Pune Food & Beverage Industry Suffers In The Aftermath Of The Porsche Accident

In an unfortunate incident on May 19, two techies on a two-wheeler were killed in a crash. The accused teen is believed to have consumed liquor at two bars along with his friends before the incident. While the case itself had many twists and turns, bringing several issues such as bribery, tampering of evidence, corruption, drinking and driving and underage drinking,to light, it has also had a severe impact on the food and beverage industry in Pune and affected their businesses.

Also Read: Food Safety Department Raids Rameshwaram Café In Hyderabad

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The sudden clamp down has impacted thousands of employees of bars and pubs across the city. When Slurrp asked restaurants and bar owners about the current situation, there was a collective sense of sadness, anger and helplessness. While a few were willing to come forth and talk to us, many others agreed to speak anonymously, fearing a further backlash.

Not Being Permitted To Serve Alcohol In Outdoor Areas

“The clamping down which has taken place has tremendously caused financial losses to the industry. No notices were given and there was no time given to remove the alleged unauthorised constructions. All of sudden the bulldozers, police personnel and the officers arrived at the restaurants and started demolishing by informing the establishments hardly a few minutes before the demolition drive,” says Ajinkya Udane, Co - Chapter Head National Restaurant Association of India, Pune Chapter.

Pune has always been popular for its open-air, outdoor cafes, restaurants, pubs and breweries. At the moment restaurants are not allowed to serve liquor in the outdoor area. The permit rooms are small and can hardly accommodate enough diners. The bars have also been asked to stop playing music by 10 pm. According to a restaurateur who did not wish to be named, “If a family wants to dine together but the adults want to have a drink, they have to leave their kids on another table, drink and then go back to that table, making the charm of going out and dining disappear completely.”

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According to Nakul Bhonsle, founder, Great State Aleworks, the impact on revenues has been huge, ranging from 60% to 100% depending on how much outdoor area a bar has.”Most bars/restaurants have outdoor sections which account for more than 50% of seats. An abrupt closure like this has harmed an already fragile F&B industry. Unlike a typical manufacturing company that has the ability to absorb shocks over months, it is exactly the opposite for a bar/restaurant. We work on month to month cash flows so this kind of a stop in revenues means one can't sustain behind a month or two. We are already in the second month now,” says Bhosle.

Explaining why this problem occurs, Kunal Mhaske, owner, Granduer Hotels Pvt ltd says, “According to a law made in the 1960s, there is a defined area where you are allowed to sell liquor. This is as per the drawing that has been submitted to the excise office when the restaurant is being built and that’s how you get the licences. Unfortunately, this law hasn’t been modified for so long but the structure of business has changed in many ways. Back in the day, there were no lounges or bars or DJs. It was just a permit room.”

According to Mhaske the problem is not about indoor or outdoor areas. “As per our law no restaurants are allowed to serve outside the ‘permissible area’. This is not defined as outdoor or indoor. For example if you have a restaurant which is 1000 square feet, it means you are going to have a 30 seater restaurant. But what people do is when they use the outdoor areas it becomes a 100 seater restaurant. So, in that case, do you have parking for 100 people, fire safety for all those people? If you show that your restaurant is a 100 seater including the areas that are indoor, outdoor or a rooftop and if it is submitted to the excise department then you are not being unreasonable."

Categorising Restaurants Smartly

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One of the major reasons for resentment in the F&B community has also been that they feel that they are all being targeted because of a few miscreants. Smart categorisation of hotels is something many of them believe can help avoiding this sort of blanket ban on the industry. 

“I think rather than nailing down everybody the concerned authorities should probably start categorising restaurants into a pub, eatery or a bar or a discotheque and then give them a separate set of timelines and guidelines as per which they can operate,” says Mhaske.

Bhosle agrees with this too. “Government agencies responsible for this must be smarter about who to target - blanket bans like this do not help the cause and are very harmful for the industry. Officials should target those bars which cater to a younger audience where the risk of under-age drinkers showing up is high. What is the point of shutting restaurants and bars which typically cater to an older audience? If you spend a week in Pune visiting bars, it becomes very clear what the average age is at various bars. Strict rules for ID checks should be implemented and consistently followed up with checks by the officials.“

At the moment restaurants, pubs and nightclubs also pay the same amount of taxes which many restaurateurs believe to be unfair.

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Checking IDs And Drinking Permits

While there is consensus on the issue of strictly not serving alcohol to minors, members of the F&B community feel that there are ways that these checks need to be conducted.

“As per law you need a drinking licence. So if the restaurant or pub checks the drinking licence, the job should be done.  Unfortunately the people who are consuming alcohol are not meeting their responsibilities. No one actually gets a drinking licence. The idea of getting one and also how and where to get a drinking licence needs to be promoted,” says Mhaske.

Nuisance In Residential Areas

Residents of certain areas such as Koregaon Park, Kalyani Nagar and a few others have been facing various issues owing to the large concentration of eateries and pubs there. “I think there should be a restriction as to how many places can open in each area.  And once that number has been reached restaurateurs will need to look at other areas for their ventures. This will help reduce the chaos in these areas,” says Mhaske.

Adequate Representation For The F&B Industry

There are multiple licences required to open an F&B establishment and sometimes owners find the process of obtaining these licences cumbersome and gruelling. “Easier licences and a one window licence system needs to be organised for restaurants, pubs and establishments for applying for new licences and for renewals,” says Udane. 

According to Mhaske there is a larger issue here. “We are a huge industry in the country whether it is in terms of employment,  the revenue we generate or the taxes we pay; we need to be officially recognised as an industry. And this industry needs to come under some ministry. A restaurant has to deal separately with the Excise department, PMC, The IT guys, the fire department officials. Why can't it be a one point ministry where you get your licence from and everything falls under that? The final signatory should be of the concerned ministry.”

While Udane says that restaurants and establishments will keep a register of the customers who walk in, strictly check government  IDs and issue drinking permits to those above 21 years of age for beer and wine and above 25 years for hard liquor, and that all guests will be requested to install Digi locker for identification, Bhonsle highlights the plight of employees at these F&B establishments with the continued clamp down.

“One must remember that one of the biggest victims are the staff of our establishments. They work hard for their salaries as well as service charge components. A large chunk of their monthly income comes from service charge/tip collections, which has dropped significantly now. How long bars can continue paying salaries will depend on how long this goes on. What happens to them when businesses have to let go of part of their team or entire teams? There seems to be no consideration on the impact of such decisions."