Industry body representing over 5 lakh restaurants urges landlords to waive rent till June amid lock down

Hit by the coronavirus crisis and the nation-wide lockdown, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has urged landlords in the food and beverage (F&B) or restaurant industry to waive their rents and the common area maintenance charges till June or till the lockdown lasts.

In an open letter to the landlords in the food and beverage (F&B) business, the industry body representing over 5 lakh restaurants said that although the shutdown may remain for a month two, the industry will take many more months to revive.

"While this shutdown may continue for a month or two, we will take many more months post that to get back on our feeta and we will not be able to sail through this period smoothly without your support," said the letter

NRAI also sought that the common area maintenance charge should be taken at 50 per cent of the agreed rate for the six months after the lockdown ends.

It also said that there should not be "minimum guaranteed rents for six months post that and instead work on a pure revenue share equivalent to 50 per cent of the agreed terms up to a maximum of 10 per cent of monthly revenues."

NRAI President Anurag Katriar said: "This appeal is aimed at ensuring our mere survival during such extraordinarily troubled times. We aren't trying to be profiteer at the expense of the landlords. As long-standing business partners of ours, we are hopeful that the landlords will extend their support in these times of unprecedented crisis."

The industry body, last week wrote to the Finance Minister seeking economic relief for the restaurant industry in view of the disruption caused by the coronavirus scare in the country.

Acknowledging the recent relief measures by the government including the deferment of GST return filings, he said that the sector would require a larger stimulus package to revive the sector and support its over 70 lakh employees.

"We will need a much bigger stimulus package from the government whenever we get back to the stage of rebooting our business," he said.

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