Mall owners likely to offer relief to retail stores, food outlets, multiplexes: SCAI

NEW DELHI: Industry body Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI) on Sunday said mall
owners will stand by their tenants as they did in the last two waves and are likely to offer relief
to retail stores, food outlets and multiplexes amid the fresh COVID pandemic wave.
Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI) is an industry body, representing the owners
of shopping malls and centres.
SCAI director Abhishek Bansal said some of the retailers have started approaching the property
owners, raising their concerns over the impact on their business after the restrictions imposed
by local authorities after a sudden surge in the pandemic cases.
“This is the third time it is happening, and developers and shopping centres have stood with
their tenants and retailers in the last two waves. They will again stand with their partners in this
third wave also, so that everyone tide over this situation,” Bansal told PTI.
Large retail stores, restaurants, pubs, cafes, multiplexes operating in malls and shopping
centres are approaching property owners, seeking waiver and concession in the rentals for
January.
However, Bansal, who is also Executive Director, Pacific Malls, said the owners would take
some time to decide over the relief.
A final decision in this regard would be taken after the end of this month after assessing the
impact, as the restrictions imposed by the state government are changing every week, he
added.
Earlier, the restrictions were only on timing and weekend operations, but now they have
completely closed in-dining.
Several cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, are facing strict restrictions imposed by
the respective state governments in a move to curb the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. For
example in Delhi, multiplexes are closed, in-dining in restaurants are prohibited and only
takeaways are allowed.
Rajneesh Mahajan, CEO of Inorbit malls, also confirmed that few restaurants have shared their
concerns and said a reasonable discussion would be taken up to find a solution.
“If they have any trouble, we would be happy to talk to them as and when they need any
support,” said Mahajan, who is also Director of SCAI.
While talking of the two earlier waves, he said in most cases they had waived the large
component of the rental for the lockdown and when the operation was restored, rentals were
increased in a phased manner.
“We are also concerned about the developments,” he said.
Retailers Association of India (RAI) said it is a stressful situation and the mall and shopping
centre owners and the retailer should sit together to tide over it.
“The third wave of COVID has once again brought businesses into a stressed situation. Various
parts of the country have various norms to tackle it. This means that retailers and malls would
talk to each other and try to come out with new terms to tide over this new wave,” said RAI CEO
Kumar Rajagopalan.
Last week, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) had written to the property
owners of the food & beverage business, requesting a complete waiver of rentals and CAM
(Common Area Maintenance) charges as the businesses are completely shut for dine-in.
In an open letter, NRAI had appealed for no minimum guaranteed rents for three months and

opted for pure revenue share for the period when restricted operations are imposed.
Rahul Singh, founder and CEO of The Beer Cafe said right now there is no business as all the
bars and restaurants in Delhi are closed.
“We have already gone through two waves, and they (owners) have been very supportive and
expect it to be the same again,” he said.
Even in the recovery phase during the first and second wave also, we had not paid any rent for
the closed period, and when we reopened, the owners supported us with a pure revenue share
model, he added.
“By the last quarter, when we moved to pre-COVID numbers, everything was back,” Rahul
noted.
Multiplex operators are again severely hit by the restrictions as several state governments have
asked them to close the cinema halls, and they are also planning to approach the mall/property
owner.
However, Multiplex Association of India (MAI) President Kamal Gianchandani has declined to
comment on the issue.