Shut for four months, 10% Gurugram bars surrender licences

GURUGRAM: Bars and restaurants in the city are struggling to stay afloat due to the pandemic. With little hope of revival of business in the coming months, nearly 10% of these establishments have submitted applications to surrender their licence in the past few weeks. In Unlock 3, Haryana allowed star hotels to serve liquor but kept bars shut.
After staying closed for over four months now, none of the bars in the city have applied for the annual renewal of licence, which lapsed on March 31. The excise department says the process of renewals has not been initiated because of the lockdown and will begin once bars and microbreweries get permission to reopen.

The city has around 307 bars and restaurants and excise officials expect the trend of licence surrender to continue as social distancing norms have hit business hard. Most applications are from bars and restaurants operating from malls, Cyber Hub, Sector 29, Golf Course Road and Sohna road. A senior official of the excise department said, “Every week we receive some application for surrender of licence and the pace of licence surrender is expected to increase in the coming weeks.”
The restaurants were given permission to resume their operations at 50% capacity from June 8. From July, star hotels were allowed to serve liquor inside the rooms, but restrictions continued on operation of bars. The continued restriction on bars coupled with high rental and license cost has forced many to shut their operation. Nooba, which was operational for the past 9 years from its two outlets one at Cyber City and another on Golf Course, closed shop due to the pandemic and surrendered its licence. “There is no sale and the government is not lifting restrictions on serving liquor and I don’t think the situation will normalise in the next one or two years,” said Aditya Bhaskar of Nooba, adding that high rental and licence cost is killing the business. He added that property owners are not ready to adjust the rental and there is no clarity on licence fee. “It is difficult to continue in the given scenario,” he said.
Raghav Baweja of Big Wong Hospitality located at Cross Point in DLF Phase-4 also surrendered his excise licence, but he is hopeful that the industry will revive and intends to re-start his outlets as and when the situation normalises. “The licence cost and rental is very high and half of the year has gone by and we are not hoping for any business in the next few months. Running the facility with 50% seating capacity (due to social distancing norms) will not earn profit either. Besides, if anyone tests Covid 19 positive at our facility, then it will have a negative impact on our brand and we don’t want that to happen,” said Baweja.
The surrender applications have come from bars and restaurants operating from across the city. Three bars located in Cyber City, three from sector 29, two in Ambience Mall, one from MGF Mall, one from Udyog Vihar Phase 5, two from sector 50, one from One Horizon Centre, one from Golf Course Road, one from Sonha Road, one from Sushant Lok among others have surrender their licences so far. “Only those will survive who have their own property,” said a bar owner.
The owners added that it is also not clear when the government will allow bars to operate and even if the restrictions are lifted, the number of people opting for dine out will be very limited due to fear of pandemic.
Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who also holds the excise and taxation portfolio, admitted that the industry is in distress and assured to provide necessary relief for its revival. “We will take a decision only after the Union home ministry lifts the lockdown and makes a complete assessment of the damage. We will provide relaxations and decide on future licence, but details of it can be decided only after the lifting of the lockdown,” he said.