Hoteliers heave a sigh of relief as TN re-opens bars and permit rooms serving liquor in hotels and clubs

Chennai:

The move by Tamil Nadu government to re-open bars and permit rooms serving liquor in hotels and clubs within the city limits from Friday has been welcomed by the hotel and hospitality industry.

M Ravi, president of Chennai Hotel Owners Association told Express that the move will revive the hotel and tourism industry which lost businesses due to the clamp on bars and permit rooms where liquor was sold.

He said that the industry was hit hard by the clamp imposed by a Supreme Court order. “Events and programmes, which were scheduled to happen in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, were shifted to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand due to the clamp by Supreme Court. This affected our businesses badly,” Ravi said.  

“There was a stage when many of us even thought of closing the hotels,” he added.

Srinivasan Radhakrishnan, executive committee member of South India Hotels and Restaurant Associations (SIHRA) said that the clamp had affected the revenue earned through rooms and events. “There was a sizable fall in revenue in the last two months,” said the owner of Radha Regent and Feathers Hotels while refusing to divulge the details about the losses.

The decision to permit the licensed establishments to operate within the city limits comes after taking in the opinion of Tamil Nadu advocate general on Supreme Court judgement dated July 11, 2017, said Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise R Kirlosh Kumar in a letter to the district collectors.

The Supreme Court in its order has clarified the December 15, 2016 judgement was to deal with the sale of liquor along and in proximity of highways that provide connectivity between towns and villages. “The order does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas,” the Apex court has stated it its judgement.

It is learnt that based on the Supreme Court order Tamil Nadu Bar and Club Owners Association in their letter on August 24, 2017 requested the government to accord permission to re-open bars and permit rooms in hotels and club within the city or town limits.

Now, Kirlosh Kumar has asked district collectors to permit licensed establishments which are located within the limits of municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats with immediate effect and send in a compliance report.

Interestingly, the governments of West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and

Kerala have already permitted the licensed establishments located within municipal areas to function.