2023-10-02 18:34:00
Yousra AMRANI October 2, 2023 at 8:34 p.m.
The National Federation of Cafe and Restaurant Owners welcomed, last Saturday, the decision taken by the National Social Security Fund on September 22 to partially and temporarily cancel late penalties on the payment of employee contributions during the Covid-19 period as well as recovery costs. “We learned with some relief of the CNSS’s decision to partially and provisionally cancel the penalties relating to late payment of contributions, as well as fines and recovery costs. This decision is the result of several negotiation meetings held over the past five months in the presence of the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Minister of Industry and the Director General of the CNSS. This decision, which runs until December 2024, will allow many businesses threatened with closure due to the accumulation of debt to relaunch their activities,” underlines Ahmed Boufakrane, president of theMoroccan Association of Café Owners and member of the National Federation of Café and Restaurant Owners, in a statement given to “Matin”. The Federation, however, draws attention to possible “exceedances” noted during checks carried out by CNSS agents. The latter demanding that all employees are declared as working full-time at the Fund (26 days), although some only work part-time.
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On another note, the Federation denounces the unfair competition exercised by traveling caterers who do not hesitate to squat in public spaces and offer meals that do not meet the measures ofhygiene and of cleanliness. “This phenomenon is growing more and more nationally and is hitting the catering sector hard. Because at a time when cafe owners are required to pay taxes and declare their staff to the CNSS, not to mention the initial investments which can go up to three million dirhams, these informal catering workers occupy the public highway and do not do not pay the same charges as us. With their mini mobile kiosks or carts, they sell sandwiches and meals, even though they don’t even have running water! In return, restaurants are carefully monitored in terms of hygiene and even the cold chain. But what worries professionals more is the intention of the municipality of Casablanca to regularize the situation of these street vendors by adopting provisions for the granting of authorizations during the ordinary session of the city council scheduled in October,” adds the same source.
The Federation therefore calls for the intervention of Ministry of the Interior to curb the phenomenon of “street catering”, by asking him to send a circular to governors and walis with a view to joining efforts to combat this informal trade. She asks the same department to promulgate a framework law to put an end to the abuses committed by certain municipalities in terms of setting prices for the use of public spaces.
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