Dhabas, eateries badly hit after orders dry up

The roadside dhabas and food joints are the worst hit after Modi government scrapped notes of denomination 500 and 1,000. The food joint owners who are not accepting the scrapped notes or do not have online transition facilities are forced to shut down their outlets as there is hardly any customer left with Rs 100 notes.

Millennium Post visited many roadside dhabas, eating joints, take-aways on Monday and it was found that before a customer places his order, the waiters inform them that they will not accept the scrapped notes. And as most of the roadside food outlets do not have the facilities of online transaction, the customers are leaving and the business has gone down. Be it places like C R Park or C P, owners of eateries have decided not to accept the scrapped notes and in turn, their business has been hit.

Middle-class people, who often used to visit these outlets on a regular basis, have not visited these places in these few days. Moreover, the outlet owners are unable to buy vegetables, spices, etc from their vendors as they too are not accepting the scrapped notes.

There are many food joints, specifically take-aways in East, South and Central Delhi that have closed as only a few customers were coming to their shops that too with scrapped notes. However, some people have switched to the restaurants and other famous food outlets who are accepting credit/debit cards.

As most of these dhabas have shut down, the workers have been rendered jobless. In many places, their salaries are still due as the owners used to pay their wages in cash. But after the announcement, the owners have denied to pay theri salaries.

“We are waiting for the new Rs 500 note to come in the market. It will help us in rolling our business. Now, the customers are either offering us the new Rs 2,000 note or the scrapped money,” was the general consensus among many food-joint owners in Moolchand area.