On the heels of liquor sale being allowed through wine stores and State-run MSIL outlets, the Federation of Wine Merchants’ Association, Karnataka, has asked the State government to allow the sale of liquor by other licence holders too.
They also said that the decision to increase Excise duty would harm business.
“Impose restrictions and allow all categories of licence holders to sell liquor. This will enable them to recover some losses,” the federation said in a memorandum, adding that huge stocks of beer are lying behind sealed doors, especially in bars, that will expire soon. “We may have to destroy beer worth crores if these licence holders are not allowed to sell them,” the federation said.
On Monday, about 4,500 wine stores opened after being closed for over 40 days and they reported brisk business. The sales stood at ₹231.6 crore on Wednesday, while it was close to ₹250 crore the previous two days. There are nearly 4,000 licenced bars and several hundred clubs that have remained shut owing to a lack of permission. In all, there are about 11,000 liquor licences in various categories in the State.
“A bar and restaurant owner’s investment is very high. While his licence fee is costlier, he would have hired more manpower to run the business. With the lockdown, the business has come to a halt and he has to meet his overheard costs,” a federation office-bearer said.
Inventory checking
Meanwhile as wine stores opened on Monday, an earlier order of the Excise Commissioner to take stock of the inventory, which was issued in the light of allegations of bootlegging and theft in liquor outlets, has been modified, allegedly under pressure. Though the special report was to have been submitted on Tuesday, the modified order also came on Tuesday. It stated that the stock checking will have to be undertaken only in those outlets against whom there are complaints as against all outlets earlier mentioned.
Sources said that normally when the liquor outlets are closed, the officials should have checked the available stock. “Also, since outlets were closed abruptly, owners did not have time for stock checking. This was leading to officials demanding hefty bribes. We have also asked for a probe against officials,” said a source.
