PUNE: Malls, restaurants, bars and eateries have suffered yet another blow, with the city reverting to the Level 3 restrictions from Monday.
Though allowed to remain open till 4pm on weekdays, many restaurateurs said it made little sense to offer dinein services with operational window reduced by six hours.
For malls, which will be shut under Level 3, things are back to square one.
Many establishments now fear they will incur losses running into several crores per month and are staring at major layoffs.
Ganesh Shetty, president of the Pune Restaurants and Hoteliers Association (PRAHA), told TOI that of the 30-odd fine dining restaurants that had recently reopened in areas such as Aundh, Baner, Ahmednagar Road and Deccan, several were likely to revert to just parcels and home delivery.
PRAHA president Shetty said, “Several restaurants were hoping to offer dine-in service from July 1, but now they will not, as most dine-in business happens only in the evening and at night.” He said their members recently carried out paid vaccination of their entire staff.
“Losses for the industry keep mounting; the employees cannot even go back now,” Shetty said.
PRAHA vice-president Vikram Shetty said restaurants cannot pay their staff half-wages.
“Irrespective of the operational hours and no dine-ins over the weekend, staff will either have to be paid in full or told to go back home.
If they leave, they are unlikely to return,” Shetty said.
Restaurants said parcel service only made up 10-15% of their business.
Many malls now fear to incur losses running into several crores per month and are staring at major layoffs.
“Recurrent, sudden, closures are putting too much stress on our operations, which will impact employment.
We have so far retained our workforce, but this latest blow pushed us back several steps,” Arun Arora, centre director, Phoenix Marketcity, said.
Surjit Singh Rajpurohit, chief operating officer, Amanora Mall, said, “Non-essential shops can be open till 4pm on weekdays.
Malls should also have been meted out similar treatment,” Rajpurohit said.
“Irrespective of operational status, malls will have pay for electricity, property tax, and salaries.
Establishments without deep pockets will be forced out of business,” a representative of a city mall said.