LONDON: A legal and branding dispute has surfaced between once viral sensation Arshad Khan — popularly known as blue-eyed Arshad Khan Chaiwala — and Nadir Durrani, the London-based businessman who helped introduce the Café Chaiwala brand to Britain.
The disagreement centres on the use of the Chaiwala name, payments and claims of independent brand development.
Arshad Khan first became a household name in 2016 after a photo of him making tea at an Islamabad stall went viral. Riding that wave of fame, he launched his original Chaiwala Café in October 2020. In March 2021, UK master franchise rights were granted to Nadir Durrani and Yawar Akbar Durrani under a 10-outlet master franchise agreement.
The first branch under this arrangement opened in East London, Ilford Lane, in 2023, followed by a sub-franchise in Tooting, South London, in early 2025 — both doing good business.
The case hinges on intellectual property rights and contract interpretation. Arshad says the UK partners have terminated him.
Speaking to Geo News, Nadir confirmed the UK operation has terminated its contract with the brand represented by Arshad. “We have parted our ways amicably. We will soon rebrand under a new name — to be revealed very soon. We are opening another outlet in Slough, West London, soon.”
He contends that what was originally presented as a franchise turned into a “self-built enterprise” as the UK team received “no operational, material, or marketing support from the franchise owner Kazim Hasan, and we had to design everything independently — from the logo and interior design to recipes and customer experience”.
He added that despite paying royalties faithfully, the UK business was left without the resources typically provided in a legitimate franchise system. “Everything that defines our cafés — the visuals, menu, and feel – was created here, not imported. We received no support from Arshad Khan’s team. He couldn’t come to the UK over his Afghan nationality matter. Every promise his team made turned out to be false.”
Nadir said, “Arshad Khan’s team played no part in our success. The café’s identity, menu, operations, and branding were not inherited from the franchiser but conceived and built entirely through my own creativity, experimentation and perseverance. I bore the financial burden, took all the risks, and did the foundational work typically done by a brand’s headquarters. Our success is based on our sheer personal dedication.”
Arshad claims that since early 2025, he has faced ongoing contractual and payment issues with his UK partners. He told this reporter he had not received royalty payments for over 10 months despite the cafés continuing to operate and “making good money”.
“They sent me a termination notice and stopped my payments,” Arshad claimed. “But they are still running the business under my brand name ‘Café Chaiwala’ — only removing ‘Arshad Khan’ from the branding. “This is my name, my identity, and my hard work. I just want justice.”
Nadir said: “Arshad Khan was not the franchisor but instead was managed by Kazim who was the actual franchisor who signed the agreement with us. When we signed the deal with Kazim, they had one flagship unit in Blue Area and more opening in Pakistan but they lost all their units due to poor performance. We sued them in Pakistan and have a favourable judgement with us. Arshad Khan’s troubles were never mentioned to us prior to signing the contract. We offered to buy the franchise outright but the franchisor didn’t cooperate.”
Arshad also said that he has now hired solicitors to pursue legal action and intends to travel to London following the unblocking of his CNIC — over the Afghan nationality issue, which was resolved last month.
In a statement, Kazim said: “The brand and its ownership remain solely under our franchise rights.”
