Govt officials co-operative, say restauranteurs, but rue lack of single window clearance system
PANAJI
Contrary to what is popularly believed, it is not that tough to set up a restaurant in Goa, provided you have all the papers in place. Most of the restaurateurs say that it takes around six months to get in place all the licences and approvals from government departments to open a restaurant, in case you are starting from scratch.
However, it takes a lot lesser than six months if you are taking over an already set-up restaurant, assuming that the previous owner must have taken the necessary approvals.
A number of approvals are required to set up a restaurant in Goa - a trade licence from the municipal body (if you are in city area), a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the panchayat (if you are in a village), food and drug administration (FDA) certificate, health department approval, fire safety certificate, sewage inspection, labour licence, and excise licence in case you have a bar.
Alka D’Souza, who is setting up a restaurant in Calangute, said, “I have set up restaurants in the past and I am setting up one right now. From my experience, I’d say that you need all the papers to get the required approvals. Government officials are fairly co-operative.”
Prahlad Sukhtankar, owner of The Black Sheep Bistro in Panaji, said, “Before starting, I had heard horror stories from people who had to endure a bitter experience, so I had mentally prepared myself to deal with the "system". But I found the "system" to be quite reasonable. Yes, there were minor hiccups here and there, but nothing that a "please" and "thank you" kind of attitude did not help.”
When asked how long it took to get the licences, Sukhtankar replied, “Timings were varied depending on the licence. Some came in within one week and some took more than a month.”
However, there are glitches as some restaurants end up spending time in chasing government departments for approval, but even in those cases, they end up getting the approval in a few months’ time.
“My application for a trade licence was moving at a snail's pace at the municipality. That’s when I applied for a technical approval, which was valid for just one month. However, I got permanent approval from the municipality too in a month’s time,” mentioned a restaurant owner who runs a café in Panaji.
Amey Naik, owner of Peep Kitchen in Caranzalem, said, “Getting licences is not difficult. However, if the government sets up a single window clearance system, then it would really help us.”
Having a single window clearance system will make the process systematic, which, in turn, will also help in reducing overall time consumed in taking all the licences.
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Box – Licenses required to set up a restaurant
• The number of licenses required to set up a restaurant varies case to case.
• Certain licenses are mandatory like trade license from municipality, NOC from panchayat, FDA), health department approval, fire safety certificate and sewage inspection certificate.
• Excise license is required if you are serving alcohol. Separate license required for liquor made in India and liquor imported from outside.
• Labour license is required if you are employing more than 10 people.
• Most licenses have to be renewed every year. But, FDA license can be renewed once in a year, once in two years, once in three years, once in four years or once in five years
