Restaurants in Delhi no longer require a tourism licence; govt notifies order

The Delhi government on Tuesday issued an order notifying that restaurants in Delhi will no longer have to acquire a licence from the tourism department in order

The Delhi government on Tuesday issued an order notifying that restaurants in Delhi will no longer have to acquire a licence from the tourism department in order to function, the government said in a press statement.

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The notification comes around a month after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that the process was on to ensure that restaurants in the city can operate round the clock, and to do away with the requirement for obtaining tourism and health trade licences, apart from a police verification. He said his government was also tweaking certain fire safety norms in heritage buildings of Connaught Place and Khan Market and a few excise rules to allow serving of liquor in open spaces within the premise of an enterprise and to ensure more flexibility regarding storage of liquor.

These measures were part of the government’s “ease of doing business” policy, aimed at boosting the capital’s economy in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While tourism licence and excise rules directly come under the city government’s domain, the other measures would involve multiple agencies such as the Delhi Police and the three municipal corporations.

“The notification will come as a major relief to the restaurant industry in Delhi, especially after a major economic downfall due to the Covid-19 crisis,” the government statement said.

The statement further said the tourism licence was initially issued by the Union government and came under the state domain only in 2003. Since then, the government of Delhi had made it mandatory for all restaurants with seating capacity of 30 and above to seek this licence.

The tourism department’s approval is required to be sought afresh every five years. Restaurateurs have to pay a fee of ₹10,000 (up to 100 seats), and ₹20,000 for more than 100 seats.

“Various reviews and considerations were done by the state tourism department over the last few months on the request of restaurant associations. However, owing to the recent circumstances concerning Covid-19, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered the removal of the voluntary scheme of granting approval for standalone restaurants,” the statement said.

Sandeep Khandelwal of Delhi hotels and restaurants owners’ association said, “This is a welcome move. Such licences and permits are often unnecessary as they lead to duplication. They waste the time of the authorities as well as entrepreneurs on a periodic basis. We hope the government succeeds in doing away with the other such licences too at the earliest.”

Regarding health trade licences, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government has already run into a standoff with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led municipal corporations (MCD). While the AAP has been asserting that the health trade licence now comes under exclusive domain of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which comes under the central government, the MCDs have maintained that they are reviewing the protocol.