The GR says that shops and commercial establishments may remain open on all days of the week, provided that every employee is allowed a continuous rest period of at least 24 hours in a week.
IPO-bound hospitality major OYO has written to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) requesting it to intervene and investigate the running of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and order eviction of erring executive committee members. The hotel aggregator urged the MoT to take necessary action against FHRAI's "illegally run" Executive Committee and its members who are working for self-interest instead of that of small hotel owners. The representation by OYO alleged that FHRAI's actions are detrimental to small hotel owners.
With hotels and restaurants being barred from levying service charge, waiters, chefs and other workers are worried they will lose out on money and are planning to approach managements to seek a pay raise. They are also apprehensive that tips given by customers out of goodwill will dwindle. Uttarakhand-native Prakash Singh Koranga, 27, a chef who works at an outlet of popular franchise Moti Mahal Deluxe restaurant in south Delhi, said service charge which gets proportionally divided among the staff acts as an "extra income" and "incentive to give our best at the job".
The plan is to start with 20-25 per cent capacity by early next month as part of Unlock 5.0, before moving to 50 and then 100 per cent.
'The option to re-open restaurants comes as a big relief to restaurateurs. Although, it is a good development, not all restaurants are geared up to re-open immediately. 'We expect only around 30 per cent of the restaurants to open starting Monday and the rest will re-open gradually through the month,' Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) senior vice-president Pradeep Shetty said in a statement.
"We respect the Supreme Court order. We will take suggestions from legal experts to see whether there can be a middle path," Sharma said.