NEW DELHI : Jenina Maria Flores, a singer at a bar in Radisson Blu Nagpur , has moved to its restaurant section this month as the hotel isn’t permitted to serve alcohol following a Supreme Court order banning sale of liquor within 500 meters of national and state highways. Flores is nervous and uncertain about her future.Raj Rana, chief executive-South Asia, at the Carlson Rezidor group , which owns brands such as Radisson and Radisson Blu, said while there have been no layoffs so far, if the situation doesn’t improve, the chain may have to take some steps to protect its profitability margin."We are trying to make sure the staff is productive and we are utilising them in other areas in the best possible way. In this business, the staff is not only dependant on salaries but also tipping, so if sales go down, tipping also goes down. Some are applying for vacations and leave as the business is lean," said Rana. Carlson's hotels at Mahipalpur in Delhi, Pune and Nagpur are affected by the ban.Hotel and restaurant owners affected by the court ruling in places like the National Capital Territory, Pune and Kerala are considering laying off staff if the situation does not improve in a few weeks, said industry insiders. Some of them have asked their staff to go on leave.Bar owners in Pune is one of the worst affected, as the Maharashtra district has more than 15 state highways cutting through it."Out of 1,758 liqour permit holders in Pune district, around 1,600 restaurants and hotels have been prohibited from serving liquor following the ban. 30% of the staff is gone and about 500 restaurants have shut," said Ganesh Shetty, president of the Pune Restaurant & Hoteliers Association.The human resources department at the E-Square hotel on Pune’s University Road is drawing up a plan for possible retrenchment, owner Neerav Panchamia said."Our hotel has not been permitted to serve liquor. We are hoping for a solution in this issue. But, if things stay the same, we might have to look at laying off 30% of our staff members in the next few weeks,” Panchamia said. “Banquets, bars and restaurants are directly dependant on the liquor component."With his five outlets getting shut temporarily following the Supreme Court ruling in areas like Gurgaon, Mohali, Pune and Thane, Rahul Singh, founder and CEO of the Beer Café, has moved his staff to other outlets for work. “Instead of hiring more people, I have moved staff to our outlets," he said.But it is not the same for standalone hotels and restaurants. Manbir Choudhary, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana, said his hotel, Jewel's in Karnal, has not been granted a liquor licence and he might have to look at rightsising if there is no relief.In Kerala, hotels and restaurants which are heavily dependent on wine and beer sales had to shut down completely. Some have asked their staff members to go on leave. In a state where only five-star hotels were allowed to serve hard liquor, hoteliers and restaurateurs were hoping for a relief as the state was to introduce a new liquor policy on April 1. But the court order has shattered their expectations.Jose Pradeep, president of the Kerala Bar Hotels Association in Ernakulam district, said 75% of hotels in the state have been hit by the ban."About 1 lakh people could be laid off by the middle of May if the situation does not improve. The Kerala Finance Corporation has granted loans of about Rs 1,500 crore to hotels. Sixty per cent of the five-star hotels are affected and three major clubs are shut … most hotels are affected in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. For two- and three-star hotels, the major business is through bars and wine and beer sales," he added.Eight hotels run by hotel chain the Elegance Group in Kerala are hit. The group has already shut seven of those."Most of our hotels are dependent on the wine and beer business. Things are very bad. It takes about Rs 50-60 lakh to keep a hotel running and we cannot meet those expenses," said chairman Ajith C Nair. “We have asked our staff to go on leave as we cannot do anything for them. We cannot give them full salaries.”