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Spike in food deliveries but fall in overall restaurant business
The night curfew in Pune was imposed on February 22 and for restaurants open after 10pm only takeaway was allowed
The night curfew restrictions and norms to only allow parcel service from restaurants have been a boon for online food delivery chains as there is a huge spike in online deliveries; however, the hotel industry is still facing losses.
Abbas Ali, manager of Good Luck Cafe said, “Online orders have increased but the business has been severely impacted since the April 3 restriction. People have always enjoyed dine in service at our place and many still ask us for the same, but we cannot allow due to the norms”
The night curfew in Pune was imposed on February 22 and for restaurants open after 10pm only takeaway was allowed.
The norms became more stringent from April 3 as only takeaway was permitted for the entire day. However, food delivery is now only allowed till 10 pm.
“The online parcel delivery has increased specially between 12noon to 5pm. There was never a rush of online delivery boys outside my restaurant. From five the number has now increased to 15 orders in a day’s time,” said Rajesh Sharma of Hotel Maharashtra on Laxmi road.”
An employee of Zomato on the request of anonymity said “The flow of orders coming in daytime has increased from 30 per cent to 60 per cent. One thing which has affected the order chain is delivery restrictions until 10pm. There are many people who get off work after 10pm and then they place an order. There is a huge crowd of such people in Pune and that number has fallen due to the restriction.”
Sarvesh Jadhav, owner of Austin40 cafe house, said, “Now with only parcel service available, people prefer to order from nearby restaurants so even if you provide special meals, discounted rates, you won’t get orders because of the delivery time. When dine in was allowed, people often used to visit from Baner and Koregaon park at our cafe.”
Laxman Naidu, a delivery boy who works with Swiggy said, “The 10pm restriction should be increased at least until 11pm. It will benefit many delivery boys. In the daytime, the orders have increased.”
Swiggy spokesperson said, “With the surge in Covid cases in the city, Puneites are increasingly turning to Swiggy. We’re urging consumers to opt for no-contact delivery, while also ensuring adherence to various safety and hygiene protocols amongst our restaurant and delivery partners. This includes regular temperature checks, sanitisation and the compliance of mask usage with our AI-powered audit mechanism for our delivery partners. Swiggy is also covering the costs for the Covid-19 vaccination and RT-PCR tests of our delivery partners in the city.”
