From August 1, new-look BEVCO outlets to have walk-in facility

All outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation or BEVCO will be turned into premium ones with walk-in facilities from August, according to a report.

The state government has also allowed BEVCO to open more than 200 new outlets.

“The long queues before BEVCO outlets will soon be a thing of the past and soon, boozers in Kerala will be able to walk in to the nearest swanky outlet, choose their favourite bottle of liquor,” a report on onmanorama said on Saturday (May 21).

As per the report, BEVCO has issued orders to convert all its outlets to premium ones. The existing ones can go for an upgrade or shift to a spacious commercial property. BEVCO has set August 1 as the deadline to convert the current outlets to premium ones.

According to the guidelines, the premium outlets will occupy a space of 2,000 square feet. At present, 163 out of the 267 BEVCO outlets don’t have walk-in facility. The 68 outlets that were shut down earlier too will resume functioning as premium ones, the report added.

In 2021, the Kerala High Court had asked the excise department not to treat BEVCO customers as “cattle”.

“You (Excise department) are a statutory authority. You have to ensure that those coming to purchase liquor at these shops are not treated as cattle and those who watch liquor being sold like this are not subjected to ridicule or embarrassment,” Justice Devan Ramachandran said.