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Capital turns into guzzlers’ paradise
Capital turns into guzzlers’ paradise, Greater Hyderabad appears to be earning the notoriety for violating rules in running the licensed wine shops. Contrary to the earlier orders that the wine shops should not remain open beyond the stipulated time of 10 pm, all liquor outlets, including bar and restaurants, are being kept open till midnight.
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Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad appears to be earning the notoriety for violating rules in running the licensed wine shops. Contrary to the earlier orders that the wine shops should not remain open beyond the stipulated time of 10 pm, all liquor outlets, including bar and restaurants, are being kept open till midnight.
The Excise department officials, who recently conducted inspections across the city, found that as many as 220 wine shops were selling liquor even after 10 pm.
They said that not a single wine shop had adhered to the scheduled time in the last one month. The instructions to close the wine shops at 10 pm were issued when the State was under President’s Rule and the timings were being strictly maintained during the period.
However, the rule was violated after the new government took over when most of the shop owners retained licenses in the recent bidding conducted as part of Excise Policy for 2014- 15 financial year. The wine shops were seen open even before 10 am in the morning particularly in areas on the city outskirts. Bars in the city were also providing liquor to the tipplers till 1 am.
However, the authorities have not initiated any serious action against the shop dealers and bar owners except issuing notices to them. As per the rule, a notice would be served on the dealer if he was found to have violated the rule in the first instance. If the dealer repeated the offence, Rs 1 lakh fine would be imposed on him and Rs 2 lakh in the third instance and the license would be cancelled for further violation. Wine Dealers Association General Secretary D Venkateswara Rao said that the dealers already urged the government to replace the existing timings and allow the shops to remain open till 11 pm. As the competition increased in the sale of liquor, dealers found hard to earn money, which they spent for getting licenses that last for only one year.
