On April 16, 2026 in Rawalpindi the Rawalpindi Restaurant, Caterer, Sweet & Baker Association demanded that dining hours be extended from 10 PM to 12 AM and warned of a province-wide protest unless the government approves the change.
The core committee meeting was chaired by Muhammad Farooq Chaudhry with Mumtaz Ahmad present as Chairman and Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem attending as Patron-in-Chief and special guest. Other attendees included group leader Faheem Ashraf, Zahid Mehmood, Chaudhry Imtiaz, Adnan Mehmood, Hashim Ijaz Butt, Chaudhry Zafar, Huzaifa Anser, Sardar Mehmood Hussain, Sheikh Munir, Naveed Abbasi, Tariq Khan, Sardar Ijaz Wilayat, Shehzad Khan, Arshad Farooq, Haji Abdul Waheed, Saleem Sher Zaman, Usman, Raja Usman, Raja Ghazr Iqbal, Ali Muhammad Nawaz, Attaullah Qureshi, Chaudhry Mezban, Muzammil Ashfaq, Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Danish Zafar and other business leaders.
Participants expressed deep concern that restricted dining hours are severely damaging businesses across Rawalpindi and Punjab, putting millions of jobs at risk and forcing many owners to downsize operations. The association urged authorities to immediately review the policy to prevent further economic harm to the hospitality sector.
The association announced that no employee will be laid off and set out a clear timeline: if the demand for extended dining hours is not accepted a protest will be launched next week, though demonstrations will be postponed during visits by foreign delegations and resumed afterwards as a large-scale action across Punjab. A press conference will be held two days before the planned protest to brief media on the next steps.
Association leaders called on provincial authorities to open urgent dialogue to find a balanced solution that protects public safety while allowing restaurants and related businesses to operate sustainably. They stressed that extending dining hours could help stabilize operations and preserve jobs across the hospitality industry.
