Hit hard by the COVID-19-related lockdown, the hoteliers in Haryana have alleged that there is “no breather” from the State or Central government to the industry and they may be forced to switch their business “as a last resort” in case the situation persisted for long.
Speaking to The Hindu, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana president Manbeer Choudhary said they had given four representations to the Chief Minister Manohar Lal, but “there is no respite”.
He said the level of frustration among the hoteliers was “high” and a few of them had even come to him to speak to the Chief Minister on seeking Change of Land Use for them.
“In Haryana, we have the Change in Land Use system and presently we have licences for running hotels. But if we want to change the activity, we may need the permission from the government,” said Mr. Choudhary.
He added a few of the hoteliers in Gurugram were ready to open their premises for paying guest accommodation, but he had advised them against it as it was illegal.
Mr. Choudhary, however, added that he had asked the hoteliers to wait till June 1 as the things were likely to improve.
He said that “neither the state nor the centre had come to their help”, but the Reserve Bank of India had gone a “good job” by deferring the EMIs for the industry as such.
Mr. Choudhary added the hoteliers were not seeking any “cash transfers”, but we stood at “cross roads” and wanted “support”.
He said the national association of the hotel industry had met the union leaders as well in this regard.
He said the government could help the hotel industry by waving off the fixed electricity load charges for six months since there was no business and reducing the property tax charges and the Goods and Services Tax rate. “If the GST is reduced, the consumer will spend more,” said Mr. Choudhary.
He added that even the announcements made by the government were not implemented on the ground so far.
“The 25% waiver announced on fixed electricity charges is still not implemented on ground. I got an electricity bill of ₹18 lakh for my hotel for lockdown and the department told me that I need to pay it in full,” said Mr. Choudhary.
He also questioned the rationale behind opening domestic flights, but not allowing bookings to hotels. “They talk about bringing industry from China, but they fail to handle even the existing industry. The government is least concerned about the ground realities,” alleged Mr. Choudhary.