KOCHI: Eateries in Kerala have been jacking up food prices at will. Over the past few months, food prices shot up by 10 to 30 per cent, say analysts. Customers, meanwhile, wonder when the state government would bring any regulation or pass the long-pending Kerala Hotels (Food Price Regulation) Bill 2015. The bill, which proposes the constitution of district-level regulatory authorities to fix food prices at hotels and restaurants, is yet to be taken up for discussion in the assembly. Also, though several local bodies and the civil supplies department had initiated efforts to introduce price-based grading of outlets, the project never took off.
Slamming official apathy, Confederation of Residents Associaton (COFRA) consumer forum general secretary Sashidharan Nair says the government “can easily implement regulations”. “Earlier,” he adds, “the government had planned to classify the hotels and fix the rate of food based on the average expenditure, labour expenses and profit margins. It’s the government’s responsibility to prevent fleecing of the common man.”
Sarin PR, who works at a private firm in Thiruvananthapuram, is one such aggrieved common man. “The eateries don’t lower the cost even if the market prices of vegetables or meat come down,” he says. “Hotel food is unavoidable for people like us. Many eateries don’t even display the price chart. The government should bring in some unified pricing system.”
Noting that the number of people relying on eateries has gone up, Anjana M Sajeev, a student and foodie in Kochi, echoes Sarin’s views. “With daily life becoming more hectic, many professionals also depend on hotel food,” she says. “Unchecked food price rise will affect consumers, especially those who have been facing salary cuts. Hence, the government should bring in a price-cap system.”
One of the Eat Kochi Eat group’s founders, Karthik Murali, agrees but adds that price capping should be “implemented tactically” without hurting restaurant economics. He also believes that, generally, “thattukada food is overpriced when compared with restaurants that provide proper dining and air-conditioning facilities”.Meanwhile, there are also calls for more government-funded Janakeeya Hotels, which offer food at reasonable prices.
Preliminary discussions
With complaints mounting on food safety, hygiene and pricing at eateries in Kerala, the Commissionerate of Food Safety and the Civil Supplies department are gearing up to make joint efforts to classify eateries in the state.
“Preliminary discussions are on to regulate food prices,” says a senior Civil Supplies department official. “The Indian Railways has implemented this successfully, by fixing rates based on the quantity of the food items whether it’s tea, coffee or vada. We, too, are drawing up an action plan with the help of experts. After legally validating the proposal, we will hand it over to the state government.”The plan is to classify the hotels and restaurants into five categories based on the service, hygiene, infrastructure and quality.
“Food safety authorities are also classifying hotels based on hygiene. We will soon hold meetings with the food safety department and Kerala Hotels and Restaurants Association (KHRA),” the official adds.
Meanwhile, KHRA Ernakulam district preident Manoharan T J argues that prices “cannot be decided by the government”. Each hotel charges for food items, based on the ingredients they use, he adds.
Hygiene rating
As part of the Food Safety and Standards Authority India’s Food Hygiene Rating Scheme programme, the Commissionerate of Food Safety is planning to give grades to eateries in the state. The project has already been rolled out, and the authorities plan to give hygiene ratings for at least 3,000 outlets this year.The hygiene rating will be in the form of smileys (1 to 5), and the certificate should be displayed prominently for consumers to see.
Inputs from Steni Simon
Price chart (mid-level eateries)
Standard veg meal Rs 60 to Rs 160
Fish curry meal Rs 80 to Rs 230
Veg biryani Rs 75 to Rs 150
Chicken biryani Rs 120 to Rs 260
Omelette Rs 20 to Rs 40
Chicken curry Rs 120 Rs 250
Veg curry Rs 60 to Rs 130
Tea/coffee Rs 10 to Rs 18
Masala dosa Rs 55 to Rs 100
Fruit juice Rs 80 to Rs 180
Chapathi Rs 5 to Rs 20
Idli Rs 15 to Rs 25
Snacks Rs 5 to Rs 30