A restaurant in East Ham has had its premises licence revoked for three months after staff told Home Office officials they were working for below minimum wage.
The Home Office asked Newham Council to revoke Udaya restaurant’s licence after visiting its premises on Katherine Road in June 2024.
It said that some of the employees told its officers “they were getting paid well below the minimum wage and several stated they were provided with food and accommodation”.
The Home Office said four of the seven employees it met were working “illegally”.
In a letter to the licensing panel, the restaurant's proprietor Prajeesh Kumar said: "Our business has always sought to operate within the legal framework and we fully understand the importance of proper right-to-work checks. The breach that had occurred was unintentional and not a wilful disregard for the law."
Labour’s Newham North East MP Stephen Timms also wrote to the panel in support of the owner, Parjeesh Kumar, saying: "This is a first offence. I am assured that it was not deliberate.
"Since then, the business has cooperated fully with the authorities and has already paid a substantial portion of the £180,000 penalty."
Sir Timms continued: "I hope the [licensing] sub-committee will take into account the steps the business has taken to rectify its mistake, the serious consequences that revoking the licence would have for its future, and the loss that would be suffered by the local community."
Councillors on the licensing sub-committee discussed Udaya’s premises licence on Monday, 11 August.
After questioning the licence holder, Mr Udayan Gangadharan, and the premises supervisor, the councillors on the licensing panel said they were “surprised” that neither “had a proper understanding” of licensing requirements.
The panel decided to impose “rigorous additional conditions” on the licence, and that the current designated premises supervisor should be removed.
They also decided to suspend Udaya’s premises licence for three months.
They said this would allow the licence holder time to “put in place a system” that would allow him to comply with licensing objectives.
In 2019, Udaya was shortlisted as a finalist in both the London Curry Awards and London Asian Food Awards.
Customers reviews of the Keralan restaurant on social media have highlighted the quality of the food.
