Bangaloreans can now heave a sigh of relief as the bars and pubs on MG Road and surrounding areas that were ordered to shut down post-June 30 midnight, will soon be back in business. Owners of popular pubs and resto bars now hope that their licenses will also be renewed soon.
The Supreme Court had earlier banned the sale of liquor within 500 metres of a highway. And a few days before licenses expired, the excise department has refused to renew the liquor licenses of many pubs, restaurants and even star hotels located on Brigade Road, Church Street, MG Road and Indiranagar.
However, the apex court on Tuesday, July 4, said that roads within the city can be denotified as national highways and explained that the actual purpose of banning the sale of liquor near highways was to ensure that drivers do not drive under the influence of alcohol, CNN News18 reported.
The Karnataka government has now requested the Centre to denotify about 700 kilometres of national highways and 1,476 kilometres of state highways.
The mood of partygoers in the city has been subdued since Friday as many of their favourite haunts had to down shutters post midnight. Many pubs stopped taking orders by 11.30 pm as they would have to shut down by 12 am and the remaining stock was sealed by the excise department. Pubs were also asked to file a closure report along with the sales figures and also the details of the remaining stock. They were asked to surrender their licenses unless they had decided to relocate and have paid the relocation fee.
Partygoers and pub hoppers found it hard to believe that their regular haunts will not be the same again and some even seemed to be in denial. Instead of going to other places, many regulars said that they would rather party at home. However, that too seemed like a bad option as retailers reportedly hiked the price of alcohol, under the pretext of the Goods and Services Tax that came into effect on June 30 midnight.
Even though alcohol doesn't come under GST, it applies to things used to make and pack the liquor. Materials such as bottles, labels and caps earlier were taxed at 14.5 percent, but under GST they attract a tax of 18 percent. On Saturday, retailers are said to have hiked the prices of liquor by almost 15 percent and beer was costlier by 38 percent.
While liquor manufacturers, as well as excise officials, said that the additional costs are absorbed by the manufacturers and vendors increasing the price of alcohol was not legal, many buyers shelled out a hefty amount to buy alcohol.
"I had accompanied my cousin to this MRP store that we have been buying from. We had picked up beer on Wednesday and it was Rs 120. Today , it is Rs 165," Harsha Jayaram, who had flown down from Mumbai, told the Times of India. Another buyer added: "When I enquired, I was told that it was because of GST. A bottle of Black Dog Triple Gold, which was for Rs 2,870 when I purchased it last, was being sold at Rs 3.070 (6% more)."
