gurugram ahatas millennium citys most soughtafter socialising venues could soon face the rap following complaints from its gurugram chapter the national restaurant association of india nrai is planning to knock the doors of punjab and haryana high court against these informal restaurants for noncompliance of laws prescribed for operating restaurants nrai alleged ahatas are cooking and serving food along with nonalcoholic beverages without requisite licences for operating restaurantsmany of the citys 68 ahatas advertise on food delivery apps and social media presenting themselves as byob bring your own booze restaurants though they neither follow norms nor take mandatory approval for restaurants effectively regular restaurants are complaining that by not having to follow norms for restaurants ahatas are undercutting and hurting their businessesintroduced as small open space drinking place adjacent to liquor vends in 2005 to prevent rowdy and drunken behaviour in public gurugrams ahatas have slowly turned into hip places with live music special appearances of worldclass bartenders eyepopping interiors and exquisite food menus increasing footfall at these outlets has also attracted scrutiny with ahatas criticised for ignoring safety and violation normsthey started as small spaces with bamboo sheds though they were initially restricted only to largely middleclass men they are now famous for hosting birthdays anniversaries and farewells for the citys top executives with many regular partyhoppers stating they began shifting their allegiance from fancy pubs to ahatas after the new excise policy of april 2016 barred pubs and bars from serving liquor at rooftop gardens lawns and other open spacesrahul singh president of nrai said gurugrams ahatas are openly flouting restaurant laws while they adhere to excise police by providing a safe drinking place these byob restaurants are preparing cooking and serving food and other beverages without having to comply with food safety fire prevention pollution control norms apart from trade licenses and taxation said singh he added they are now planning to approach the competition commission of india cci along with the high court based on complaints by its gurugram chapter members after no action was taken on the petition they had filed at the cm window grievance cell haryanas excise policy 201819 authorises anumat kaksh or ahatas as drinking places though they are forbidden from selling or supplying liquor to consumers the place needs to wellventilated adequately and nicely furnished clean and dry and situated in a building with pucca floors the entrance should have an automatically closing door with furniture arranged in such a way that passersby do not get a view of its interiorthough the norm is silent on serving food it clearly says the outlet shall not permit singing dancing or theatrical performance or entertainment but these days theyre cooking and serving food along with beverages hosting birthdaysanniversaries and even corporate parties said a restaurant owner they dont even have trade licenses from mcg and dont pay gst he addedsection 2g of haryana restaurant consumption of liquor rules 1988 describes restaurant as any place where public is admitted for