No clarity yet on business hours for shops in Hyderabad

Confusion continue to prevail over the business hours for commercial establishments after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy recently announced that the except liquor shops, the remaining establishments will remain open till 1 am.

Hyderabad: At what time in the night should the business establishments in the city down the shutters?

Confusion continue to prevail over the business hours for commercial establishments after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy recently announced that the except liquor shops, the remaining establishments will remain open till 1 am.

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The announcement was made after AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi complained of police highhandedness in old city. The Chief Minister had stated that he had held a meeting with the Commissioners of Police of Rachakonda, Cyberabad and Hyderabad, and decided to allow the restaurants and businesses to remain open till 1 am.

However, so far no official orders have been sent to the local police stations leading to confusion in the business community and the field level police personnel.

As a result, the shops such as mobile phone accessories, apparels, super markets, hair cutting saloons, tailors etc., in some areas are doing business till 1 am while in other areas the owners are closing the establishment at 11 pm.

“There is no clarity on the timings for closing the shops. The police are coming only after 1 am and enforcing the closure of all establishments,” said Mohd Rasheed, who runs a grocery store at Falaknuma said.

Traders around the city are confused over the actual timing for business hours. “As there is no clarity over the timing for closing the shops, many traders in the city following the 11 pm deadline for fear of police action,” complained Mohd Amjad, who runs an apparel store at Tolichowki.

In fact there is confusion among the police personnel themselves over it. In some places the shops except hotels are forced to shut down by midnight while in other areas the police although are on roads and allowing the business activity until 1 am.

“We are waiting for necessary orders from the higher-ups. Only then, we will know which shop should shut down at 11 pm or allowed to run until 1 am. We are not interfering for fear of public opposing our actions,” said a police constable working in Cyberabad.

Previously, restaurants and hotels were allowed to do business till 1 am while the remaining establishments were asked to close the shops at 11 pm. “It was done because many small shops run in the localities and if they remained opened till late nights, it causes lot of disturbance to the residents,” said a police official who previously worked in Hyderabad city.