With many dry days this week, resto-bars and pubs stand to witness business losses, as these places cannot even serve food on those days and will have to pull down their shutters. They would also not be allowed to provide home delivery or takeaway services on such days. There is a ban on serving liquor at events like weddings and other parties too on dry days.
The ban on the sale and the serving of liquor started on Monday evening and will be in place until the midnight of May 10. On counting day (May 13), which also happens to be a Saturday, these businesses will have to shut down again.
“This has become a norm in Bengaluru from the last elections. Before that, we were allowed to serve food, but in the recent past the Excise Department said that it did not have enough officials to monitor the activities and hence, it ordered the closure of all services,” said Mukesh Tolani, Head of Bengaluru Chapter, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).
He also said that with no liquor, food-centric establishments could have witnessed an increase in their businesses.
With the restrictions, resto-bars might lose around 30-40% of the business they could have had on those days, reported other restaurateurs too.
The recent weekend was marked by a slight increase in demand for alcohol at MRP liquor stores, but as the supply had been tight, it was difficult to cater to the demands, merchants reported.
“There was quite some demand for liquor during the weekend, but this time, there is not much scope for anyone to stock up on liquor or anything as the department has been very strict. The supply of alcohol to stores has only been tight to avoid such things,” said Karunakar Hegde, pub owner and vice-president of the Federation of Wine Merchants’ Association.
Meanwhile, people who needed liquor on those days said they had stocked up to the extent they could manage.
“Many in my circle have stocked up at home even though they could not get too many bottles at any shops in the recent days,” said Shankar Prasad.
