NEW DELHI: Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) CEO Puneet Chhatwal, chairman of CII's national committee on tourism and hospitality and MakeMyTrip Group executive chairman Deep Kalra, co chairman of the committee have sent a letter to Delhi's lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, appealing the Delhi administration to allow economic activities and businesses to operate as permissible under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines. ET has seen a copy of the letter.
The Delhi government had delinked hotels from attached hospitals this month, but the lieutenant governor had objected to the government’s move of allowing hotels to resume regular operations under Unlock 3.0.
"First and foremost, enable hotels (all categories)- accommodation, restaurants, banquet halls, spas and gyms in Delhi to resume their economic activities without any restrictions of timings. You have our assurance that hotels will adhere to the highest standards of safety guidelines and protocols," the letter states and also adds how tourism has contributed 6% to the state's GDP and Delhi, being the capital city, plays an essential role in the promotion of tourism and in providing accommodation for business travellers, international delegations, global leaders and MICE events.
Mentioning how any stimulus provided to the tourism sector will go a long way in protecting jobs and businesses, the letter has suggested waivers on all statutory dues and fixed charges for the lockdown period, a blanket exemption of 12 months for licenses and permits, and auto renewal of licenses for the next one year, complete waiver of excise fee for fiscal year 2020/21 and fee that has been paid to be adjusted for fiscal period 2021-22, reduction in electricity tariffs, and reduction in state GST rates for 2020-21 and 2021-22.
It also stated allowing hotels to open will go a long way towards a gradual start of business activity, and will act as a catalyst for economic recovery and will be a lifeline for employees.
The letter also mentioned the overall list of central state compliances and the list of licenses, permits, renewals- including fire NOC, excise, FSSAI, trade, police NOC for star classification, star classification, load sanction, labour cess, weight and measure, approved building plan, shops and establishment, health NOC among others, that hotels in the capital must incur costs for, on an ongoing basis.