There are four lakh restaurants across the country. Around three million workers are working in this sector but such businesses are not well recognised as the sector is not given the status of an industry.
The Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association made the claim and demanded the sector’s justified position at a press conference in the capital’s Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon on Saturday.
Secretary General of the organisation Imran Hasan raised various demands at the press conference in presence of Osman Gani, president of the organisation, and others.
“In order to run the restaurant sector, one has to be accountable to 11 companies. Entrepreneurs are harassed to get new licenses or renewals. Our demand is to get permission from one organisation, through a one-stop-service, rather going to so many bodies,” said Hasan.
They further stated the authorities are creating a panicky situation in the country in the name of mobile courts. A frightening atmosphere has been created in the restaurant sector in the name of drives conducted by mobile courts.
The association demanded to formulate a specific policy for drives conducted by mobile courts in the restaurants.
The association’s spokespersons further demanded to avail Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) machines free of cost to all the restaurants as the government will use the EFD machine to collect revenue.
They concluded the conference demanding an end to such harassment by the mobile courts and further demanded to give restaurant sector the status of an industry.