Liquor shops oppose change in closing time

The ongoing debate in the state on allowing a section of liquor establishments to operate till very late in the night took an interesting turn on Wednesday with the Federation of Wine Merchants Association of Karnataka appealing to the government not to change the present business timings.

The appeal comes as a shot in the arm for the excise and police departments, which are being pressured by the owners of bars and clubs in Bangalore to allow them to operate till 1 am.

"We are not in favour of extension of the timings as it will cause logistical problems for us in terms of mobilisation of labour and enhancement of security near our outlets after midnight," association president Govindaraj Hegde said.

There are 7,646 such establishments in the state and the excise department usually specifies the daily closure time for these joints. While wine stores have to close at 10.30 pm everyday, bars have to down their shutters by 11.30 pm and, clubs and hotels are supposed to end their business at midnight.

Non-compliance with the timings amounts to violation of licence conditions. However, many liquor establishments continue to operate beyond the specified time. Their free run ended when the police and the excise department officials intensified the drive against such outlets a few months ago stating they were contributing to Bangalore's increasing crime rate.

It was only after the bars and pubs lobby, in tandem with the tourism department, mounted pressure stating that Bangalore's night life was being affected due to the early closure of pubs did the home and excise departments agree to review the timings.

Govindaraj, however, countered it stating: "The proposed relaxation is favourable only to a few liquor establishments' owners in the cities and not to those in towns and rural areas where night life ends by 11 pm. Extending the time only compounds our problem as we are forced to address the issue of travel logistics for our employees. Even if we want to close the shops before the specified time, we cannot as it amounts to violation of excise rules. We can be booked for trying to stop revenue flow to the state if we close the shops early. Moreover, this will lead to unhealthy competition amongst us."

This apart, the association has urged Governor Rameshwar Thakur to ensure there is no increase in the licence fee and no new licences are issued in the excise year of 2008-09. The association has sought a change in the provisions of CL-2 licence so as to enable consumers to drink liquor within the premises of the wine store.