Supreme Court’s highway liquor ban verdict may hit 1 million jobs

NEW DELHI: Stunned by the Supreme Court (SC) announcement on not exempting hotels and restaurants from a ban on liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways from April 1, the hospitality industry estimates that about 1 million employees could be hit by the order.

The SC on Friday ruled that its December 15 order on banning liquor vends across national and state highways is also applicable to hotels and restaurants.

Riyaaz Amlani, president, National Restaurant Association of India, said the association is working on culling out estimates on the number of hotels and restaurants that are likely to be hit.

Pradeep Shetty, member of the legal committee at the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India, estimated that about 2,000 hotels and more than 10,000 restaurants across segments could be affected by the ban in Maharashtra.

“As an industry we are completely shocked. States like Maharashtra, Assam and Tamil Nadu were of the opinion that the ban would be imposed only on liquor shops. We are pegging the loss of revenue to about 40% ,” said Shetty. He added that incidental losses will lead to retrenchment and the loss of employment could be about 1 million.

Marquee hotels like the Trident and Leela and properties like Cyber Hub which are in close proximity to the highway are likely to be hit by the ban in Delhi-NCR.

“We are confident that our tenant partners are lawabiding citizens and will comply with the SC judgment,” said a spokesperson from Cyber Hub in Gurgaon that houses restaurants like The Beer Cafe, The Wine Company and Cyber Hub Social. Michael Koopman, general manager at The Leela Ambience, said the hotel is not serving liquor to guests until further notice.

In Goa, the excise department has formed teams to make sure that the order is enforced. As the apex court order will affect over 3,000 liquor joints and shops in the state, the traders have pinned their hopes on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for a solution.

The SC has modified its order, reducing the distance from 500 metres to 220 metres in areas having a population of up to 20,000.

—Additional reports from agencies