 |
||||||
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
|||||||||||||
From October, Smoke While Having Dinner At A Restaurant Won't Go Hand In HandBy Riti, Section GN
Forget lighting up a cigarette while having a drink with friends at your favourite pub. And if you want to smoke while having dinner at a restaurant, be prepared to go to a special room and stay there till you have stubbed the cigarette. Also expect no service in this special chamber, which means forget smoking and eating or drinking together in hotels.
With the ``prohibition of smoking in public places rules, 2008,'' coming into effect on October 2, the hotel industry is worried about the impact the new rule would have on the sector and has asked the Union health ministry for a rethink. The Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) has written to the ministry, asking for a deferred date of implementation of the new rule till the problem areas are sorted out. ``Since pubs, bars, discotheques are places where adult customers come, relax and consume alcohol and also smoke. To make such places no-smoking zones is unfair and directly hits revenue of such establishments,'' says FHRAI,which has 3,300 hotels and restaurants across the country as members, in the letter. What's irking hotels most is they will have fully enclosed separate glass or brick rooms in hotels and restaurants where people can smoke. Click on Full Story for More.
``Rule 4 (3) states the smoking area in a hotel/restaurant shall be used only for smoking and no other service will be allowed there. This prohibits the provision of dining (serving foods, drinks etc) in any smoking area of a restaurant, canteen, coffee house, banquet hall, pub, disco etc. It is prima facie clear that this rule is unreasonable and unconstitutional,'' the letter says.
Another clause of this rule prohibits such smoking areas to be at the entry or exit, making it difficult for smaller establishments to even comply with the same. The rule mandates the smoking area to have an automatic door that's normally kept closed. The smoking and non-smoking classification in restaurants will be done away with. The separate rooms for smoking will be located in a different area ``from where smoke shall be ventilated outside and not permeate into non-smoking areas of hotel, including lobbies and corridors''. These norms will apply to restaurants with seating capacity of over 30 people and hotels with over 30 rooms. FHRAI has also opposed including banquets in the definition of restaurants. ``Banquet halls are not accessible to general public and are reserved by private persons for personal parties. Therefore, it is incorrect to prohibit smoking in what is essentially a private function,'' the association says. The association has objected to other provisions of the new rule that would prohibit sale of cigarettes or cigars in hotels and also the requirement to have a complaint authority where a guest can report violation of these rules. FHRAI got its legal team to examine the new rule and says some of its provisions are ``impractical, onerous and ultra vires the Constitution''. It has sought the creation of a committee with representatives from the industry, Tobacco Institute of India and six ministries -- health, tourism, commerce, law, HRD and industries to examine the issue. Till that happens, the hotel industry has sought deferring the implementation of this new rule. Clearly, the implications of the rule have the industry in a state of panic. LIGHT UP IN ENCLOSURE
Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, comes into effect from October 2 Source:The Times Of India July22nd,2008.
From October, Smoke While Having Dinner At A Restaurant Won't Go Hand In Hand | 0 comments (0 topical, 0 hidden)
|
|
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest (c) GurgaonSCOOP.com and QBTPL. |
| Home | Ask Questions | Computer Gupshup | Free Member Diaries | Contact Us - Sanjay @ 98 712 19911 |
