GST: Restaurants, hotels keep shutters down in South

Some makeshift food joints remained open in TN, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka

Almost 500,000 eateries, including hotels, restaurants and bakeries, across the five southern states were shut on Monday following the one-day bandh declared by the Tamil Nadu Hotels and Restaurants Association and by the South Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA).

The shutdown was to protest the Centre’s move to levy tax of 12-28 per cent on the sector. Standalone restaurants and ordinary hotels in the south would be hit if rates are high. For instance, restaurants in Kerala and Puducherry do not have a service charge and just have to pay value added tax of around five per cent. But under