Gurgaon: Liquor shop owners protest against restrictions

Liquor shop owners and workers in Gurgaon on Tuesday protested against the COVID-19 restrictions that were affecting their business and demanded that they should be allowed to open vends till 11 PM.A senior official of the Excise and Taxation Department said liquor vends have been ordered to close by 5 PM in the five districts of Ambala, Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Sonipat.


PTI | Gurgaon | Updated: 04-01-2022 19:50 IST | Created: 04-01-2022 19:48 IST
Gurgaon: Liquor shop owners protest against restrictions
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Liquor shop owners and workers in Gurgaon on Tuesday protested against the COVID-19 restrictions that were affecting their business and demanded that they should be allowed to open vends till 11 PM.

A senior official of the Excise and Taxation Department said liquor vends have been ordered to close by 5 PM in the five districts of Ambala, Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Sonipat. The protesters, who gathered at the office of the excise department and submitted a memorandum addressed to the chief minister, claimed 80 percent of their sales were after 5 PM and said they will be forced to shut shop due to heavy losses if the government does not pay heed to their demand. “During the complete lockdown our shops were closed but the government gave us relaxation. Now we gave given excise tax but are not earning enough to manage our staff. We are ready to comply with the guideline and SOPs, but our shops should be open till 11 M,'' said Rohit Yadav, a liquor shop owner.

Vikram Yadav, another liquor shop owner, claimed the government move will only encourage the illegal sale of liquor. When asked about it, VK Beniwal, the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, said that the order of closure of liquor shops is from the disaster management authority.

''We sent their request to the government and are awaiting further orders,'' he said.

Notably, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Haryana, authorities had on January 1 ordered the closure of cinema halls, multiplexes and sports complexes in the five districts of Ambala, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panchkula and Sonipat from January 2 to 12.

Malls and markets were allowed to open only till 5 PM during this period in these five districts.

Other measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 cases include a night curfew from 11 PM to 5 AM throughout Haryana Those eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated are banned from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places across the state from January 1.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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