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Bengaluru: The state government has finally allowed only certain liquor shops to open their shutters after May 4.

According to a report by DH, Excise Commissioner M Lokesh has passed an order allowing only CL-2 (retail shops) and CL-11C (state-run retail shops like the MSIL) to open. This is apart from the Karnataka State Beverages Corporation Ltd. depots.

The order, however, has barred malls and supermarkets from selling alcohol.

Additionally, liquor sales are only allowed in areas that are not declared “containment zones” between 9 am and 7 pm.

Only five customers can be allowed in the shop at a time and they are required to follow social distancing measures. Both the customers and the staff are required to wear masks and the shops are also required to provide sanitizers to everyone.

Currently, only retail shops are allowed to open as there is still a ban on consumption of alcohol in public places like bars and pubs.

Due to the stringent guidelines of the lockdown, that put a stop on all liquor sales since March 24, the Excise Department suffered losses of around Rs 60 crores per day for 40 days.

As excise duty levied on liquor sales form a major part of the government’s revenue, it was under immense pressure to re-start liquor sales.

Additionally, due to the ban on the sale of alcohol, there was a lot of liquor being sold illegally at inflated prices. As many as 1,388 cases were registered for the illegal sale of alcohol during this time and 591 people were arrested for the same.

It can be recalled that several liquor shops were also broken into, where the culprits made away with a lot of alcohol.