Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) has introduced a one-stop service system for giving permission of restaurant business in the country and also bringing all food shops including street food sellers under value added tax (VAT).

They alleged that currently they have to apply to 11 government offices to get permission for the business which creates big hassle in running their ventures.

The demand was made at the 33rd Central Executive Council (Extended) meeting of the BROA at a community centre in the city on Saturday.

BROA president Osman Gani presided over the meeting while it was addressed by general secretary Imran Hasan, joint-secretary Firoz Alam Sumon, treasurer Taufiqul Islam, organizing Secretary Syed Mohammad Andalib, and chief adviser Khandaker Ruhul Amin.

The BROA leaders said that at present, it is necessary to work under at least 11 different authorities to run the restaurant sector.

They pointed out that every year they have to pay a good amount to different authorities to renew their business permission and trade licenses.

“In this process, we face huge hassles and sometimes it become unbearable to spend time and money in those offices," said Imrul Hasan.

“We need simplification of the process and one-stop service to smoothly run our business," he added.

All the permission should be given from a single department or authority under one stop service centre, he said demanding for a formation of a task force immediately to reform the licensing process.

The BROA leaders also suggested for renewal of all licenses with three years of validity.

They said the restaurant sector is one of the industrial sectors in Bangladesh and about 2 crore people are directly and indirectly involved in this sector.

The claimed that more than 4 lakh restaurants are being run in the country where 3 million workers are working. This sector is playing a huge role in agriculture, tourism, economy and employment. But the sector is being neglected by the authorities concerned as it is not treated an industry.

The BROA leaders also criticised bureaucracy for conducting mobile court operation without any specific policy.

They observed that seven government agencies operate mobile courts without any specific policy, which creates anarchy. “There should be a definite policy for the management of mobile courts," said a leader.

The leaders said all the restaurant businesses including street food shops should be brought under VAT registration to create level playing field.