Karnataka night curfew throws spanner in festive hopes of restaurants

Restrictions to start at 10 p.m, in Bengaluru, reducing dinner time to 2 hours; Most restaurants and hotels are now expecting to do only 50 per cent of normal business

The night curfew imposed in Karnataka from December 23 to January 2 has come as a shocker for the state's restaurant industry, which has been reeling under losses after the pandemic outbreak. Restaurant owners said they have been following all Covid-related SOPs and hadn't planned any big parties or events for the festive week but hoped for good footfalls. 

While the curfew timings in Mumbai were declared between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., in Bengaluru the curfew will start at 10 p.m., technically reducing the dinner operating time to two hours. Most restaurants and hotels are now anticipating only 50 per cent business as compared to what they would have done during a fully operational event.

“I am hoping the government reconsiders this and at least pushes the timing as Bengaluru had started showing some level of buoyancy in the F&B segment,” said Manu Chadra, head of Bengaluru chapter, National Restaurant Association of India. 

Only a day after announcing that there was no need of a curfew in the state as of now, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said that in view of the new strain of the Covid-19 virus, and as per the advice of the Government of India and Technical Advisory Committee, it has decided to impose night curfew from December 23 till January 2, 2021, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

Restaurateur Chethan Hegde, who owns a chain of seven 1,522 outlets in Bengaluru, said the timing was illogical. “If the curfew begins at 10 p.m., it means people will need to be home by then which means they won’t be able to drop in for dinner post 8:30 p.m. It’s technically as good as the place being shut because 90 per cent of our business happens between 7:30 and 11.30 p.m.”

F&B business in Bengaluru has seen slow but steady recovery since November, reaching nearly 50 per cent of pre-Covid revenue numbers. “However, in outer city locations, these numbers have been lower. With excise license renewals looming over our heads, most restaurants were hoping for an opportunity to improve their sales on key days like Christmas and New Year eve. The curfew order and its statutory fees have now thrown a spanner in the works,” said Ranveer Sabhani, Business Head-South, Impresario Handmade Restaurants, which owns café and restaurant chains Social, Smoke House Deli and Mocha.

Kuncheria Marattukalam, co-founder, URU Brewpark hoped the government would roll back these curbs and give people the right to decide on their own. “We fail to understand the logic of imposing a curfew from December 22. We understand the possibilities of mass gatherings on New Years Eve but to impose for a 10-day period impacts an already bleeding hospitality industry.”