Only 70 licences among 1.5K eateries: Where Delhi's open dining falls short

With only around 70 valid licences against an estimated 1,500 eateries offering outdoor seating, what are the challenges that continue to limit Delhi's open dining potential

It has been four years since Delhi rolled out its Open Dining Policy to promote café culture. Yet, despite an estimated 1,500 restaurants and cafés offering open-air seating across the capital, only around 70 currently hold valid licences, according to a PTI report.

 

Introduced in 2022, the policy was supposed to boost tourism, support the hospitality sector and create more vibrant public spaces. But for many restaurant operators, it hasn’t been as fruitful.

Why has the uptake remained low?

People in the hospitality industry attribute this to a combination of economic and administrative challenges. The cost of obtaining and renewing licences, investments required to meet design specifications, and the uncertainty associated with inspections all add to operating expenses.

   

Aashi Gupta, co-founder and marketing head at Salt Cafe in Delhi NCR, spoke to Business Standard about how open dining experiences and also added what discourages the businesses from getting licenses.

 

"Outdoor seating significantly enhances guest experience by offering a relaxed, aesthetic environment, especially during pleasant weather. From our experience, well-designed outdoor spaces directly improve footfall, increase dwell time, and often lead to higher customer spending," Gupta said.

 

However, she believes the policy's implementation has not matched its intent. "The introduction of Delhi's Open Dining Policy was a positive step. However, while the intent was to simplify permissions, the execution still involves multiple approvals, delays and unclear guidelines, reducing its effectiveness," she added.

 

According to Gupta, businesses continue to grapple with bureaucratic hurdles, inconsistent implementation across different zones, changing compliance requirements and operational restrictions that make maintaining approvals difficult.

 

Practical considerations also play a role. Delhi's extreme summers, monsoon rains, high winter pollution, limited pedestrian infrastructure and parking constraints mean outdoor dining cannot be utilised consistently throughout the year, affecting the commercial viability of such spaces.

What does this mean for Delhi?

For the hospitality sector, outdoor seating is increasingly viewed as part of the customer experience rather than simply additional seating capacity.

 

Restaurants say attractive outdoor spaces encourage customers to stay longer, improve ambience and can translate into higher spending. For tourists, cafes and restaurants with open seating contribute to a city's vibrancy and street life.

 

A more effective policy could therefore have implications beyond restaurants, supporting Delhi's tourism economy, neighbourhood commerce and evening leisure ecosystem while creating more active public spaces.

What can improve?

Gupta suggested three immediate reforms. “Introducing a single-window clearance mechanism, establishing uniform guidelines across authorities and providing greater flexibility in compliance requirements and licensing costs could help,” she said.

 

Digitising the application process, enabling applicants to track approvals online, reducing repeated paperwork through longer licence validity, clarifying design standards, and adopting a more predictable enforcement framework can be additional reforms that may help.