Mumbai: No New Year�s Eve party after 11:30 PM
19-December-2020

The New Year Eve celebration in Mumbai might not be a glitzy affair this year. Reportedly, the BMC has decided not to relax the 11:30 PM deadline on all restaurants, hotels, bars, and food courts.

In view of the COVID crisis, the said restrictions have been in place since October 5, when the BMC allowed restaurants and hotels to operate at their 33 per cent capacity. However, it has been reported that many establishments were flouting the rule, which led to the BMC imposing strict rules, and even going ahead by fining patrons who were seen not wearing masks. Further, the BMC also issued notices to restaurants and directed them to not serve the patrons beyond 11:30 PM.

As such, lounge and bar operators will likely give a miss to the New Year�s Eve party this year as no clear guidelines have been issued on the events. Referring to this, excise department officials also confirmed that they have not received any application so far for liquor licences.

Elaborating on this, a representative of a lounge stated that they have not yet planned to host any special event for December 31, and will be going ahead with the normal a la carte bookings for bars and restaurants. Further, reports of possible night curfew in Mumbai on New Year�s Eve are also doing rounds, lack of clear guidelines, and the 11.30 PM deadline for the restaurants to close have also added to the uncertainty, he added.

Swastik Sirsikar, Founder President of Association of Clubs in Pune, told the press that the clubs will be avoiding any such events that might witness gathering of people this December 31, as it will become difficult to maintain adequate social distancing norms during such events.

However, he mentioned that they are expecting some new guidelines to be issued before the Christmas-New Year period, to get a clear picture if they should go ahead and arrange such parties.