By IANS
Ranchi : Bar owners in Jharkhand will observe a token strike on Jan 4 to protest a government circular that makes it mandatory for them to buy a a minimum amount of liquor.
The Jharkhand excise department on Dec 10 directed bars and restaurants in the state to buy a certain quantity of liquor, failing which their liquor licences would be cancelled.
“We will first observe a token strike on Jan 4. If the excise department does not roll back the circular, then we will move the Jharkhand High Court. The circular is set to close the bars of the state,” said Chandra Mohan Kapoor, president of Jharkhand Hotel, Bar and Restaurants’ Association.
“We cannot sell the quota fixed by the excise department,” he said.
The excise department has divided bars and restaurants in five categories according to licence fees ranging from Rs.500,000 to Rs.200,000.
For example, those who pay Rs.500,000 as licence fee are now mandated to buy 6,000 London Proof Litres (LPL) of IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) and 9,000 Beer Litres (BL) per annum.
Similarly, a Rs.200,000 licence holder will have to necessarily buy 3,000 LPL of IMFL and 5,000 BL a year.
There are 94 licensed bars and restaurants in the state, including 29 in Ranchi. Most of the Ranchi bars have the Rs.500,000 licence.
According to bar and restaurants owners, the outlets sell between 1,500 LPL to 2,500 LPL in a year.
“We are left with only two options – either to close down the bars or hike rates. If we hike rates, customers will shift to illegal bars,” said Arun Chawla, owner of Fire Ball Bars and Restaurants.
Government officials, however, justify the fixing of the quotas.
“Bar and restaurant owners fudge their sales figure (show less sales) to avoid excise duty. By fixing a quota, the excise department will get additional Rs.200 million excise duty per annum,” an excise department official told IANS.