Raju Lakhani’s beachside restaurant here at this popular tourist strip in north Goa should have been packed this time of the year.

But the tables at Moon Star are empty and the restaurateur is a worried man. “We have no customers,” he said. “Almost 90% of tourists are leaving because of the inconvenience caused by notebandi.” Lakhani said he now has no choice but to lay off workers. He is one of Goa’s many restaurant owners who are feeling the brunt of what is referred to as notebandi–the colloquial term for the ban on ...