The restaurant industry has urged mall owners and landlords for complete waiver on rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges till June or till the time the country is under lockdown to battle Covid-19 outbreak.

In an open letter to landlords of the F&B industry, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said:, “While this shutdown may continue for a month or two, we will take many more months after that to get back on our feet and we will not be able to sail through this period smoothly without your support.”

The industry body has also urged landlords to waive off minimum guaranteed rents for a period of six months after resumption so that restaurant businesses can sustain.

Anurag Katriar, President of NRAI, said, “As very critical partners in our business, we seek support from the landlords across the country. Some of the big mall owners such as the Lulu Group, Lodha Group, Forum and Vegas have already announced immediate interim relief and we request other mall owners and independent landlords to do the same. We appeal to them to waive rental and CAM charges for three months and work on a moderate revenue-share model for six months post that till the restaurant industry regains some lost foothold.”

The industry body said in terms of moderate revenue-share model, it proposes “revenue share equivalent of 50 per cent of the previously agreed terms” with certain caps.

Katriar said the recent measures announced by the RBI and Centre partially resolve the immediate concerns of the industry but the industry will need a bigger stimulus package. “We urge State governments to defer excise and VAT collections. We also appeal to the Central Government to restore Input Tax Credit on GST which help the restaurant industry to significantly bring down fixed operating costs.”

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