The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), an apex hospitality association in Maharashtra, has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking permission re-open hotels and restaurants in the state. It has also sought financial assistance from the state government towards loss of revenue due to frequent disruptions in the form of lockdown, time restrictions and reduction in seating capacity, all to fight the pandemic.
Apart from resumption of dine-in services, AHAR has requested that its workforce be vaccinated on a priority basis. This is because their job requires them to be constantly on the move, exposing them to the customers, vendors as well as municipal authorities.
Drawing attention to the dire situation the industry has been pushed into, AHAR has requested for that the renewal period for the FL III license be extended and the applicable fee for the current year be reduced. Moreover, it has sought extension of validity period for all MCGM licenses, permissions and NOC to conduct business for the full year. The association is also requested for waiver of property tax for lockdown/partial lockdown period.
Commenting about the requests included in the letter, Shivanand Shetty, President, AHAR, said, “After sharing the precarious situation of the industry and how certain measures can be of help to revive the industry, we are very hopeful of a positive outcome from the State Government. The ripple effect of this is felt by other related sectors and it is something which has to be addressed at the earliest before it becomes beyond repairs.”
AHAR has praised State Government and the local administration for all the measures deployed in its fight against the pandemic and successfully controlling the situation in the State.
