Delhi govt's ease-of-doing-biz boost to hospitality sector Eating house certificate norm relaxed

New Delhi, Jul 17 (PTI) in an ease-of-doing-business initiative, the Delhi government has done away with the requirement of the "Eating House Registration and Lodging Certificate" issued by police to hotels, clubs and restaurants, officials said on Thursday.
    The certificate was required for obtaining a licence from the excise department to serve liquor at hotels, clubs, restaurants and guesthouses, among other places.
    The move comes in the wake of Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena last month withdrawing the sanction granted to the police commissioner for the issuance of these certificates.
    The Delhi Police issued a notification on June 28, repealing its regulatory power in the matter with immediate effect.
    The excise department, in an order issued earlier this week, said the applicants for the grant or renewal of different kinds of licences, including L-11 (retail vend of microbreweries), L-15 (hotel, guesthouse with room service of liquor), L-16 (serving of liquor at bars, restaurants attached to hotels) are not required to submit the "Eating House Registration and Lodging Certificate".
    The exempted categories also include the L-17 (service of liquor at independent restaurants) and L-19 (round-the-clock service of liquor at departure, arrival lounges of international airport) excise licences.
    The certificate issued by the Delhi Police used to be the "biggest hurdle" before getting the appropriate excise licence, the owner of a city resto-bar said.
    "The process that was specified to be completed within 45 days often used to take months, with last-minute queries posed by police," he said.
    Getting the fire-safety and municipal corporation permissions is usually easier, he added.
    The excise department grants the licence to guesthouses, clubs, restaurants and hotels to serve liquor after the submission of the fire-safety and municipal corporation certificates. With the eating-house certificate gone, the process of getting the excise licence will become faster, the resto-bar owner said.
    Another restaurateur said the scrapping of the eating-house certificate will also help hotels and eateries to operate beyond 1 am for serving food, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages to customers.
    Excise licences for hotels, clubs and restaurants stipulate that alcohol will not be served at these places after 1 am.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)