Sip smart this festive season: Drink-safe campaign by restaurant association
Telegraph | 29 October 2024
The option to hire a driver home at the fingertip. Waiters trained to keep an eye on inebriated guests without being impolite. Posters of responsible drinking all around.
A campaign launched by an association of restaurant owners on Monday aims to implement a slew of steps to promote responsible drinking.
The launch of the campaign — “Sip Smart: The Art of Responsible Drinking” — was marked by presentations from the organisers and police.
An app-based driver aggregator started by a group of Calcuttans is partnering with the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) Kolkata Chapter, the platform behind the initiative.
“We want to build more awareness around responsible drinking. The entire campaign will involve putting up posters, cards and QR-codes at every table. We are working closely with Drivers4Me (online driver-rental platform). You can drive to a restaurant. But after having alcohol, you can go back with a driver hired on an hourly basis,” said Sagar Daryani, founder and CEO of Wow! Momo, who has been appointed as the new president of the NRAI.
“But before we educate our customers, we have to educate our restaurateurs. When you come out to eat, you should make fond memories. Not nightmares. If you are caught by the cops for drink driving, or if you have an accident, it leaves a very sorry taste. You don’t want it,” he said.
Educating restaurateurs would mean training waiters and bartenders to recognise signs of intoxication and intervene without being impolite, said office-bearers of the NRAI.
“We will implement the global best practices. We will organise training sessions. We have to create more awareness around drink driving for our own sake. Any mishap impacts the entire industry. We have to promote safety for our own sake,” said Abhimanyu Maheshwari, who heads the Calcutta Chapter of the NRAI and is the managing director of Zing Restaurants.
In Calcutta, the time between October and January sees a spike in drink driving violations, the police said. A police team was part of Monday’s programme at a Sector V banquet. The cops shared their inputs on how to curb the menace, said sources in the NRAI.
A founder of Drivers4Me said more and more Calcuttans were now hiring drivers to take them home from pubs, clubs and private parties.
He linked the rising numbers to “continuous police crackdown and the easy technology to hire drivers”.
“We are already collaborating with several restaurants and clubs. This new association (with NRAI) will help us expand our network. We will offer inaugural discounts to incentivise people,” said Rajarshi Nag.
On a December weekend, the app sees over 550 one-way trips, a significant share of them at night, he said.
The punishment for the first offence of drink-driving is a fine of ₹2,000 or six months imprisonment. Repeat offenders are to be fined ₹3,000 or jailed for two years.
“We always encourage the bars and nightclubs to encourage their guests either to hire drivers or cabs to return home if they have consumed alcohol,” said an officer of the Kolkata traffic police department.
The owner of a heritage Park Street restaurant said: “Diners to Park Street are responsible. They mostly have drivers. The nearby police checkposts are also a deterrent. But I am not sure that is the case around all other places in and around the city.”