Hoteliers to BMC: Remove irrelevant licence conditions | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Representatives of hotel and restaurant associations have suggested that the BMC stop applying section 394 of the MMC Act on restaurants and hotels.
The representatives claimed, during an open house held in BMC on Tuesday as part of its efforts to improve ease of doing business for citizens as well as businessmen, that with the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), the health licence issue by medical officer health (MOH) makes no sense.
The representatives also wanted the NOC from the building and factory department for hotels and restaurants to be scrapped except for doubt where the structures are illegal or limited only to tolerated structures.
However, BMC officials pointed out that the role of the building and factory department and the health department cannot completely be done away with. “For instance, there might be a sewerage line near the hotel, or the water line to the hotel may not be commercial. Besides, the establishment owner may enclose or cover an open space or even store gas cylinders or some other things in the open space. There is a need to identify such violations and keep a check on these aspects,” said a BMC official.
Representatives including those from AHAR (Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) voiced their concerns and also pointed out that the BMC licensing department demands licences for storage of liquor, which is already covered by the excise department.
“We have demanded that the BMC should stop applying section 394 of the BMC Act on restaurants, hotels and eating houses as it has become infructuous because of the FSSA licence, as the FSSA is in force. It is a duplication of the food licence, and this is happening only in Mumbai,” said Santosh Shetty, advisor to AHAR (Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association).
BMC had earlier sought suggestions for improving the process of issuing trade licences, restaurant licence, factory licence, etc. Among the suggestions for ease of doing business also included a suggestion for facilitating registration and renewal for shops and establishment online through the BMC web portal and renewal through its mobile app.