Endless paperwork is a problem that plagues all entrepreneurs, no matter what their industry. And the restaurant business is no different.

At a recent report launch for the restaurant industry, paperwork was a pain that kept popping up.

“Half the time, I think, my office is just photocopying things. Every department, all 15 of them, need photocopies every year,” said Rahul Singh, president of the National Restaurant Association of India. “Imagine if you had to renew your passport every year. That’s the kind of trouble we face.”

The problem goes even deeper, he said. As the founder of a company that deals in liquor, he has roughly 50 licences to his name, any one of them being renewed at any given point in time.

“This is a joke in my neighbourhood, because every week or 10 days, I have a cop coming in to do my character certificate, which my neighbours have to sign. So I’m like the most ‘charactered’ person in my locality,” he said.