Bars/ pubs: India
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Bar licence
‘Bar licence depends on govt discretion’ 2010
New Delhi: A restaurant may have fulfilled all conditions needed for getting a licence to run a bar, but the government can still refuse it, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A Munnar-based restaurant realised this hard truth about grant of bar licence after litigating for 10 years right upto SC, which set aside a Kerala HC judgment asking state government to allow the eating joint to open a bar.
Allowing the appeal of the state and setting aside a judgment in favour of a holiday resort, an SC Bench said: “Having regard to the fact that the state has exclusive privilege of manufacture and sale of liquor, and no citizen has a fundamental right to carry on trade or business in liquor, the applicant did not have a vested right to get a licence.” The resort was first denied licence for opening a bar on the ground that it did not fulfil the conditions attached to grant of such a licence. When it met the conditions and applied afresh, the government had turned it down saying it as a policy was not granting any fresh licences for opening bars.
Ruling in favour of the state, the Bench said: “If the state on a periodic assessment of the policy changed the policy, it may amend the rules by adding, modifying or omitting any rule, to give effect to that policy.” TNN
Salaries
Bartenders/ Dec 2016
Keeping people `happy' with the right kind of mixes is an art only a good bartender can master. The right twist of lemon in a martini or a punch which is personalised to an individual's taste, is what keeps people coming back to a pub or bar, which makes bartenders key to their success. Demand for bartenders is, however, on a highball in the metros with the mushrooming of pubs and bars which has led to a shortfall of sorts.As a result, bartender salaries too have shot up.
According to QuikrJobs' blue-collar job market bulletin, which showcases the demand and supply si de of the recruitment industry , demand for bartenders recorded a 42% hike in December 2016 over the previous month. On the other hand, the rise in demand for a construction labourer or a mechanic was a mere 5% and 1%, respectively.
Bartender salaries recorded a 54% increase over the previous month. On the other hand, the blue-collar jobs which witnessed a decline in average salaries from November to December 2016, were warehouse executive (-24%), mechanic (-21%), carpenter (-10%) and construction labourer (-2%). A person starting his bartending career earns about Rs 10,000 a month which subsequently goes up to Rs 25,000. Additionally, she earns from formulating drinks at external events such as weddings and birthdayoffice parties.
Amit Jain, head, QuikrJobs, said: “While 50% of our traffic comes from towns beyond top metros, demand for bartenders is predominantly from the metros. Proliferation of pubs in metros is a key contributor to this demand. What is interesting is since we opened these categories (bartenders, maids, etc.) on our platform last year, we have noticed 20-30% month-on-month increase in the number of candidates looking for these opportunities.“
Going by these numbers, there's a large pool of bartenders to choose from. However, bars and pubs are anxious about talent shortage on this front.“Just take a look around, so many outletsbrands have come up in the last one year. There is a shortfall of bartenders,“ said Mihir Desai, co-owner of Co rum Hospitality , which runs The Bar Stock Exchange of In dia, which has nine outlets in Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru, with each drinking joint emplo ying 10 bartenders.
The average age of barten ders is 25 to 28 years. There is no qualification or degree requi red to be a bartender. Typically , people do a bartending course and then join a bar. “Barten ding is an art. You have to create new flavours,“ said Sachiin Khhavle, manager, Verbena BrewPub & SkyGarden, which has six bartenders.“For instance, with people these days becoming very health conscious, bartenders are also infusing herbs fruits into cocktails,“ said Khhavle.
Interestingly, even as bars struggle to get the right bartenders to grow their business, these jobs are already on an upskilling turf driven by innovation.
“Talent has been refining themselves, transforming from bartenders to mixolo gists. They are also increasing ly moving towards creating in novative drinks, thus building excitement around cocktails.
Bars too are charging a premi um to special fusion drinks and hence the increase in demand for specialist drink mixers and rise in their salaries,“ said Khhavle.
So, while other jobs reel un der post-note-bandi blues, for bartenders, it's party time.
