Restaurants resume dine-in services in TN to lukewarm response

While places of worship continued to remain closed, many restaurants that restarted services in the state capital, and in other parts of Tamil Nadu saw a low customer turnout.

Restaurants that reopened the dine-in amenity had only 50 per cent of the seats of the total capacity, saw people being allowed to enter after thermal screening, provision of hand sanitisers, while chairs and tables were arranged in a suitable manner to ensure social distancing and collected contact details of customers to track them in case of necessity. Tamil Nadu Hotels Association president M Venkata Subbu said in Chennai only 25 per cent of the about 20,000 restaurants and in rest of the state, 75 per cent of approximately 30,000 hotels opened.

On the reason for it, he told P T I that it was due to factors like labour shortage and a sense of apprehension vis- a-vis the spread of coronavirus among both owners and the general public especially in Chennai. Guest workers have gone back and labourers from other districts of Tamil Nadu cannot come back now to Chennai since they are not allowed, he said.

"There cannot be even break-even for running restaurants at 50 per cent of the seating capacity, considering variousoverheads and the new cost additions due to COVID-19," he added. Several new norms like providing hand sanitisers, thermal screeningcustomers and sanitising floors and other surfaces quite often as per governmentinstructions have increased the cost by approximately 10 per cent, he said.

Break-even factor and cost-addition were among the reasons for manyrestaurants not coming forward to open dine- in services, Venkata Subbu said. Restaurants are allowed by the government to function with only 50 per cent ofseating capacity.

Asked about the business today in restaurants, he said "approximately 25 per cent business (when compared with pre- virus times) is what we see across Tamil Nadu and even the 50 per cent seats that we have presently are not filled." Asked if the prices will be hiked due to cost escalation, he said it has been decided to not go in for an upward revision now. He urged the government to allow restaurants to remain open up toll 10 pm instead of the present 8 pm deadline as the '8 pm to 10 pm time slot" is preferred by most people for dinner.

Restaurants in Tamil Nadu had offered dine-in services till March 24 evening. Meanwhile, though it was expected that places of worship would reopen today, temples, mosques and churches continued to remain closed.