Bad news for tipplers: Half of Bengaluru pubs haven’t renewed their licenses

Many pubs in Bangalore are yet to renew their bar licenses and fail to do so on accounts of increased operational costs and high license fees.

Several pubs across Bengaluru, which is home to the highest number of microbreweries in India, operate with expired bar licenses as they face increased operational costs and high license fees.

Bar and pubs take a hit amid high fees for renewal of licenses

According to a report in July, more than half of Bengaluru's pubs are yet to renew their licenses.

Many pubs in Bengaluru, that were known to be thriving and flooded with people, struggled with high rents, increasing cost of operations and lack of business during lockdown.

The bench also looked into the licensing and controlling of live music bands in Indiranagar. Reportedly, 107 of 200 license applications were rejected by the state government.

Any liquor serving outlet that earns the Retail Vend of Beer (RVB) license gets categorized as a pub. The pubs and bars industry are usually the first ones to be shut down whenever there are indications of COVID-19 cases increasing.

The government did not ease restrictions for RVB license holders in July last year after the second wave ended, even though it allowed bars and restaurants to operate at 50% capacity.

Given the challenges faced by the industry, the Federation of Wine Merchants’ Associations of Karnataka even sought a waiver of at least 25% in the license fees by the State government. However, there was no positive outcome to their demand.

Girish S.V., the owner of a popular microbrewery in Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, said, “The state government has not issued new licenses since 2010. The main crisis period for the industry was when COVID struck. We lost footfall in our restaurants but had to keep paying rents and labour costs. There is no subsidy from the government either. We had requested for license fees to be waived off for that current month, but there was no remedy to that as well.”

Forced shutdowns due to noise complaints

Some pubs also faced forced closures by police due to noise complaints by residents living in the vicinity. Noise complaints are a chronic issue in areas like Indiranagar, especially during weekends.

The State Government was taken to task by the Karnataka High Court multiple times in this matter. The HC reportedly ordered the government to procure decibel meters to measure noise levels and keep it down to a certain level.

In a hearing in 2019, the court found that the state had not procured a single meter since 2016 and ordered the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to assess the total number of meters required in the city.

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreenivas Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar slammed the city police, KSPCB, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the state government administration for failing to take action against noise pollution created by music played in Indiranagar’s pubs and live music venues.