New vaccine entry rule leads to drop in footfall in Karnataka malls, theatres

Representatives from malls and theatres met civic officials on Monday requesting a relaxation of norms

The emergence of the Omicron variant, and the State Government’s rule that only those who have taken two doses of the vaccine will be allowed in, has caused footfall at malls and theatres to drop substantially.

Industry insiders are unhappy that business, which had been slowly picking up only recently, has again taken a hit. Representatives from malls and cinema theatres met civic officials on Monday requesting them to relax norms. However, no decision has been taken in this regard.

“Footfall at our malls in the last two days has fallen by a staggering 70% compared to the weekend before that. December is a good season for shopping malls owing to Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Given that patrons had started coming back, we were hopeful of recovering lost ground of the last year and a half, but all hopes have been dashed,” said Uday Garduachar, who owns the Garuda Malls chain in the state, and BJP MLA from Chikpet.