Delhi hotels, restaurants not allowed to serve liquor yet: Excise dept

New Delhi: Delhi hotels and restaurants haven’t yet been allowed to serve liquor though the capital city has opened up after eight weeks of lockdown this Monday. Liquor shops in the city would function all days of the week but bars will remain closed, the government said in an order.

“Bars in the hotels, clubs and restaurants are not allowed to open till further orders,” stated a clarification issued by the excise department of Delhi government on Monday.

Last week, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) allowed shops in markets -- including those selling liquor -- to operate on alternate days on an odd-even basis, depending on the shop number. This week, DDMA allowed shops to operate the entire week from 10am to 8pm.

Under the current orders, liquor stores in the city are allowed to remain open all days till 8pm.

This week, the DDMA also allowed restaurants to open their dine-in spaces at 50% capacity. However, its current order prohibits bars from opening, which essentially means that hotels and restaurants cannot serve liquor to their clients.

Delhi has around 760 liquor stores and around 840 restaurants and hotels which have license for bars.

“We are keenly observing trends and developments as we ease lockdown restriction in phases. Restrictions will be further scaled down in the coming week if the Covid-19 situation continues to remain under control,” said a DDMA official.