Chennai: Many who run saloons and beauty parlours are unhappy with the new rule of Tamilnadu government, which makes Aadhar card mandatory on the part of service providers to collect details, including the unique ID number, from customers as part of preventive measures against Covid- 19.
“It is okay if the government asks us to collect phone numbers. It is difficult for us to insist Aadhar card from each customer and note down the details. The government should reconsider the order,” says Ezhumalai, who runs a saloon.
Not many customers too are happy with this. “I was not allowed to undergo haircut yesterday since I was not carrying Aadhar card. Collecting phone number is enough. I wonder why Aadhar card has been made compulsory,” says Anbazhagan of Anna Nagar.
According to the standard operating procedure for saloons, beauty parlours and spas, they have to maintain record of name, address, Aadhaar and mobile phone numbers of the customers.
The measure is aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 and facilitate contact tracing, official sources said.
While saloons and beauty parlours were allowed to operate in all other parts of the state from May 24, the government permitted them in Chennai police limits from Monday, when the ‘Unlock 1’ phase began.
Principal Secretary Revenue Administration and Disaster Management Commissioner J Radhakrishnan has instructed the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and all district collectors to direct the establishments to keep a record of all their customers and take other appropriate steps to contain the spread of the virus.
Accordingly, a seven-page SOP for owners and workers of these establishments, issued on Monday, makes it mandatory for the establishments to ensure facilities for hand washing with soap or provide hand sanitiser to the customers and employees.
Employees should wear hand gloves and face masks and must wash their hands before attending to customers.
Blades should not be reused and napkins given to customers should be disposed of safely. Headbands and towels one used for a customer should not be reused before washing.
The SOP also said owners should not allow employees having cold, cough or fever symptoms from working and ask them to approach a doctor immediately.
Only 50 per cent of the seats should be occupied at a time and markings for queues were necessary to avoid crowding, it added.