Kerala: Working hours of retail liquor outlets go up

Thiruvananthapuram: The working hours of the retail liquor outlets have been extended by one hour and the government is planning to approach the Supreme Court seeking three months’ extension to implement the fresh restrictions. With pressure mounting on the government to tide over the situation following the closure of 1956 liquor outlets, the options of bringing in an ordinance as well as a de-notification of state highways are under the government's active consideration.

As reported by DC earlier, the government is also  considering lifting the  powers vested with local bodies to grant no-objection to liquor outlets. The Beverages Corporation outlets that were so far working from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. started functioning from 9.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. Consumerfed outlets will also work for 12 hours.

Additional counters were also opened at the retail outlets in view of the heavy rush. According to beverages corporation sources, the daily sales of the corporation came down by about 50 percent. While the average daily sale was around Rs 30 crore, it came to around Rs 15 crore. The sale in some of the shops touched almost Rs 1 core on Sunday.

Meanwhile, some of the beer and wine parlours are even exploring the option of relocating their entrance to avoid  the 500-metre norms from highways.  The Beverages Corporation and Consumerfed have also intensified the search for new locations to shift the outlets. Apart from the dip in revenue, the state government is also under pressure to return the licence fee to the 586 beer and wine parlours, 18 clubs and 11 five-star hotel bars, which comes to around Rs 42 lakh.