As Kerala eases the COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the state and begins the unlock process, the Beverages Corporation's liquor outlets in Kerala and private bars have reopened on Thursday. And to buy liquor from BEVCO outlets, consumers will have to stand in long queues like in pre-COVID times.
The Kerala Government has decided to do away with the controversial BevQ App, which was introduced to encourage both liqour sales and social distancing during the pandemic.
The outlets will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nonetheless, liquor sales will open only in areas where the test positivity rate (TPR) is below 20 percent. Official sources also said that police would be roped in to ensure social distancing in front of the outlets where long crowds are expected. Since only parcel service will be allowed, liquor served from private bar outlets will be charged at Bevco rates.
BEVCO had already written to the Kerala government saying that sales through BevQ App was causing losses. It was said that the app favoured sales from private liquor outlets than from Bevco outlets; there were instances where people living close to Bevco outlets were given slots at private bars that were far away.
Sources said Bevco authorities had a meeting with the representatives of Faircode, the start-up that created BevQ, before it was decided to cancel their services.
Despite the BevQ glitches and the pandemic, Kerala still amassed huge revenue from liquor sales. Though it had shut down sales for over 50 days last fiscal, the revenue from liquor sales still managed to cross 11,000 crore, almost scraping the 2019-20 levels of Rs 11,710 crore.
This is not to say that beer and IMFL sales matched pre-COVID levels. In fact, sale of beer dropped by 45 per cent when compared to 2019-20 and tha of IMFL fell by 18 percent. This, however, was made up by increasing the sales tax on liquor by 35 per cent.
