PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday allowed restaurants to switch back to their pre-Covid operational deadline of 1. 30am, much to the relief to the restos and bars operating in the city.
The PMC order stated that hotels, restaurants, bars, food courts, cinemas, theatres, among others, in the PMC areas could continue as per their “scheduled time” with 50% of the seating capacity.
Though the order did not mention an explicit operational deadline of 1. 30 am, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar clarified to TOI that the operational timing for these establishments has been restored to what it was during the pre-Covid period.
A day after the state government had empowered the local authorities to fix timings for openingup of beaches, gardens and parks among easing of other restrictions, the BMC on February 1had issued detailed orders for allowing them to stay open “as per normal timing before the advent of the Covid-I9 pandemic. ”
This lack of clarity in the PMC order created confusion among restaurants in the city earlier in the day. Vikram Shetty, secretary, Poona Hoteliers’ Association, told TOI, “The PMC’s order on Thursday did mention operations for restos as per “scheduled timings”, so we are positive that restaurants can now operate as per the closing deadline set during pre-Covid times.
After the deadline was curtailed to 10pm, footfalls in restos had reduced by about 70%. With the latest lifting of curbs in Pune, we hope to reclaim at least 2030% of the lost footfalls. ” Shetty said the earlier restrictions on deadline had restaurants taking the last order as early as 9. 30 pm, which was causing much inconvenience to customers.
Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurants and Hoteliers Association, told TOI, “Business would pick up with deadline extension.
We expect customers to start stepping out late nights, a practice that had reduced past month or so after Covid cases began surging. With 9. 30 pm being the final food order deadline since over a month now, restaurants were facing issues with several customers who would insist on deadline extension. ”
