Restaurant owner apologizes to foreign minister, argument breaks out when video leaks

During a government meeting, the owner of Annapoorna Restaurant, a popular restaurant chain in Tamil Nadu, expressed his concerns about the different GST rates for different products and described the complexity of this from the perspective of a restaurant operator who regularly deals with customers.

Speaking to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said he had to serve coffee and snacks to the same family but the GST was different for each family member, creating chaos. He said he had to deal with this on a daily basis. “It is difficult to impose different amounts of GST on a family in just one bill,” he said.

Srinivasan talks about his dilemma

Giving an example of a food item, he said that a bun does not attract GST but cream filled bun attracts 18% GST. So the customer asks for cream and bun to be brought separately and says they will fill it. People in the room laugh as he narrates this incident.

Srinivasan, the restaurant owner, urged the finance minister to keep the same GST for all food items to reduce this complexity. “So if you are going to increase GST, let it be the same for all products,” he said. Referring to the consumption habits of north Indians, he said, Vanathi Srinivasan said people in north India eat a lot of sweets, that’s why our minister has increased GST on sweets by 5% and on savoury food by 12%. However, he disagreed, saying people in Tamil Nadu consume sweets, coffee and snacks in equal quantities.

Srinivasan urged the Finance Minister to simplify GST and asked to keep the same GST on all items. “If a family customer comes, even our computer cannot calculate that GST,” he said.

An error occurred while posting the video!

The BJP’s Tamil Nadu party posted this video on social media, but a controversy erupted when netizens saw the restaurant owner personally apologising to Nirmala Sitharaman soon after a discussion on GST in the hall. The Congress and DMK seized the opportunity and accused the saffron brigade of “arrogance and utter disrespect” towards Srinivasan, the owner of Annapoorna restaurant.

Seeing the argument, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai apologised for posting the private video on social media. “On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, I sincerely apologise for the behaviour of our functionaries who shared a private conversation between a respected business owner and our honourable External Affairs Minister,” he wrote on X.

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However, netizens reacted strongly to Srinivasan’s apology. “This is a harsh reality for small businesses like Annapoorna Restaurant who suffer under an unfair tax system. While the powerful get special perks, the small and medium businesses continue to suffer,” wrote one user.