The ban on hookah parlours in Kolkata on the midnight of December 2, 2022, has dampened the spirit of café owners who were waiting to cash in on the festive season. While some hookah parlour owners are putting up a brave front and are serving coffee and snacks, others have decided to down the shutters.
Worried lot
Raj Shaw, owner of Smookahhh Café and Kitchen on Little Russell Street, said, “Those who visit hookah parlours, do not come to have only coffee and snacks. First, they order the hookah and then they go in for food and beverages. This is a terrible situation,” he added.
“We are losing out on business like anything. If things go on in this manner, we will all lose our jobs. Each unit hires at least 10 to 12 people and in this scenario, even their jobs are at stake,” said Banaj Kr Behera, manager of Zero Degree Café at New Market.
“The rent is over Rs 1 lakh and we cannot run a café only by serving food and coffee. We will need a licence either for the hookah or liquor business. If I apply for a liquor licence now, it might take six months to a year to get it. I am unlikely to be able to sustain my unit that long,” Shaw said.
Extremely profitable
On an average, around 60% of the bill amount comes from hookah. Sutendu Agarwal, co-owner of End Café, near Anwar Shah Road, said there is a profit margin of Rs 200 for a hookah priced between Rs 250 and Rs 300. “It is hard to match that kind of profit margin from any other item,” Agarwal added.
Coffee and mocktails
Agarwal’s unit is not a typical hookah parlour. People visit his café mainly for food and beverages. Now that hookah has been banned, the focus will again be on coffee and snacks. “We are hopeful that the ban won’t affect us too much. In a way, the ban has been a boon. From now on, all cafes will have to serve good food,” he added.
Unlike Agarwal, owners of other parlours where hookah is the USP aren’t that optimistic. “After the ban, there have been days when we didn’t get a single customer. We are serving food and mocktails, but that’s not what people come here for,” Behera added.
Unaware of the law
The process of getting permission for a hookah parlour is the biggest grey area. Eateries and cafés serving hookahs are regulated by the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). However, most hookah bars and restaurant owners in the city are unaware of the law and the process of procuring a license. The owner of Sarat Bose Road café told My Kolkata, he tried to get permission for the special smoking room way back in 2018 and had contacted Kolkata Police. “The cops sent me to the Excise Department and finally I ended up at the Fire Department for a fire safety license! I spent more than three months running from pillar to post,” he said.