Maximum hours receive minimum response

Extended hours not feasible for establishments; most return to old timings; visitors, restauranteurs want alcohol curbs to be eased

Although the Mumbai 24x7 plan kicked off with much celebration and applause from Mumbaiites and establishment owners, a month later, it is losing momentum, with prominent malls opting out of the scheme and going back to their regular schedule, thanks to the cold response by patrons.

HT Image

Four of the eight major malls in Mumbai that HT visited on Friday night – Infinity Mall, Andheri; Inorbit Mall, Malad; R City Mall, Ghatkopar, and Growel’s 101, Kandivli – had shut shop before 12am. Only a few visitors were spotted at Oberoi Mall in Goregaon and Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, during the extended hours. At both malls, only the food courts were open. Store owners said that visitors do not seem interested in shopping at night and running operations for extended hours is not feasible.

On January 16, tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray, with civic chief Praveen Pardeshi and former city police commissioner Sanjay Barve, had announced the Mumbai 24x7 policy that allows shopping malls, eateries, commercial complexes in defunct mills and other such gated communities to operate through the night.

Since the nightlife plan was rolled out, the response to late-night trial runs of shops and eateries gradually tapered off. HT had also conducted a test drive on the first night the 24x7 policy was implemented at a few malls and found the response lukewarm. A month later, the response has withered further, with malls receiving an average of five to six visitors during extended hours.

No weekend charm

Even though malls conducted their trial run on weekends, expecting to draw a larger audience, they were disappointed with the turnout. One of the operations staff at Infinity Mall in Andheri said, “The mall used to be open till 3am on weekends till last Friday, however, this weekend, it was shut at 11.30pm.” Owners of shopping outlets said they have decided to run shops as per the old timings. “People need food and entertainment at night, be it weekends or weekdays. They don’t want to shop,” said one shop owner.

Thackeray explained that people would take a while to get used to the new timings.“Basically it’s a policy that’s an enabler. I don’t expect it to be an overnight success. Mumbai is a city that doesn’t sleep, works hard, loves to unwind. Till now, everyone knew there were curfews. It’ll take time for people and establishments to realise it can be open all night.”

Prominent malls hit

When HT visited Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla, around 2am, the mall had only five to six visitors. Sunil Sharma, who owns a food stall at the mall, said, “Initially we used to keep our shop open till 3-4am on weekends but considering the poor response, we decided to shut it down at 1.30am. Now people prefer to stay at home and order their food using mobile apps.” Sharma said it is difficult to run his food stall in such conditions and is unable to pay his staff for the overtime.

R City Mall in Ghatkopar and R Mall in Mulund were open only till 11.30pm. As per the R Mall management, after Valentine’s Day, shop owners decided to stay open till 1.30am owing to low footfalls. Earlier, they had extended the time until 3 am.

Allow late-night alcohol sale

Oberoi Mall at Goregaon had very few visitors on Friday night around 3am. With only the food court open till late, just 10 to 15 people were seen visiting the establishment. People who seemed upbeat about the extended hours said that the plan is not complete because of the restrictions on the sale of liquor. Kshitiz Soni, a Goregaon resident who visited Oberoi Mall at night, said, “I feel there is a need to allow alcohol for extended hours or there won’t be a good response.”

Similarly, at Atria Mall in Worli, retail shops were shut. Only the food court was operational till 3.30am.

Phoenix Marketcity mall at Lower Parel witnessed a good crowd till around 2am, after which there was a sharp dip in the number of visitors. Restaurants, bars, the food court in the mall premises denied people entry after 2.30am to clear the existing crowd. Nil Brijwale, who owns a bar at Phoenix Marketcity said, “We have invested a lot for this 24x7 initiative but this poor response disappointed me. If the government wants to increase footfall then the liquor consumption time should be extended.”

“[Alcohol] is a tiny part of it [24x7 plan]. This policy is much larger than that. It’s about liberalising and better utilising our space and citizens’ time,” said Thackeray.

Mumbai civic officials said they would wait for some more time before arriving at any conclusion. “We are monitoring how the initiative is working out. We will see what the mall owners say about the plan,” said a senior official. Sharad Ughade, assistance municipal commissioner who is in charge of the 24x7 plan, preferred not to comment.