Bars, hotels may remain open till 1 am on weekends

Here is some good news for Bangaloreans. The State government is all set to extend nightlife in the City beyond midnight by keeping bars and restaurants open till 1 am.

An official order in this regard would reach the Excise Department and Bangalore City Police soon.

In all probability, the new deadline order would come into force from March 8.

Initially, bars and restaur­a­nts will be allowed to function till 1 am only on Saturdays and Sundays. Based on the feedback from the police and Excise Department as well as the public, a final decision would be taken to extend it to all days of the week, highly placed sources in the City police told Deccan Herald on Friday.

The decision to extend the timings was taken at a recent meeting chaired by Home Minister K J George. It was decided to direct the Excise Department to generate an order extending the deadline, said the sources.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Kamal Pant said: “We have not received any formal communication in this regard so far.”

According to law, the Excise Department has to take a decision on fixing the timings for bars and restaurants.