LUCKNOW: With the promulgation of the Uttar Pradesh Excise (Grant of Bar Licences) Rules, 2020 by the state cabinet, you can now expect to be served liquor in airport lounges, special trains and cruises.
The new rules also allow for taking special liquor permits online, for a period of six consecutive hours from 8 am to midnight, extendable by an hour with the prior approval of the licensing authority on payment of additional license fees. So far, the temporary liquor licence would be issued for just for three hours -- from 8 pm 11 pm -- for parties and weddings, and require a long procedure.
“The new rules are forward looking and will significantly simplify the process of obtaining licenses,” said Sanjay Bhoosreddy, additional chief secretary (excise).
He said that the new rules have reduced the number of steps from the time of application for a license to its grant from around 28 to just eight. “The process has been decentralised and will now take significantly less time to grant licences. The present provision of approval by the state government on the recommendation of a committee headed by the divisional commissioner has been done away with and an excise commissioner has been authorized to accord the approval directly on the recommendation of the committee headed by the DM,” he said.
Among rules that have been eased for grant of licence are the need for the restaurant to be operational at the time of applying for licence, a process which will be entirely online. An official said that applicants had to start functioning and therefore run losses till the licence was awarded. Now the restaurant has to be operational at the time of depositing the licence fee.
Another major relief for applicants is that licence fee will not be charged for the entire year, irrespective of the month in which the licence was sanctioned. As per the new rules, licence fee will only be charged for the remaining quarters of the year based on the time of granting licence.
The unit for which the licence is being applied for needs to have a minimum floor area of 200 sqm and a minimum seating capacity of 40 persons. Private parking or valet parking arrangement will be considered valid even if it is within 500 m of the premises, unlike earlier when it was necessary to have sufficient parking within the premises itself. If a bar is located in a mall or in a commercial complex, the parking facilities and washrooms of the mall or complex shall be considered as the facilities for the bar. Premises of bars and clubs will be geo-tagged.
In case of a dispute with the district level bar committee regarding the sanction of licence, an appeal can be filed with the divisional commissioner. Any change in the premises of a licensed bar can only be approved by the excise commission on recommendation of the district committee.
For violation of the rules, one will be fined Rs 25,000 for the first offence, Rs 50,000 for the second offence and cancellation of license in case of third offence.