Hyderabad: Liquor stores are selling booze to teens despite promises to toughen screening for customers below 21 years of age, a Deccan Chronicle investigation has found. Some teens are working their way around the restrictions to fuel their addiction.
“Every day after completing work, I consume half a bottle of Madras brand (cheap liquor) and smoke cigarettes with my friends. Police have tried to catch us several times but we have our own safe house,” said a 14-year-old from Afzalsagar. He says his father abandoned the family and he takes care of his mother and sister.
The teen, who says he earns Rs 700 a day, says shops in the area are concerned about the age of their customers. “They stop us when excise cops are around. But, eventually, we manage to pay Rs 100 to ‘Subhash uncle’ who purchases it for us.”
Belt shops don’t follow any such restrictions.
“Children come late at night and knock on my door to seek bottles for their fathers. I know that they will be consuming it. “There is no use lecturing them about bad habits because they are past that stage. I was shocked when I saw educated minors from other areas coming to buy liquor. I bar them from consuming inside our belt shop,” said one Bhabi, who runs a clandestine belt shop.
“During rush hours and at closing time, we are very busy. We can only see the customer’s hands giving money through the grill. There is no time to check whether the customer is a minor or an adult,” said a wine shop owner in Puranapul.
“Recently we have warned liquor shops and restaurants and bars not to sell liquor to minors and to set up display boards notifying the same. Our special teams daily monitor liquor outlets, and violations violating will be severely dealt with, including by cancelling their licence,” E. Sridhar, TS commissioner of prohibition and excise, told Deccan Chronicle.
Sridhar said the department recently conducted a statewide meeting with the liquor shops and bars and urged them to ask customers to produce age proof. He added that all such outlet have been asked to install CCTV cameras.
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Licence holders caught selling liquor to an underage person (minors) will be penalizsed Rs 1.5 lakh.
On a second offence, licence will be cancelled permanently.
So far, no licence has been cancelled.
Eight notices have been issued to liquor shopowners in Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.
A shop in Karimnagar was penalised of `1.5 lakh for selling liquor to a minor.
