Ban on food delivery hits hotels

With no money to pay the staff and rent expenses, many restaurants and hotels might have to shut down their business

A restaurant at Thampanoor displaying the closed board ,B P Deepu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hotels and restaurants in the city have suffered extensively due to the Covid-19 crisis. However, they hoped to revive business through food delivery giants such as Swiggy and Zomato. Several restaurants created their own food delivery services with the help of their staff. But, with the spike in cases resulting in triple lockdown, restaurants and hotels were instructed to close, without being permitted to offer parcel service. With no money to pay the staff and rent, many restaurants and hotels might have to shut shop.

A few months ago, when the lockdown was eased, many restaurants in the city implemented safety measures and lifted shutters to welcome customers. As people were still uncomfortable to dine out, many restaurants had switched to food delivery services. But the triple lockdown has resulted in a huge financial crises. “We have already incurred a loss of over Rs 4 lakh ever since the lockdown began. We barely received dine-in customers when it was eased. However, the parcel service was quite helpful as we were able to meet half of the expenses. We were delivering food to our customers through our delivery staff, adhering to the safety protocols. But, now that is impossible,” said Unnikrishnan N P, owner of The Yellow Chilli.

 

Unnikrishnan also pointed out that home chefs were mushrooming across the city during the lockdown. “Even bakeries have started selling biriyani. This will affect restaurants even if we resume after the lockdown. We are getting a lot of enquiries from senior citizens and people who stay alone but we are unable to cater to them due to the strict restrictions,” he said. 

However, some are pinning their hopes on the government and waiting for further instructions. “Only parcel service from Janakeeya hotels by Kudumbashree is allowed. Although we have suffered a huge loss, we are awaiting a nod from the government to resume operations after the lockdown is eased,” said Fajis of Ali Baba & 41 Dishes, Sasthamangalam. Meanwhile, the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) has already given a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, district collector, Food Safety Commissioner and Mayor addressing their issues.

“There are more than 2,000 restaurants registered with KHRA functioning in the city whose owners have been paying taxes and rent for running the outlets. However, only the Janakeeya hotels have been allowed to deliver food instead of these restaurants. Moreover, home chefs across the city are being allowed to deliver food without any hindrance. Due to heavy losses, many restaurant owners are likely to shut their business and take up daily wage jobs. We have given a memorandum to the authorities concerned and waiting for the response,” said B Vijayakumar, secretary, KHRA.