Golf Course Road, Sector 29 and the Cyber Hub. Earlier this year, the excise department had waived off licence fee for the first quarter (April-June) and is now offering a 20% discount on the advance payment of the fees for the third and fourth quarters in an effort to revive the food services industry. It is not yet clear if the fee for the second quarter (July-Sept) would be waived off as well.

Last week, the Haryana government allowed liquor to be served only at tables of restaurants. However, pubs and bars will continue to remain closed, including all establishments with dance floors. However, despite such concessions, the future of the food services industry seems grim, said many restaurant owners. Aditya Bhaskar, owner of Nooba chain of outlets which shut their operations in Cyber Hub and on Golf Course Road on August 1, said that the industry was going through a tough time. “There are no guests in any of the places; people are not willing to come out to dine. We don’t know from when can pubs and bars start operating. We did pay our staff, including all our chefs, as it was our responsibility to take care of their well-being. However, we are unable to pay the rent anymore without any income,” he said.

The restaurant owners also alleged that the government did nothing for the food services industry and left them to fend for themselves. Vikram Nair, owner of Khaaja Chowk which shut shop in July, said the rents were really high and dealing with government officials was difficult. “With the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, there’s no clarity as to when the situation will get back to normal. It might take another year or so for the food services industry to get back on its feet,” said Nair. Restaurant owners added that even though the lockdown rules have been relaxed, the crisis is likely to have a long-term impact on the industry. Owners who shut their operations also said that the remaining outlets will find it difficult to survive if the present situation continues for next quarter or so. On an average, one in three establishments could shut down permanently, said restaurant owners.

“The rent and overhead costs are so high that without any income it was very difficult to continue. We waited for five months but failed to revive the business. It was difficult to pay salaries, electricity bills and rent. While the liquor licence fee for first quarter was waived off, but we are unwilling to pay for the upcoming quarters without knowing the future of the business,” said Raghav Baweja, owner of Big Wong at Cross Point Mall in DLF Phase-4, that stopped operations in March-end. He added that the rent of an 80-seater restaurant in Gurugram is nearly?6 lakh per month.

Aruna Singh, DETC, East said they are waiting for new orders from the state government that are likely to benefit the hoteliers and restaurant owners. “The industry has suffered huge losses and owners had no other option but to surrender their liquor licences. They were paying high rents and many of them were paying their staff salaries despite little or no business. The department is trying to support such establishments but regaining consumer demand is not in our hands. Restaurants have been allowed to serve liquor but the pub and bars are yet to be operational. We have sent recommendations to the government, requesting for a waiver of their liquor licence fees until the operations are in full swing,” she said.

The restaurants were given permission to resume their operations at 50% capacity from June 8. A total of nine five-star hotels, seven four-star hotels and five three-star hotels have also resumed serving liquor to guests. Officials said the hotel association of Gurugram had written to the department in June requesting them to waive their liquor licence fee as they have been shut since March 25. Inderjeet Banga, head, National Restaurants Association of India, Gurugram chapter, said that they have requested the government to support the food services industry given the present state of affairs.

“The sate government has allowed serving liquor at tables in the restaurant. It has also offered a rebate of 20% for the next two quarters if we submit the liquor licence fees in the next 10 days,” he said, adding that they are trying to get more concessions so that more restaurants do not have to shut their operations.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.

Stay updated with all the Latest Gurgaon headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.