India’s restaurant sector, which has been struggling to find its feet post pandemic, hopes to bounce back provided it gets the ‘right impetus’ from the government, including an ‘industry’ status and benefit of input tax credit on GST. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which claims to represent as many as five lakh restaurants across the country, promises a potential for the sector to employ 1.5 crore people by 2028, as compared to 85 lakh at present.
“We don’t have a separate industry status, that would be a big positive move, as it would give us a voice,” NRAI Vice President, Zorawar Kalra, said on Wednesday. He further described the lack of input tax credit on GST as a “major issue” faced by the country’s restaurant industry.
Kalra, who is also the Founder and Managing Director of Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, expressed hope that the issue will be taken up as the Association was in talks with the “right people”. However, he refrained from commenting on the issue of service charge, saying the matter was subjudice. He did add that levying of service charge was a “globally accepted norm”.
With the Delhi High Court setting May 9 as the date to hear pleas of restaurant bodies including the NRAI and Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India challenging an order against the mandatory levying of service charge on food bills, it also brings into focus NRAI’s conflict with food delivery aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato over the latter’s founding of private-label brands as part of their quick-commerce space. The association’s grievance is that the move has harmed independent restaurants and undermines fair competition.
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