K’taka govt proposes revising legal age for drinking from 21 to 18: Officials

The proposal will put an end to the ambiguity over the legal age of drinking as well. The minimum drinking age in Karnataka is 18 years old, according to the Karnataka Excise Act 1965 and 21 years old, according to the Karnataka Excise Licenses (General Conditions) Rules 1967.

Karnataka government has proposed changes to the excise rules to lower the legal age for the purchase of liquor from 21 years to 18 years, officials in the know of the matter said on Monday.

Karnataka government proposed changes to excise rules to lower the legal age for the purchase of liquor from 21 years to 18 years (REUTERS)

Officials said the finance department published a draft of the proposed changes on January 9 and is inviting objections from the public within 30 days.

According to the government, the proposal has been made on the recommendation of a committee set up under retired bureaucrat V Yashwanth.

The proposal will put an end to the ambiguity over the legal age of drinking as well. The minimum drinking age in Karnataka is 18 years old, according to the Karnataka Excise Act 1965 and 21 years old, according to the Karnataka Excise Licenses (General Conditions) Rules 1967.

The proposal to lower the age is included in a draft notification to amend the Karnataka Excise (General Conditions of Licences) Rules, 1967, which deals with the legal age for purchasing liquor. The amendment specifically proposes to replace the current age requirement of 21 years with 18 years by amending rule 10, officials said.

“The argument has been that when a person can vote at 18, why aren’t they allowed to consume alcohol? Industry bodies also raised several times in the past, the issue of reducing the age. Many States have in the past reduced the legal age for purchase and consumption of alcohol to 18, so we are looking at this change,” said a senior excise department official.

Honnagiri Gowda, president of the Karnataka Wine Merchant Association, said that the government should not change the age limit.

“We were asked to put boards, which said that liquor will not be sold to those under 21 years. We were finding it to implement this rule, and if they reduce the age further to include teenagers, this task will become even more difficult. We will speak to the concerned officials and ask them to retain the status quo. It is not just about business. We need to think of the future of our children as well,” said Gowda.

For the fiscal year 2022-23, the Karnataka government has fixed a target of ₹29,000 crore as the excise revenue target. During the Christmas and New Year, excise revenue dipped by 10.63%, even as liquor sales have seen an increase of 14.86% compared to the corresponding period last year.

While the state reported sales of Indian Made Liquor (IML) and beer worth ₹1,262 crore since December 23, 2022, a total of ₹1,099 crore had been sold in the same period last year. However, the excise revenue realised during this period is about ₹657 crore as against ₹736 crore collected last year. In 2021, the excise revenue reported an increase of 19.74 % over 2020.

According to data provided by the excise department on New Year’s Eve, a total of 1.5 million cartons of beer had been sold against 1.1 million cartons last year, reporting an increase of 33.81%. In the case of IML, 2.6 million cartons were sold against a total of 1.9 million cartons last year, reporting a 6.17 % increase.