Virus Eating Business, Restaurants Say Covid Rules Keeping Customers Away

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has social distancing as one of the most important measures to stem the spread of virus, has hit the restaurant industry hard. Traders say the government SOPs have kept the customers away but are hopeful that the easing of restrictions will improve things.

According to a report by food delivery firm Zomato, only 17% of India's Restaurants are currently operational and among the rest 83%, 10% have permanently shut down and 30% more could shut shop in the upcoming days. The report was based on surveys of 15,000 restaurants across India.

Restaurant owners say keeping up with basic operational expenses is a struggle as they are barely any customers. Others say that the government's COVID-19 SOPs are keeping the customers away.

In the national capital, only 12% restaurants are functional and the rest 88% are closed, as per the Zomato report.

70-year-old Ram Prakash Kakkar has been running his restaurant in East Delhi's Krishna Nagar for the last 24 years. But for the last six months, the situation has been so bad that he plans to shut it down if things don't improve.

Ram Prakash Kakkar said, "You can see that the restaurant is empty. Expenses on things like water, electricity, food and wages for the staff are mandatory and we can't avoid them. It's been six months and we have been borrowing to pay for these things. If you take a round in the area, you will find that several restaurants on this road have already shut down."

From small restaurants of East Delhi that pay monthly rent of Rs 2.5 lakh to big ones in South Delhi's iconic Khan Market, where the rent can go upto Rs 9.5 lakh, restaurants have been shutting down. In Khan market, three popular restaurants have put down their shutters so far - Cafe Turtle, Smokehouse Deli and SideWok.

"Whenever guests come to a restaurant in India, it's mostly either a family or a group of friends and all of them want to be seated together. This wasn't possible with the social distancing rules. The government is easing restrictions gradually. Liquor distribution will be permitted soon and that will boost the restaurant's earnings." Sanjiv Mehra, President of Khan Market Traders' Association told NDTV.

The increasing footfall in the markets has also given hope to restaurant owners that their customers may increase too, in the upcoming days.

According to National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), the restaurant industry provides employment to nearly 70 lakh people across India.