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Restaurants, bars can remain open till 1am in Pune
Civic body has rolled back restrictions on the operational hours of bars and restaurants after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s decision to extend the timings last we
Restaurants and bars have been allowed to remain open till 1am in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits.
The civic body has rolled back restrictions on the operational hours of bars and restaurants after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) decision to extend the timings last week.
Vikram Kumar, municipal commissioner, PMC, on Thursday issued an order regarding the same.
The order stated that the state government has already issued guidelines to operate restaurants and shops in city areas till post-midnight. “Therefore, as per this order, restaurants, bars, banquet halls and food courts can remain open in the city between 7am to 1am while other shops and establishments can remain open between 7am and 11pm. Also, shops selling liquor in the city have been allowed to remain open between 10am and 10.30pm,” the order states.
As per earlier order by the civic body on October 24, 2020, the time of bars and restaurants was restricted from 10pm to 11.30 pm.
Earlier on Tuesday (February 9), the president of Pune hotelier association which has more than 8,000 restaurants as its members, sent an email to PMC and district administration and demanded to extend the timing of restaurants and bars to 1am.
Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Hotelier Association, said, “We welcome the decision. This will increase the footfall by 10 to 15 per cent.”
“Also, as Valentine’s Day is around the corner, it will help to increase footfall. It will take almost a month to normalise the business,” he said.
Arun Shinde, a restaurant owner on Paud Road had earlier stressed on the necessity of extending the timings. “If customers come after 10.45pm, we cannot take them in due to restrictions of timings,” he said.
