Tag Archives: FHRAI

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.

FHRAI has submitted a comprehensive list of recommendations on the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23 to the Finance Ministry outlining some of the much-needed expectations of the Hospitality industry. “We are requesting that hotels & tourism related sectors be included in infrastructure projects listed in the NIP set up under the DFI by the Ministry of Finance for promoting infrastructure funding”, said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) have jointly planned to organise a nationwide campaign to sensitize industry stakeholders including the Police as well as general public about hotels or wedding venues not requiring to obtain license for playing any sound recording for marriage and related social or religious functions held at the venues.

FHRAI has submitted a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting her intervention for notifying the Rs60,000 crore sanctioned under the Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID-affected sectors that was announced on June 28. The Association has stated that neither the operational guidelines nor any other details of the scheme have been announced by the Ministry so far.

A joint delegation of members from HRAWI, FHRAI, NRAI, AHAR and HAI met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the continued timing restrictions on restaurants in the state, and informed the CM of restaurateurs’ distress. Thackeray has assured that he will be present in the next meeting of the COVID-19 task force and look for ways for a graded reopening of the restaurant sector.

FHRAI has submitted a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting reintroduction of the scheme granting ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers from the hospitality sector in view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme was formerly announced in October last year.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to the CEO of NITI Aayog – Amitabh Kant – highlighting hospitality industry’s plight with reference to Oyo’s business model. The Association has specifically pointed out that certain recent activities conducted by Oyo to earn goodwill have actually come at the expense of partner hotels.