Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Short-selling of liquor detected

Thiruvananthapuram: The Legal Metrology Department booked several bar hotel managements in the State this Onam season on the charge of short-selling liquor, official sources said.

The surprise checks were conducted prior to the festival season. Officials said the inspections exposed how certain bar managements increased their profit by ‘short-selling’ liquor to unsuspecting customers. Official sources said shortage of liquor ranged from 5 ml to 10 ml for every 90 ml retailed across the counter at certain suspect bars. The short selling was noticed mostly during the evening hours.

The bar-men cheated their customers mostly by using tampered peg measures. One common method of tampering is to reduce the holding capacity of the peg measure by fixing a small amount of paraffin wax at the bottom of the vessel.

Another ‘not-so-common’ technique was the use of non-standardised peg measures with lesser capacity. Often, wayward barmen systematically reduce the volume of the standardised peg measure by grinding its serrated edge on rough surfaces.

In some cases, unauthorised peg measures made of malleable metal are used. Errant bar men could reduce the volume of such measures at will by squeezing the vessel while serving liquor. Dilution of liquor was another malpractice noticed at certain outlets. A bar hotel owners’ association representative said that short selling and dilution of liquor was mostly done by errant staff and without the knowledge of the licensee. Some owners have installed video surveillance equipment in their bars to prevent such malpractices. He said no bar licensee would encourage such illegal trade practices, because it would turn away customers.

Arguments over short selling of liquor have often been the cause of violence at bar hotels, a police official said. Drunken brawls between barmen and customers had resulted in the murder of two persons, in separate incidents, last year. On September 4, an armed gang had attacked the staff of a bar hotel at Thiruvallam.

A consumer rights activist alleged that packaged food items such as soda, snacks and mineral water were sold at inflated rates at certain bar hotels. However, bar hotel owners say that they have legal exemption to charge above the maximum retail price because of the other services, such as air conditioned rooms, they provide to their customers.

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