Compliance will be the key issue in liquor ban

The ban applies to liquor vends as well as hotels and other parlours. One of the major issues raised by industry bodies was that it was impossible for these commercial establishments to now move to another location thus putting investments running into crores of rupees to waste. While travelling on highways or even modern metropolis, one can spot huge signboards, often LED or neon lit, directing commuters to liquor vends ahead. These are loopholes that would easily be exploited by shop owners on highways. They could shift their shops with minimal cost and direct travellers to interior locations, like many do, away from highways into the inner roads, lanes and away from the 500 metre limit.

According to a report in the Economic Times, attempts to circumvent the order have already been initiated in many states. Many bodies have reportedly started lobbying for governments to denotify state/national highways and redesignate them as urban roads so that the ban doesn’t apply to establishments adjacent to certain highways in certain states. Chandigarh has already declared city roads as urban roads thereby effectively saving all such establishments from such orders.

Hotels risk losing their star ratings and crores in license fees, infrastructure investments, loyal/regular customers etc. For many travellers, this would mean stocking of their vehicles with liquor and the even more dangerous scenario of drinking anywhere on the side of highways in their cars, trucks, on bikes, roaming drunk on highways. In reality, people will seem to find several ways to bypass the order.

A report in BloombergQuint quoted Kapil Chopra, President of The Oberoi Group as saying that the food and beverage industry is poised to take a hit of $30 billion annually. He said the industry stands to lose half of its yearly revenue as a result of the liquor ban.

Only if there could be a strong system to ensure compliance this well meaning move will succeed.