Karnataka Bar License - Liquor License Formalities

Alcohol sales is a major source of revenue for the foods and hospitality industry, apart from the retail liquor sales industry. With liberalizations and urbanization, the consumption of alcohol has increased and in this article, we look at the rules for obtaining Karnataka Bar License.

Regulations Applicable in Karnataka

Business planning to handle or sell liquor must be in conformance with the following regulations that are applicable for sale of liquor in the state of Karnataka:

The Karnataka Excise Act, 1965
The Karnataka Prohibition Act, 1961
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Karnataka) Rules 1985
Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug offenders Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic offenders and Slum Grabbers Act 1985
The Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act 1955, and Rules 1956
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 (Central Act No.61 of 1985)

Types of Liquor License in Karnataka

Under the Karnataka Excise (Sale of Indian and Foreign liquors) Rules, 1968, licences to vend Indian liquor or foreign liquor or both are issued under the following types:

Licenses to Vend Liquor

Retail shop licence to vend Indian liquor or Foreign liquor or both - not to be drunk on the premises.
Clubs vending Indian liquor or Foreign liquor or both for its patrons.
Occasion licences for the sale of Indian liquor at the refreshment stalls in public gatherings to be drunk on the premises.
Licence for sale of Indian liquor to hotel and boarding house having a minimum of 30 double rooms in corporation areas and 20 double rooms in other areas.
Licence issued to sell Indian liquor for supply to resident of tourist hotels situated in places other than cities and managed by State or Central tourist development corporation.
Licence issued to sell Beer for supply to resident of tourist hotels situated in places other than cities and managed by State or Central tourist development corporation.
Licence issued for sale of Indian liquor for supply to travelers travelling in trains run by State of Central Tourist Department Corporation.
Hotel and Boarding House Licences owned by persons belonging to Scheduled Castes of Scheduled Tribes with a minimum of 15 double rooms in corporation areas and 10 double rooms in other areas.
Licence issued to the Military Canteen for sale of Indian liquor to the members of the armed forces for their use only.
Licence issued to Military Canteen Stores Bonded Warehouse to supply Indian liquor to other Military Canteens having licence.
Licence issued to the Military Canteen for sale of Indian liquor to the members of BSF and Para Military units.
Licence issued to refreshment room (bar) for sale of Indian liquor combined with the supply of meals or eatables.
Licence issued to Beverages Corporation to establish depots in different parts of the State for distribution of products of distilleries, breweries, wineries and for imported liquor.
Licence issued to Government Companies (MSIL) for sale of liquor in retail shops.
Licence issued for retail sale of duty free Foreign liquor to bonafide international air passengers in international airport.
Licence issued for sale of liquor combined with meals for domestic and international air passengers and for exclusively international air Passengers.
Special licences issued when the circumstances are such as not to allow of the issue of licences of any of the above descriptions.

Brewery License in Karnataka

In Karnataka, The Excise Commissioner is empowered to sanction distillery licence with the previous sanction of state Government. Further, licence to Microbreweries can be granted by Excise Commissioner when the requirements like minimum area required for establishing microbreweries of 10,000 sq. buildup area with spacious dining hall and parking facility, are met.

Restrictions on License

In Karnataka, Bars or Liquor shops can be setup only outside a distance of 100 meters from educational institutions, religious places hospitals, Government offices and is a residential locality where inhabitants are predominantly belonging to scheduled castes or scheduled tribes or outside a distance of 220 meters from National or State Highways, with certain exceptions. Further, the liquor vending establishments must be closed on the following days mandatorily:

Second October every year (Gandhi Jayanthi)
The day of poll and day before poll. (48 hours before the Conclusion of polls.
The day of counting of votes.

No License Required

In Karnataka, individuals are allowed to possess the following quantites of liquor without licence under Rule 21 of Karnataka Excise (Possession Transport etc) Rules 1967: