Delhi may have gotten off lightly compared to Gurugram, with fewer restaurants, bars and hotels being affected by the Supreme Court ban on serving alcohol within 500 metres of a national or State highway. However, it is still nothing to cheer about for the industry.
As per the Delhi government’s Excise Department, 48 establishments that serve liquor have been affected by the April 1 roll-out of the Supreme Court order.
For neighbouring Gurugram, however, over 100 such establishments were affected, leading to temporary closures.
A senior excise official said that five establishments had appealed against the ban, asking for a second look at their location and distance from the highway. A hotel had appealed that the highway passing in front of their property was a flyover, so it shouldn’t count.
This argument, the official said, had been rejected. Nonetheless, the official said that a committee would look into all requests for appeal.
The committee had been formed in February to look into complaints from liquor vends affected by an earlier Supreme Court order.
‘No time given’
The SC had on December 15, 2016 banned the sale of alcohol within 500 metres of national highways. On March 31, it expanded the order to include restaurants, bars, hotels and cafés serving alcohol.
In Delhi, a total of 48 liquor vends had been closed as a result of the December order, with two appealing against it. One application was accepted and the other rejected. The official added that while liquor vends had been given time to appeal, the establishments serving alcohol had not time to do so as the ban was enforced overnight.
For owners of establishments that serve alcohol, the SC’s decision could have grave consequences.
“This is an unprecedented situation for the food and beverage industry. This will have a severe and adverse impact on not just restaurants, but also on tourism and other allied industries,” said Prakul Kumar, secretary-general of the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI).
He added that initial estimates put the number of bars and pubs that would shut down in the National Capital Region in the hundreds.
“The move could lead to States losing overall tax revenue of ₹50,000 crore, restaurants and pubs taking a hit of ₹10,000-15,000 crore and one lakh people going out of work. The total consolidated loss will be around ₹1 lakh crore,” Mr. Kumar said.
He added that the NRAI had taken up the issue with Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma as well as the chief secretaries of Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
He said they would be meeting Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia too. We are also exploring legal options, Mr. Kumar added.
