Kochi: As many as 33,000 restaurants across Kerala remain shut due to the Covid lockdowns and continuing restrictions. Several of them have already sought to cancel their Goods and Service Tax registration.
Of the 33,000, around 15,000 have stopped functioning as these are unable to bear the losses. And around 12,000 restaurants have filed applications to cancel the GST registrations.
This data pertains to only those that have licences and membership with the Hotel and Restaurant Association. The restaurants that remain shut or have stopped functioning belong to the 55,000 members of the Association.
Thousands of small tea shops, which do not have GST registration or the licence from the local self-government body, are not included in this list. The majority of the restaurants that closed down did not have parcel service or online delivery. Among the total number of restaurants in the state, barely 15 per cent have online delivery. Even those giving parcels are allowed to function only five days a week.
Chefs and other employees have also left. These staff, who left in search of other livelihoods, are unlikely to return, say the owners of restaurants that have closed.
GST too a problem
Restaurants that have an annual turnover exceeding Rs 20 lakh have to take GST registration and file returns. If a restaurant operates for five days a week, it has to do a daily business for at least Rs 7,000 for the annual turnover to touch Rs 20 lakh. The restaurants that are not even able to earn half of that through parcel service have filed applications to cancel the GST registration. If the application has to be considered, the returns till now should have been duly filed and there should be no pending dues.
