Pub brawls on the rise in Delhi-NCR: Who is to blame?

The recent death of a 30-year-old man over a bill-related argument at a bar in Noida recently has shed light on the increasing pub brawls in Delhi-NCR. What starts off as a disagreement over entry, dress code, bill payment or a shortfall in service often ends up in severe verbal and even physical confrontations between the staff and guests. While diners argue that the staff is inept at dealing with a crisis of this degree, restaurateurs assure that their teams are instructed to be cordial, but guests tend to get unruly at times.

“Diners come to the restaurant to have a good time. But sometimes, under the influence of alcohol, one tends to behave in a different manner. We’ve to deal with such issues considering the kind of environment that we work in. We have instructed staff to call higher authorities and never respond in the way the guest does, as there are CCTV footages to be checked later,” says restaurateur Kanishk Tuteja.

It’s all about preparedness, feels restaurateur Sahil Sambhi. “The owners are running multiple restaurants in different cities and can’t be present at every outlet. So, it’s all about doing the wise thing. In such cases, the team backs off and hands over the situation to the police, depending on the level of threat. Contact details of local SHOs are available with managers,” says Sambhi, sharing an incident wherein they let go of a customer who didn’t pay the bill of ₹50,000. “We got the payment after a month, as the group started hurling abuses over payment at that particular time… As a person in business, you have to be the bigger person.”

Restaurateur Priyank Sukhija says there are SOPs in place that the staff is well aware of, in case of a brawl. “However, I will not take it if my staff is hit. There have been instances in the past and we’ve always filed a complaint against the consumer. Protecting the dignity of staff is very important,” he says.

Another restaurateur Akshay Anand shares that any unpleasant situation is uncomfortable for both the parties. He says, “The ground rule is that customer is the reason we exist so we have ensured our L&D department to have continuous training for all the levels of the staff. And escalation of these matters to higher level help it to resolve rather than lower staff handling such critical situation.”

However, diners have also had their share of unpleasant experience, owing to non-courteous behaviour by staff. Sharing an unpleasant experience at a plush eatery in Ansal Plaza, Delhiite Kritika Chawla Mehra says, “We were at a birthday party where the space was booked for at least 50 guests. We’ve been to the place quite a few times and we know it’s open till 1.30am. But, around 12am, we were asked to clear the bill (of over a lakh), even before the hosts were served dinner, which was a part of the package. We were told it would be served after the payment, but were instead asked to leave. All this lead to a heated argument.”

Sanjeet Singh shares an incident he faced at a famous eatery in Cyberhub, Gurugram: “I was the last one to arrive at an office party. Everyone had ordered sambuca (shots) on the table. The bartender suggested flaming shots. By the time he came to me, he literally forced the shot, due to which half of the drink spilled on me, my hair caught fire and I sustained severe burn injuries. When we were leaving, the manager asked us to pay, rather than providing medical help. Who takes the responsibility when such mishaps take place?”