Restaurant owners demand stopping harassment
To run the eateries, all permission should be given from a ministry or department thru’ a one-stop service, they say
Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) has urged the government to end harassment of small entrepreneurs in the sector to help operate the eateries in a disciplined way.
They also demanded introducing a one-stop service to stop the hassles in taking a license or its renewal to run eateries.
Leaders of the platform put forward the demands at its 33rd central executive council meeting at a community centre in the capital city on Saturday.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Imran Hasan, secretary-general of the association, said, "Currently, to run the restaurants we have to move to 11 departments of the government for getting licenses or renewing those every year. With this, small entrepreneurs face a lot of harassment as well as financial loss."
"Instead of so many departments, all permission should be given from a ministry or department through a one-stop service. A task force should be formed immediately to bring all the related services under one ministry," he adds.
In case of renewal of license, all clearances should be valid for three years instead of one, Imran Hasan further said.
He said the restaurant sector is one of the industrial sectors in Bangladesh, where two crore people are directly and indirectly involved. The sector is extremely neglected as the government is not given it an industry status although the sector has played an important role in tourism, economy and employment.
According to the government data, more than 4 lakh restaurants are being operated in the country, where 30 lakh people work.
At the meeting, restaurant owners said seven departments of the government are operating mobile courts. There should be a specific policy for conducting the mobile courts concerning restaurants.
All restaurants all over Bangladesh, including street food eateries, should be brought under VAT registration which will create a level playing field, eradicate unequal competition in business, they added.
Osman Gani, president of BROA, Md Firoz Alam Sumon, 1st Joint Secretary General, Towfiqul Islam, treasurer, Syed Mohammad Andalib, organising secretary, Khandaker Ruhul Amin, chief advisor and central and regional leaders of the association were present.
