Tag Archives: FHRAI

Sudesh Poddar has been elected as the President of FHRAI for 2022-2023 at the association’s 66th AGM at The Lalit, New Delhi. A team of 24 Executive Members also elected: Pradeep Shetty as Vice President from HRAWI; K Nagaraju as Vice President from SIHRA; M Surendra Kumar Jaiswal as Vice President from HRANI; T.S Walia as Hony. Secretary (FHRAI); Amarvir Singh as Jt. Hony. Secretary from Northern region; Gurbaxish Singh Kohli as Jt. Hony. Secretary from Western region and D.V.S Somaraju as Hony. Treasure (FHRAI).

Jaison Chacko, Secretary General, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), has revealed that the Delhi High Court has dismissed the writ petition filed by MakeMyTrip (MMT) challenging the order passed by the Ld. NCLAT to deposit 10 per cent penalty amount for entertaining the appeal against the Competition Commission of India (CCI’s) order.

Thanking the government for considering its appeal for earmarking an ECLGS for the sector, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), said, “The decision to approve an additional ECLGS worth Rs.50,000 Cr specifically for hospitality and tourism sectors is welcome. The additional line of credit was much needed by the hospitality sector which is still grappling with massive debts and is simultaneously trying to keep business running. Several hospitality establishments cannot sustain operations without sufficient liquidity, but the extended ECLGS could help businesses buy some more time to keep the wheels in motion.”

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI said, “Most of these guidelines issued by CCPA are already followed by hotels & restaurants. It’s extremely disheartening that the hospitality industry is constantly singled out. We have explained over and over again that there is nothing illegal in collecting a service charge.” 

FHRAI has submitted a representation to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, highlighting problems faced by inbound tourists with filling the online Air Suvidha form and has requested for its immediate withdrawal. With several passengers having missed their flights to India, the Association has appealed for the Ministry to at least provision physical forms as an alternate to the online forms.

FHRAI has clarified that service charge, like any other charge collected by an establishment, is a part of the invitation offered by the restaurant to the potential customers. It is for the customers to decide whether they wish to patronise the said restaurant or not. To discuss and seek clarity on the matter, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has called FHRAI for a meeting on June 02.

Citing the unprecedented rise in inflation, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has requested the GST Council to evaluate the present GST structure for the hospitality sector and appealed for it to be rationalized. FHRAI has suggested that all F & B revenue of hotels be delinked from their hotel room tariff slabs and allowed to charge GST at 5 per cent without ITC under the composite scheme and 12 per cent GST with ITC.   

Referring to the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme, Pradeep Shetty, Jt. Hon. Sec, FHRAI, says, “The single-most important factor in attracting more international tourists is for India to be in tune with global standards if we want to compete with South East Asia and Sri Lanka. This is in terms of technology, décor, property, maintenance systems, etc. Many things are not manufactured in India. Therefore, the EPCG scheme is of primary importance. But it is understood that the government is looking to scrap this scheme altogether for the hospitality industry. We understand that we are moving towards Atma Nirbhar and Make in India but we cannot do that for hospitality till a time when our manufacturing industry gives us singular products in terms of quality, pricing and technology.” 

FHRAI has written to Prime Minister seeking a special relief package for the tourism and hospitality sector due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-induced lockdowns. The association has requested that the Centre treat it as the “most distressed sector due to Covid-19. The industry has reported losses of ₹140,000 crore and around 500 lakh jobs were lost due to the pandemic. 

FHRAI has signed MoU with the Government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to promote hospitality and related infrastructure in the Union Territory. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President represented the hospitality industry at the event and signed the joint MoU for FHRAI at the Real Estate Summit 2021. Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs graced the event.