ISLAMABAD: In a letter to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Islamabad Restaurants’ Association (IRA) has demanded reopening of indoor dining facility to save the industry from further economic collapse.

IRA Chairman Asad Umer in the letter expressed disappointment over the NCOC decision made on August 2 regarding immediate closure of indoor dining due to the increase in Covid-19 positivity ratio nationwide.

The IRA said under the standard operating procedures (SOPs) prepared by NCOC indoor dining was allowed based on vaccination of all restaurant staff and entry of only vaccinated customers. But now NCOC has put aside all efforts made during the past few months and banned indoor dining. It is unfair to bundle all restaurants into one category.

IRA also questioned the treatment with the restaurant industry saying other activities where the spread of Covid-19 had a higher probability continued.

“All malls are open, public transport is operating unchecked, gyms are open, mosques are full to capacity and political parties are holding unchecked rallies and all tourist locations are open without any SOPs. The association believes that it is a complete misunderstanding of the industry when NCOC thinks that the restaurant industry is not really affected by this decision as outdoor and ecommerce delivery system is still open. As majority of restaurants in Pakistan have over 80pc dependency on indoor dining, most of these restaurants cannot pay salary and rent once indoor dining is closed. With the closure of indoor dining, dependency increases on third party e-commerce food delivery companies that charge more than 30pc commission in most cases making the restaurant business unprofitable,” the letter stated.

The closure of indoor dining makes restaurants a zero revenue business and hence multiple restaurants have already closed in the last 18 months. Eight million homes are at risk of losing their jobs if the indoor dining is closed.

Earlier, at a meeting NCOC Chairman Asad Umar had committed that the government will keep a separate amount in the budget to support the restaurant industry but nothing has been given to the industry except lockdown, said the IRA.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2021