Telangana govt permits bars to serve alcohol till 1 am on Fridays, Saturdays

The Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise has extended by one hour the time limit that restaurants and bars in Hyderabad can serve alcohol on Fridays and Saturdays.
Telangana govt permits bars to serve alcohol till 1 am on Fridays, Saturdays
Telangana govt permits bars to serve alcohol till 1 am on Fridays, Saturdays
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The Telangana government on Thursday extended the drinking hours in the state by one hour for Fridays and Saturdays.

A recent notice issued by the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise states that bars and restaurants falling within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits can now serve alcohol till 1 am.

At present, restaurants and bars can serve alcoholic beverages till 10.30 pm on weekdays. Alcohol can be sold at retail stores and wine shops till 11 pm as reported last year.

In fact, there have been demands from business owners that the drinking hours be extended till 3 am. However, the drinking hours have been extended by only one hour and now restaurants, bars and pubs can provide alcoholic drinks to customers from 10 am till 1 am.

“In the circumstances reported by the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise, Telangana, Hyderabad…[Government] after careful examination of the matter hereby permit him to extend the Business hours in respect of 2B Bars falling within GHMC and 5 KM periphery of GHMC, on the following days only, during the course of license period, under provision of rule 15 of Telangana State Excise (Grant of license of selling by Bar and  Conditions of license Rules 2005,” states the official notice issued by Somesh Kumar, the Principal Secretary to the Telangana government.

It further added that the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise would take appropriate action as deemed necessary with regards to the same.

Earlier in 2015, bars and pubs were allowed to serve alcohol only till 11 pm, while retail shops were permitted to sell them till 10 pm. A similar extension was granted in August 2015 which allowed wine-shop owners to extend their hours up to 12 am. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government had taken the decision as part of their aim to transform Hyderabad into a ‘global destination.’

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