No corporate keen on having liquor licence in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, June 19

The state government’s ambitious proposal under which liquor can be served by corporate houses to their employees has found no taker in Gurugram so far.

Under the much publicised L-10F licence, business houses will be allowed to serve low-content alcohol drinks, such as beer, wine and ready-to-drink beverages.

District Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) Ravinder Singh said the department was yet to get any application for the same. The provision in excise policy 2023-24, applicable from June 12, had hit the headlines as it aimed to promote cosmopolitan work culture. Approved on May 9, the policy allows possession and consumption of alcohol in a corporate office having at least 5,000 employees and a minimum covered area of one lakh-square feet on single premises which may be self-owned or leased. It also allowed licence if the minimum area of canteen or eatery is not less than 2,000-square feet.

The procedure for grant is exactly same as the bar licences. The allottees will have to pay of an annual fee of Rs 10 lakh in addition to a security amount of Rs 3 lakh.

Though lucrative, companies gave it a cold shoulder over several reasons. According to a senior excise official, the space requisite for licence makes more than 70 per cent of the business houses ineligible as majority of them have shifted to smaller spaces or co-working spaces since Covid crises.

The other issue is office decorum and also the fear of drunk driving. “This works fine in the West where drinks during work houses is common, but not here. If we serve alcohol, who will stop employees from being heavily drunk or indisciplined. This can multiply various office conduct issues. It can result in not only reduced efficiency, but also disciplinary issues,” said an HR executive of a leading tech firm in the cyber city.

“The problem is not just office decorum but also the fear of drunk driving. Rationing individual consumption is impossible at official level. The recent incident wherein a heavily drunk corporate employee handed over his car to a stranger has made us more sure of our decision. Anyways there are numerous vends and bars around the corporate houses so people can have alcohol at their own risk,” added the AGM of a call centre in Sector 48.

5,000 employees must to apply

• The excise policy 2023-24 allows business houses to apply for licence but they should have at least 5,000 employees and a minimum covered area of one lakh-square feet on single premises
• The allottees will have to pay of an annual fee of Rs 10 lakh in addition to a security amount of Rs 3 lakh