Nearly 850 Liquor Shops, Pubs Go Dry In Bengaluru Starting Today
Liquor ban on highways: It’s time for Bengaluru to face the heat
Some of Bengaluru's famous breweries and pubs will go dry from Saturday. As many as 850 liquor shops, pubs and restaurants around Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road, Church Street and Brigade Road in the heart of the city will not serve alcohol, after the state excise department issued notices to all these establishments, asking them to stop selling liquor as these roads are classified as highways.
The Supreme Court has banned the sale of alcohol within 500 metre of a highway, asking states to not renew any licences after April 1. Liquor permits in Karnataka are usually issued in July, which is why they are not being renewed now, said Rajendra Prasad, the additional commissioner at the state excise department in a phone interview to BloombergQuint.
Madhukar Shetty, secretary of the Karnataka Hotels Association confirmed the news to BloombergQuint, saying more than 200 pubs and restaurants on MG Road alone will go dry from Saturday.
Collin Timms, co-owner of Pecos, one of the city’s oldest pubs, said they have no option but to adhere to the order.
I expect the liquor sale ban to hit our business by 50-60 percent.Collin Timms, Co-Owner of Pecos
Anil T, owner of a liquor store near Church Street said that the ban is severely going to hit customers, pub and restaurants owners around one of Bengaluru’s most iconic street, MG road, adding that he will not relocate. “We built this place from scratch 17 years ago, we will wait for the de-notification, till then the shutter will remain down. Relocating is not an option,” he added.
The Karnataka Hotels Association has written to the state government and centre requesting them to either de-notify these streets as highways as they are in the middle of the city. The association has also requested the two governments to give pub and liquor store owners six months’ time to relocate.
The ban will also have a huge impact on the state’s exchequer which got a revenue of Rs 16,483 crore from excise collected on liquor in the last financial year, said a state tax officials on terms of anonymity.
