Allow us to reopen hotels and restaurants: Industry leaders to Maharashtra CM

MUMBAI: Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), the apex body of the hospitality industry in Maharashtra has written a letter to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, requesting him to allow re-opening of hotels and restaurants in the state, and to provide financial assistance and tax waiver to mitigate 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 pleaded for vaccination of the workforce on a priority basis as they are constantly on the move due to the nature of their job and are exposed to residents, municipal authorities, vendors etc, leading to building of confidence amongst the customers.
While drawing CM's attention to the dire situation the industry has been pushed into, AHAR has requested for extension of the period of renewal of permit room licenses and reduction of the applicable fee for the current year. Adding further to this, AHAR members have also sought extension of validity period for all BMC licenses / permissions / NOC etc, granted, in order to conduct business for the full year.
Lastly, AHAR has requested for waiver of property tax for lockdown/partial lockdown period. Commenting over the plight of the industry Shivanand Shetty, AHAR, President, 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 repair.” AHAR has praised the 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.