For the third time in a row, business at pubs and resto-bars is expected to be affected on “the biggest night of the year”, December 31, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
According to those within the industry, business, even if not on a larger scale, will be affected at least by 20% on an average due to the 1 a.m. deadline imposed by the city police.
Most restaurants and pubs across the city have already started enforcing wearing masks and using sanitisers inside their premises.
Pubs and resto-bars are concerned that the time restrictions might make customers apprehensive about coming out. They also said that the curfew will add on to the traffic volume on the streets after 12 a.m. as everyone would want to vacate the venues.
“It (restrictions) is beneficial because everyone will be safe and secure. But these are moments which come once a year and everyone looks forward to celebrating it with pomp. If they ask us to close down the space at a specific time, then it will lead to traffic mounting up and make the situation a little more insecure than it was before. If there were no restrictions, everyone would have moved out in batches post 1 a.m. A little bit of extension would have been good,” said Ranveer Sibani of Social chain of restaurants.
The owners also said that that it was difficult to understand why such restrictions were in place in the city, while other metros like Mumbai and Delhi are much relaxed with their norms.
“Typically, this is the most festive season of the year. I do not think that there are such restrictions anywhere else in the country. In other big cities, they have permitted the establishments to be kept open until 3 or 5 a.m.,” said Kiran Reddy of Wanderers, a brewery in Kalyan Nagar.
Despite all this, the hospitality industry is hoping for a good couple of days of business the coming weekend, as there were stricter restrictions for the New Year celebrations the previous two years.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers’ Association (BBHA) on Tuesday sent out an advisory to all of its members. “As per the new guidelines issued by the BBMP, everyone should wear masks, have sanitisation facilities, and keep the vaccination certificate of all employees ready. It is best if customers are provided hot water and no smoking boards are put up. Let us all cooperate to restrict COVID-19,” said P.C. Rao, president, BBHA.