Hotel and restaurant owners urged the authorities concerned to fix a single authority to regulate the sector to reduce hassles.

They made the call today at a meeting at Palton Community Centre, where the restaurant owners from several districts of the country were present.

At present, the hotel and restaurant sector needs to go to 11 authorities to run the business and for renewal of Licence which is quite tough, said Imran Hassan, secretary general of Bangladesh Restaurant Owner's Association.

"Our small restaurant owners face many difficulties and harassments too," he said, adding that the government can launch a one-stop service for them to get all the licenses and documents.

The tenure of licenses can be extended to three years instead of one year, he recommends.

Almost 30 lakh people are engaged in the sector according to the government data but private data is telling the number is much higher.

Hassan also said that this sector is still neglected in many ways as it has not been announced as an industry.

Gazi Md Osman Gani, president of the association, Firoz Alam Sumon, joint secretary, Syed Mohammad Andalib, organising secretary, also spoke at the event.