In good news for New Year’s Eve revellers and Bacchus lovers, liquor shops will remain open till midnight on Thursday (December 31) in Telangana, the state Prohibition and Excise Department said. Shops selling Indian Made Foreign Liquor are usually allowed to function till 11 pm and the extension by an hour has been given in view of the new year celebrations.
Licence holders of bars, event organisers and in-House licences of Tourism Development Corporation to serve liquor up to 1 am, on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, the excise department said.
Such permission was subject to observance of Standard Operating Procedures for COVID-19, Prohibition and Excise Director said.
However, the police said they will undertake extensive checks to curb drunken and rash driving and other traffic violations in the interest of public order and safety. There will be strict traffic restrictions in some places in order to facilitate proper control and regulation of traffic.
Meanwhile, restaurants and clubs in the national capital may soon be allowed to serve liquor till 3 am, with a Delhi government panel suggesting this as part of "excise reforms", according to a PTI report. It has also recommended that retail liquor licenses other than to government corporations be allotted through a lottery system once every two years, a move that will allow flexibility in rules for new private liquor shops in the city.
The panel, set up by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in September, has suggested lowering the legal drinking age to 21 from the current 25 in Delhi.
(With agency inputs)