Liquor ban: With 70% licenses lost, K’taka dealers to demand denotification of state highways
With the Supreme Court order on ban on liquor outlets on national and state highways coming into effect from Saturday, several outlets across the country remained closed. However, for the state of Karnataka, those licenses issued before December 16, 2016 is valid till July this year, after which the renewal process would begin.
Ashish Kothare, managing Committee member of National Restaurant Association of India had told TNM, "As of now it is just hearsay, we haven't got any official word from any government department. But for those bars that renewed their licenses before December 15, 2016, their license is valid till July 1 this year."
Chethan Kumar reports for The Times of India that nearly 70% of licenses will be impacted in the state. This included retail outlets, hotels, bars and restaurants. The report states that Karnataka has 146 state highways, and 13 national highways pass through.
The dealers have proposed the denotification of state highways, which they feel will reduce the impact of the ban. The move is to denotify state highways as district highways, as being done in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, reports The Hindu.
Honnagiri Gowda, general secretary of Karnataka Wine Merchants' Association told TOI that Karnataka has 10,051 active licences, of which 8,000 are retail outlets, bars and restaurants, and hotels. If the SC order was to be implemented, 70% of the licenses in the state and 60% of the licenses in Bengaluru would cease to exist, he added.
The association representatives are set to meet the excise commissioner to put forth this demand.