Kamala Mills fire: Review site makes fire norms compliance must for awards

In view of the Kamala Mills fire, a popular consumer review website has made compliance with fire norms a compulsory eligibility criterion for India’s best restaurants to be judged for its annual awards to be announced in March this year.

Mouthshut.com CEO Faisal Farooqui said restaurants not possessing a fire safety compliance certificate would not be eligible for the website’s ‘I Ate Here’ awards. Unlike other industry awards, the ‘I Ate Here’ awards, which is in its fifth year, are given on the basis of consumer reviews.

Farooqui said, “We got feedback from consumers that since the tragedy on December 29, safety had become a major consideration and so we decided that any restaurants which did not have a fire safety compliance certificate issued by the fire department or the relevant local municipal authorities would be disqualified.” ENS