NEW DELHI: The food and beverage industry in the national capital is once again facing hardships with restrictions being imposed due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, especially of the new Omicron variant.
Several restaurant owners in Delhi have raised concerns over e-passes acting as a hurdle in food delivery. Kewal Ahuja, owner of SGF India restaurant said, “We have over 30 outlets of the restaurants in Delhi-NCR and we are facing the issue of delivery in most of the outlets. We had applied for e-passes 2-3 days ago, but no pass has been issued to us. Because of this, we are facing hardship as we are unable to deliver the food.”
In a bid to keep the business going even amid restrictions, the owners have demanded to resolve the issue at the earliest.
Expressing dismay at the reduced revenue share amid restricted operations, Ahuja said, “We request the Delhi government to resolve the issue. The restaurant industry is facing a crisis with the already imposed restrictions as we have to operate at 50 per cent capacity but pay the same amount of rent and salary to staff.”
Rohit, owner of Bistro 57 said, ‘”The main problem is of movement of delivery people. The government has said that food delivery is allowed and we can open the restaurants for online delivery and take away. However, we can’t come to our outlets as we have not been issued passes. Police have put barricades and they are not letting us pass even after showing the licence to them and they are charging a fine. I have paid a challan on Saturday on the ground that I flouted weekend curfew. I don’t know who is responsible for this?”
Raising concerns for those involved in Swiggy and Zomato deliveries, Rohit said, “How will we operate if the delivery persons are also harassed like this?”
“On several occasions, the riders have said that they are stopped at different places. Thus, they come late which leads to a delay in delivery and eventually the order gets cancelled. The police asks for a movement pass. When government has not issued any movement pass then how do we function?” he added.
Deepak Rathor, a delivery boy at SGF restaurant said, “I applied for the e-pass on January 8 and it has not been issued yet. The problem is as we don’t have an e-pass, police stop us during the curfew. E-pass is a must for us.”
Vikas, another delivery boy, narrated a similar story and urged the Delhi government to issue an e-pass at the earliest.
Anurag Katriar, trustee of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said, “The food delivery is allowed as it is considered an essential service even amid curfew. To do that, we need e-passes. That is where we have faced problems. The e-passes are not being generated from the portal easily.”
Notably, the NRAI on Friday tagged the Delhi Chief Minister’s Office in a tweet and sought help in resolving the e-pass problem for the food and beverage industry. “Request your intervention in resolving e-pass problems for F&B industry. We aren’t getting them; leading to severe harassment. We will be compelled to shut down delivery as well if this isn’t resolved right away,” they wrote.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal responded, asking him to send him contact details (to get the issue resolved). “I am hoping that all the restaurants will get their e-passes in the next 2-3 days,” the trustee of NRAI said.