Only around 150 of the 475 wine stores in Mumbai opened on Monday, after staying closed for over a month, but each saw a long line of customers outside.
Though the government allowed non-essential shops, including wine stores to open in the red zones of Mumbai and Pune as well on Sunday, the official order permitting the same reached sellers only on Monday afternoon.
“Today, only about 150-200 wine stores could open for about three hours as we received the order around 2.30 p.m. and the closing time was 6 p.m.,” Dilip Giyanani, chairman, Maharashtra Wine Shop Owners Association said.
‘Law and order issue’
Most wine shop owners who managed to open for the few hours said there was intense pressure from the customers and maintaining law and order was a noticeable issue.
“We noticed a couple of issues. First, that we would need help of the law and order machinery. The local police have been helpful. Another is sanitising the shop every two hours. How are we going to do this? The third is about accepting currency notes as one would eventually have to touch it,” Mr. Giyanani said.
For most wine store owners, tallying the stocks and brands in their shops took time as many didn’t remember the exact count since business had come to an abrupt halt.
Mr. Giyanani said a majority of stores had supplies to last another 15 days. “Since it is summer right now, beer is in demand. There are several trucks lined up at breweries waiting for permissions to move,” he said, adding that manpower was among the biggest issues being faced on the business front.
“Most of the staff live in distant suburbs and there is no public transport. Also, we would not want them to travel right now. I have made arrangements at a nearby hotel for my staff who can reach here,” said Randip Singh Munjral, owner of Crawford Market’s Shah and Company, one of the largest liquor outlets in Mumbai. In absence of staff, Mr. Munjral was unable to start business.
He said the government’s move to allow liquor sales should be a win-win situation for all.
“Mumbai is in the red zone, maybe we could have waited for a few days more. Distributors have also not opened as yet. They too have staffing issues. Vehicles will need passes to travel from warehouses in the suburbs to town,” he said, adding that despite all this, the liquor trade was working out modalities.
“We want to set the ball rolling. Around 90% of our sales will be by card or UPI payments. Cash will be a strict no for now,” Mr. Munjral said.
Reports from other parts of the State indicated that in some rural areas, queues outside wine stores extended up to 3 km, while customers not maintaining social distancing led to some shops being asked to shut down. At Sahar Road in Andheri, police had to resort to mild lathi charge as customers got unruly.
‘Help encash stock’
Meanwhile, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) in a letter to the State government sought permission to liquidate perishable liquor stocks lying with them.
Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, president, HRAWI said an estimated ₹10 crore worth of stock was lying with all license holders. The goods, including liquors and beers, are likely to perish due to the expiry of the products. The association said allowing liquidation of the unsold stock will minimise losses and introduce working capital by encashment.
“The hospitality industry is under lockdown now for almost 45 days. Further, all sale of liquor have been prohibited by declaration of dry day pursuant to the order issued by the State excise department. But now with the government relaxing the ban on sale of liquor we are hoping to salvage from the unsold stock which in turn can induce some liquidity into our businesses. This will introduce working capital for many establishments that are bleeding in outgoing expenses and are sitting on dormant stocks,” Mr. Kohli said.
In the letter, HRAWI requested that either it directs manufacturers to replace liquor stocks that are on the verge of expiry or already expired or allow the sale of perishable liquor stocks from the outlets of license holders, as and when the same is advisable, under the present circumstances.
“Under the present situation of chaos at the liquor shops across the country, we believe allowing all FL3 licensees to sell liquor would help the cause of social distancing, maintaining law and order and reducing the risk of crowding at public places. Our suggestion is only complementary to the government’s decision of allowing sale of liquor in the State. Being a highly capital and labour intensive industry, we need something to work with, something that allows us to continue to remain in business. We are hopeful that the government takes into account our catastrophic situation during the phase of the lockdown and allows us this opportunity to survive,” Mr. Kohli said.
