KFC, Pizza Hut shut down indefinitely in Nepal

Kathmandu: Nepal's four KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants, the only international fast-food chains in the country have been shut down indefinitely following a dispute between the management and the local staff over long working hours.

According to sources at the Devyani International, that is operating the US fast-food outlets in Nepal, the restaurants have been closed in Kathmandu since May 13 after a scuffle broke out between workers and management.

"We have closed down indefinitely as we could not operate in such an environment," said Rohit Kohli, the company's Kathmandu-based director.

There has long been dispute between the workers and the management over the working hours. The workers were asking for reducing the working hours, which the management has been refusing to consider, which turned into dispute between the two.

Though, the restaurants were shutdown in the wake of the devastating earthquakes, there was no relation between the two incidents.

The management has accused the staff of attacking one of the managers of the restaurant.

KFC and Pizza Hut, Nepal's only international fast-food chains, opened their first branches in the country in 2010, generating long queues of locals desirous to test their cuisine.

In 2012, the restaurants were shut down temporarily for about a month, saying staff had attacked and threatened to its branch managers over a labour dispute.