Hotel owners’ forum in Bengaluru back food deliveries in lockdown, Mysuru wants ban

The Hotel Owners in the Mysuru district on Sunday sought a ban on the takeaway parcel services to curb the spread of COVID-19 according to a Times of India report. The Association urged the Karnataka government to ban the operations knowing the repercussions of the same on their businesses and said that many delivery agents had the virus and were spreading the same.

TNM then spoke to hotel owners in Bengaluru if they would also suggest such a ban to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The owners opined that such a ban in Bengaluru won’t be feasible as many rely on the delivered food.

Akshat Prasad, the owner of Vapour Restaurant and a Committee member of NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India), said that there are many people in the city who depend on delivered food. “There are many facilities where people cannot cook and depend on the takeaways, especially the youth who have migrated to the city for work. If takeaways are banned in Bengaluru, it will have an impact on those people as well,” he said.

Subramanya Holla, the Vice President of Bruhat Bengaluru Hotel Owners’ Association highlighted the same and added that the restaurant owners are running their kitchens to meet the food needs of those who don’t have the facility to cook in their residential spaces. “If the deliveries of groceries, fresh produce like vegetables are allowed, why not cooked meals? The problems of Bengaluru and Mysuru are different, without parcel services, people will have a hard time in the city. We are only earning 10-15% of the revenue we usually earned.”

However, he pointed out that their staffers were being harassed by the police and said that in spite of showing their identity cards, the staffers were threatened with vehicle confiscation or were not allowed to travel.

The Karnataka Government amid the surging cases of COVID-19 had imposed a lockdown from April 26 to May 12, which was extended until May 24. During this period, the hotels were allowed to operate their kitchens and let people collect takeaways.