77 Bars Reopen In the State After the Government Amends Liquor Policy
Compiled Text: Rochelle D’Souza Photos: Various sources
After a hiatus of three years that witnessed allegations and counter allegations of corruption and debates over the pros and cons of prohibition, bars in the State have formally reopened their doors for business on Sunday.
The new liquor policy came into effect on Saturday, but it was only on Sunday that the bars started humming because the first day of every month is a dry day. As many as 77 hotels of the three and four star classifications resumed serving liquor from Sunday, following the change in the state government’s liquor policy. Only 23 hotels with five-star rating were functioning in the state from April 1, 2015 after the UDF government had approved a new liquor policy then and shut down many bars. With the latest addition, the number of bar hotels in Kerala rose to 100.
Since so many bar hotels have been granted bar licence for the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), the warehouses of Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) from where IMFL is distributed to all bar hotels in the state opened on Sunday despite being a nonworking day under normal circumstances. On the basis of the new liquor policy, all bars will function from 11am to 11pm.
The excise department had received 83 applications for the renewal of FL-III licence; with the highest number of applications coming from Ernakulam district. Of the 21 applications received from Ernakulam, the excise department has sanctioned 20. Of the 13 applications received from the state capital, 11 were cleared and granted bar licenses. The least number of applications have been received from Idukki.The lone application received from the district has also been cleared. None of the remaining four applications have been rejected by the department. The department is processing them and in one case, it has forwarded it to the government citing technical grounds.
On the basis of the Abkari policy, the government has decided to grant FL-III licence to those hotels that are classified as three star, four star, five star, five star deluxe, heritage, heritage grand and heritage classic. The licence fee has also been increased from Rs 23 lakh to Rs 28 lakh.
Meanwhile, the state government has extended the licence for toddy shops across the state for nine more months from July 1. When their licence expired on March 31 this year, the government had decided to give them an additional extension of three more months as the state had to delay the Abkari policy due to the LokSabhabyelection in Malappuram. As the state government felt that it needed more time to complete the procedure related to the leasing out and licence renewal of toddy shops under the new excise policy, it was decided to extend the existing licence for another nine months, till the end of the current financial year.