Soon, restaurants can serve alcohol in open spaces

Pratekk Chaturvedi, COO of BrewDog India, said the initiative will help promote microbreweries in Delhi.

With the Delhi government notifying amendments to existing excise rules, restaurants and pubs in the city can soon serve liquor in open spaces, such as terrace, balcony, etc, inside their premises and can also have live music arrangements, such as performing bands, DJs, karaoke, etc, without hassle.

A bartender making drinks for customers on the first day of the reopening of liquor serving bars, at Hauz Khas Village in New Delhi after the reduction in Covid 19 cases following first wave. ( Amal KS / Hindustan Times)

The amendments – notified on Monday – also allow microbreweries in the city to start takeaway service for draught beer, serve in events and sell directly to restaurants and pubs.

A senior government official clarified that this notification was meant to notify the changes made to the Delhi excise rules and the date of implementation of these rules will be notified separately.

“The licensee may serve any Indian liquor or foreign liquor at any area within the premises of the restaurant, including open spaces viz. terrace/balcony/lower area of restaurant (same applies to hotels and pubs), if any, specified and endorsed on its licence subject to the condition that the liquor serving area shall be screened off from public view,” said the notification, a copy of which HT has seen.

It further said, “Provided that the licensees holding license for consumption ‘on’ the premises may be permitted, subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by deputy commissioner by general or specific order, to play any type of entertainment/performance including music and musical instruments, dancing, or singing by professionals or DJ, live bands, and karaoke on its premises.”

“The new notification would bring clarity... Earlier in the absence of these rules, civic agencies often used to impose their own regulations on restaurants and pubs,” said Manpreet Singh, a Delhi-based restaurateur and treasurer of the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) which has more than 5,000 members across the country.

The notification of the new amendments to the excise rules further said, “Microbrewery shall be allowed to supply to other bars and restaurants… Draught beer shall be allowed to be taken away in bottles or ‘growlers’. However, wherever draught beer is being served as a take away, clear signage and information will be need (needed) to put up about its short shelf life and the bottles will have to mention the expiry date clearly.”

Pratekk Chaturvedi, COO of BrewDog India, said the initiative will help promote microbreweries in Delhi. “So far, breweries in Delhi had to operate in suboptimal capacity in the off-months (winters) because sales drop, but they got no relaxation in fees levied by the government. Now that microbreweries have been allowed to sell to restaurants and pubs and serve at events, it is expected to bring relief. Also, the provision for allowing breweries to start take-away service can be a major game-changer,” he said

Delhi currently has two functional microbreweries (Ministry of Beer and Connaught Club House). Five more have licenses and are likely to start functioning soon, said an excise department official.

Some more provisions under the new excise policy – such as reducing legal drinking age from 25 to 21, gatekeeping, age gating of clients, reducing number of dry days to three in a year, and allowing restaurants and clubs to stay open till 3 am (from 1 am currently) – will need amendments to the Delhi Excise Act and have to be tabled in the Delhi assembly, said an official.