We thank Mr Johann Senaratna for his feedback (Restaurant wanted only cash as deposit, Jan 12).

Last year was a challenging year, with the Covid-19 pandemic requiring various safe management measures to be put in place. As a result, many restaurants experienced a reduction of around 30 per cent to 40 per cent of their regular seating capacity.

Given the above, many restaurants have instituted a reservation system for their outlets. Cancellation policies for reservations are also stipulated. To encourage responsible behaviour and reduce the opportunity cost from a no-show or last-minute cancellation, some operators require a credit card and, in other instances, cash to secure a reservation.

As an association, we are not in a position to prescribe the day-to-day policies or operations of our members. However, we do encourage that they clearly communicate their policies to customers to avoid any miscommunication and unhappiness.

We encourage Mr Senaratna to contact us through enquiry@ras.org.sg so that we may help him accordingly.

Edwin Fong

Executive Director

Restaurant Association of Singapore