While BevQ remains elusive on Google Play Store's search results, enterprising Keralites have found alternate ways to download the app as alcohol sales resumed in Kerala on Thursday.
After its delayed release around 11 p.m. Wednesday, users could not trace BevQ on Play Store, but they figured out a way to download the app from the website by searching for an improper keyword -- ksbcvirtualq.
To download the app, click here.
How to use:
• In the app, users are prompted to enter their PIN code, name and phone number to submit their slot booking request.
• After submission, a token is generated and a One Time Password (OTP) is issued to the user's phone.
• With this, users can avail details as to the location from where they can buy booze and the date and time slot allotted to them. A QR-code too is generated with each token.
• The QR-code must be produced at the prescribed outlet along with a government identity card.
• Each token is allotted a 15-minute time slot to buy the booze.
• A user can only book a token once every four days.
Liquor sale began at 9am from bars, beer parlours, BEVCO and Consumerfed outlets in the state on Thursday.
The app was developed to ensure that social distancing norms are followed at these outlets in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. The state had put shutters on bars on March 23 and closed BEVCO outlets on March 25 after the first phase of lockdown kicked in.
Only five persons will be lining up before the counter at any given time and only 50 people will be served from one counter in an hour, officials told Manorama News on Wednesday. Initially, 4.8 lakh tokens will be issued each day.
It is not clear if users can select a location of their choice to book for a slot.
Liquor sales account for a major chunk of cash-strapped Kerala's revenue, with sales worth over Rs 14,500 crore in the last fiscal. The state has one of the highest per capita consumption of liquor in the country.
