Restaurant owners in Rawalpindi have formally demanded that dining hours be extended from 10 PM to 12 AM, warning that the current restrictions are seriously harming businesses across the city and the province. A core committee meeting of the Rawalpindi Restaurant, Caterer, Sweet & Baker Association set out the demand and outlined plans for coordinated action if the government does not respond.
The meeting was chaired by Muhammad Farooq Chaudhry, president of the association, with Mumtaz Ahmad as chairman and Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem attending as patron-in-chief. Other attendees included Faheem Ashraf, Zahid Mehmood, Chaudhry Imtiaz, Adnan Mehmood, Hashim Ijaz Butt, Chaudhry Zafar and a broad group of local restauranteurs and caterers from across Rawalpindi.
Participants emphasised that restricted dining hours are forcing businesses to downsize, placing millions of jobs at risk and undermining the recovery of the hospitality sector. The association called on the provincial government to immediately review the policy on dining hours and adopt measures that balance public concerns with the economic needs of the industry.
The association announced that no employee will be laid off as a result of current constraints and urged authorities to engage with the sector to find workable solutions. Organisers warned that, unless the request to extend dining hours to midnight is approved, they will stage a province-wide protest next week.
Leaders said any planned demonstrations would be postponed during visits by foreign delegations and that a larger, coordinated protest across Punjab would follow once such visits conclude. A press conference is scheduled two days before the protest to inform the media of the association’s next steps and timeline.
The demand for extended dining hours comes as local businesses seek relief to stabilise operations and preserve employment in Rawalpindi’s hospitality network, with association leaders pressing for an urgent government response to avoid escalation.
