Pub owners protest against live music ban

City-based Disc Jockeys (DJ) and live music club musicians held a protest against the ban on live music in the pubs and restaurant in the city at Vapour Pub in Indiranagar on Sunday.

Recently, police issued notices to as many as 400 pubs, bars, restaurants and other commercial establishments in the city telling them to obtain a license before playing music. Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar invoked provisions of the Licensing and Controlling of Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005, which makes police permission mandatory for playing even recorded music.

"We held a panel discussion regarding the issues that are being faced by the musicians after the ban, and discussed the possible solutions to fight this together," said Akshay Prasad, from Vapour Pub.

“Since there is a confusion on the implementation of the order, we are trying to come up with a solution, but residents associations are not trying to solve problems. They are only trying to create problems, they are not willing to have a discussion about the noise pollution with us,” he said.

Residents hit back

Meanwhile, ‘iChange Indiranagar’, a federation of RWAs in Indiranagar, issued a press release saying that from the day they began the agitation, our stance has always been that an "establishment must comply with the law - whether promulgated by the Municipality, the State Government, the Central Government or orders issued by the Courts".

“Our understanding is that the majority of these establishments do not have the documentation in place for this license to be issued. In addition, many operate in residential zones. This renders their continued existence a legal, not an ethical or moral, issue,” the release said.

While the association has also circulated a notice issued by the fire and emergency department to the Vapour bar in January for violating the fire safety bylaws, the pub management dismissed the allegation.

In a tweet, iChange Indiranagar said, ”Interesting to note that the gathering at Vapour bar venue itself is at risk of fire, there is a notice served by the fire department and thus public gathering at such a place is illegal until fire No Objection Certificate(NOC) is obtained.”

Prasad, however, said they have complied with the rules after they got the notice by the Fire and Emergency Department. "We have complied with all the rules. We invite those criticising us to come and inspect the place," he said.

However, he said the pub is yet to get the NoC as the official who was supposed to clear it has retired.