The youth may have raised a toast after the deadline for nightlife was extended till 1 a.m., but a majority of pubs and bars in the city seems to have not joined the party so far, citing high cost and logistics.
Over a year and a half after the nightlife deadline was extended from 11.30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends, just about 10 per cent of the 1,349 bars and restaurants in the city are taking advantage of the extension, and most are in the central business district, Koramangala and Indiranagar, said Excise Commissioner S.R. Umashankar. “The others choose to remain shut as there is no business late in the night.”
The nightlife extension was implemented on a trial basis in March 2014. Most clubs are also open till 1 a.m. while retail shops are mandated to close by 10.30 p.m. on all days.
Bars and pub owners who do not keep their establishments open beyond 11.30 p.m. point to the cost and logistics challenge that accompany extended hours. They have to deal with an increase in the cost for staff, electricity and other expenses.
The owner of a hotel in Rajajinagar said he had around 50 employees and all of them work throughout the day with a break of two hours in the afternoon. “If we have to remain open till 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, we will have to work in two shifts and costs will increase. Moreover, I cannot hire additional staff just to remain open late on two days of the week,” he said.
A manager of a bar and restaurant near Cunningham Road said, “The business we might make after 11.30 p.m. will not justify the costs we incur. Therefore, we chose to shut down by 11.30 p.m.”
Ashish Kothare, head of Bengaluru Chapter of the National Restaurants Association of India, said, “The extension of deadline may not be greatly beneficial in terms of revenue. But the city has matured and has grown. Revenue cannot be the only criteria to keep bars and pubs open. The idea of keeping a city open is multi-fold. The idea of staying open so late is to cater to people working across different industries that demand late working hours,” he said.
‘No increase in revenue’
Excise Department officials said that they had found that the extension of deadline had not led to increase in revenue. “The sale of liquor in the city has not increased over the past year. The growth is on the lines of the State average,” a department source said. For instance, the Indian Made Liquor growth rate for 2014–15 was pegged at 6.59 per cent for the city, which was a tad higher than the State growth rate of 6.39 per cent. Similarly, the growth rate of 2.3 per cent for beer was common to both the city and State.
Travelling to other parts of the city takes up a lot of time. I wish bars and pubs near my house would remain open until 1 a.m. If they try this for a month or two, they will have loyal customers. — Suhas K., a resident of Vijaynagar who prefers to go to Indiranagar or M.G. Road on weekends.
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Extension of nightlife has improved business not only to bars and pubs but also to different strata of people such as autorickshaw and cab drivers. Students and young working professionals feel that the lack of a vibrant transportation system forces them to return home early despite the extended deadline.
— Ashish Kothare, head, Bengaluru Chapter of the National Restaurants Association of India
