Despite the measures announced by Lieutenant Governor LG Saxena to improve ease of doing business and boost nightlife in the city, nightclubs in five- and four-star hotels located in Delhi are reportedly still facing hurdles, according to recent reports.
Despite the introduction of a unified portal intended to serve as a single platform for all permits, nightclub owners claim that the option for a 24-hour license is still unavailable. Operators are dissatisfied with the old timings, which mandate that they close their establishments by 1am and stop taking orders beyond 12:30am. As the business typically experiences a surge in activity around 11pm, the early closing is causing a loss of revenue, according to the operators.
Sidhant Sharma, CEO of White Club at Hotel Samrat, recently shared that despite collaborating with an international brand and incurring substantial expenses on rentals and salaries, the club has been experiencing significant losses due to early closures. Although the establishment possesses an excise license to serve alcohol around the clock, a lack of an eating house license from Delhi Police is compelling them to shut down early, as per Sharma.
According to Sharma, the police have not received any notification or order authorizing clubs to remain open late into the night.
Ankit Khilwani of Soho at Hotel Ashok concurred, adding that they were keeping their clubs shut as there was no point in incurring daily losses. “We don’t want to do anything illegal and, as a result, we are staying shut. We hope the website allows us to apply for a 24-hour police licence soon, or an order is passed urgently to every police station across the city that outlets in four- and five-star hotels are 24-hour eating houses. We urge officials to follow LG’s business-friendly policies for us to resume operations and benefit,” Khilwani said.
Delhi Police declined to provide any comments on the issue.
