News | Restaurants in Maharashtra must shut at midnight, says govt

A day after two state ministers, Mumbai island city guardian minister Aslam Shaikh and health minister Rajesh Tope, said deadlines for the city's restaurants and eateries would be restored to pre-pandemic timings of 1.30am and for shops up to midnight, the state government issued an order allowing restaurants and eateries to operate till midnight and shops till 11pm.

Business hours of these establishments had so far been curbed to 10pm. With the extension, shop timings are back to pre-Covid times. While pre-Covid closing timing for vegetarian restaurants was 12.30am, restaurants and bar owners, who had hoped the state would restore their 1.30am deadline, were left disappointed."Many sectors like colleges, theatres and amusement parks will reopen this week, and we want to see the impact on cases. We want to give further relaxations, but in a phased manner," an official said. District administrations can curb timings depending on conditions, but cannot give an extension without the disaster management authority's consent.The order issued by the state government said that with the extension of timings, all other guidelines like 50% capacity for restaurants and the need to have fully vaccinated staffers in shops will continue. “The government observed that in light of the upcoming festive season, staggered timings for functioning of establishments like shops, restaurants and hotels will only lead to more crowding, hence a decision was taken to extend the timings,” the official said. District administrations have been allowed to restrict timings considering local conditions, but they cannot give further extension without the consent of the state disaster management authority.

The hospitality industry felt the timings should have gone back to the pre-Covid hours. Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) senior vice-president Pradeep Shetty said, “We welcome the Maharashtra government’s decision of extending the time of operations for restaurants till midnight. The additional two hours will provide much-needed succor to the beleaguered hospitality industry. The sector has been one of those most affected by Covid restrictions. However, we wish an extension had been granted till the pre-Covid deadline of 1.30 am and, considering the onset of the wedding season, it had been accompanied by the lifting of restrictions on banquets, weddings and events. The current limit of a hundred guests for weddings and social events is prohibitive and unviable under present circumstances.”AHAR president Shivanand Shetty said, “We will comply with the order, but it would have been better if timings had been extended till 1.30am as it is festival time and people like to spend time outside with friends and relatives. Restoring timings to pre-Covid days will help the industry recover quickly from the state of disorder it has been pushed into for the past 18 months.”Viren Shah of the Retailers Federation said that although most standalone shops in the city shut by 10pm, the 11pm deadline will help malls do some additional business.