Govt. throws its weight behind BevQ

Minister asks developers to make the app glitch-free by June 2

The State government has ruled out allowing the direct sale of alcohol as demanded by bar hotel owners.

A meeting chaired by Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan decided to push ahead with the sale of liquor via the smartphone app, BevQ, despite the teething troubles of the new system.

Mr. Ramakrishnan reportedly gave the developers of the app time till June 2 to make the system glitch-free.

The public could continue to book time slots for purchasing liquor by way of the application-driven virtual queue system.

The developers of BevQ reportedly told the meeting that the app could not process more than 4.5 lakh bookings. Large booking volumes, phishing and hacker attacks and poor connectivity had reportedly affected the efficiency of the application at the user’s end.

The Minister also asked the firm to ensure that the application assigns buyers a bar or liquor store within 5 km of their pincode.

Cases filed

The government also slapped cases against bars, which sold liquor to buyers who had not booked their time slot for purchase in advance via the app. Law enforcers have invoked the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020 against the errant licensees.

The State also allowed defence canteens to resume the sale of liquor to serving and retired military personnel and their dependents.

It would soon issue an order allowing private clubs to sell alcohol as takeaways to members. Excise officials would inspect the daily sales register at bars and clubs.

₹50-crore sale

The government had sold ₹50 crore worth of liquor on Thursday. Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) had processed nearly 2.25 lakh reservations.

As of on Friday 6 p.m., the Bevco has received 1.5 lakh demands for time slots.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the mounting exasperation among the public over the glitches in the application pointed to the corruption in contracting a neophyte start-up firm with no speakable experience in developing applications.

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