Lockdown 4.0: No dine-in allowed, eateries to suspend takeaways

Hopeful of resuming the business under Lockdown 4.0, the restaurant industry in Karnataka suffered a setback on Monday with the government permitting only takeaway services until further notice.

Disappointed by the refusal to allow dine-in services, the restaurants' association has decided to stop even the takeaway services across the state from Tuesday onwards citing increased expenditure and mounting losses.

A few days ago, the Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurants' Association (KPHRA) had requested Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to permit the restaurants to offer dine-in services under social-distancing rules.

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The chief minister had said he would look into the proposal while listing out relaxation rules, said Chandrashekhar Hebbar, the president of the KPHRA.

"If the government could allow marriage and roadside businesses that also witness a large footfall, why are restaurants barred from offering dine-in services,” he asked.

Hebbar said that restaurants ran their kitchens for two months with hardly any income and paid full salaries to the staff. They had hoped that the government would eventually let them resume the dine-in business. "Now, most of the migrant workers have gone back to their native place. With restrictions further in place, there is no point in running the business. Hence, we have decided to suspend the takeaway services,” Hebbar said.

“The parcel business is economically unfeasible and accounts for only 10-15% of our regular sales,” said Arun Adiga, a member of the association and managing partner of Vidyarthi Bhavan.

Since most of the hotels and restaurants operate out of rented buildings, landlords demand the full rent, Adiga said. “Assuming that the government would allow the dine-in facility under social-distancing rule, hoteliers had geared up to resume operations. But the announcement has disappointed us,” he said.

“If marriages and transport services are allowed, why cannot we be allowed to run the business with a restricted number of people?” asked yet another member.

“More than 10 lakh workers in the industry have not got any assistance from the government. We have looked after them in the past two-and-a-half months and cannot support them anymore without the business,” the member said.

Saying the government gave no positive response to bail them out, the association has decided to suspend takeaways.