Many pubs abetting underage drinking

Digital modification has made it easier to produce fake IDs, say teens

The use of fake ID cards for underage drinking is rampant in Bengaluru, and many watering holes are encouraging the practice. The legal drinking age in Karnataka
is 21 years.

When Metrolife made an anonymous request to a club in Koramangala to arrange a table for teenagers, a staffer said: “Tell your friends to photoshop or edit their Aadhaar cards so that no one gets into trouble if an inspection is done. Edit the date of birth. Nowadays, many people are doing it.” He said he ignores the edited Aadhaar cards as less footfall affects their daily business.

Two resto-bars in the same area were also willing to let teens in but at an extra cost. “I will have to take care of some of the officials in case there is any inspection,” a manager told Metrolife.

Easy entry

Tanya (name changed), a 19-year-old student, says she had no trouble getting into clubs in Koramangala. “I digitally modified my Aadhaar details. They served me alcohol too,” she says.

Basic photo editing skills are all that you need to modify a government ID, says Neha (name changed). “I did that last year as a safety blanket but never got to use it. I turned 21 a few months ago,” she says. Her peers have also modified ID cards, she says.

“Bar owners do get suspicious but they never ask questions because they don’t want to drive away business. For example, a screenshot from the DigiLocker forum has a QR scanner. The staff have to scan this to figure out whether an ID is real or fake. Most bars and clubs don’t do that,” she says.

The weekend rush at the pubs in the city makes it easier to sneak in, says Yash (name changed).

“Especially in areas like Koramangala and Whitefield, where the crowds keeps pouring in. The staff members don’t get a chance to scan every single person,” says the 17-year-old.

The manager of a popular club in Koramangala agrees that screening every single person is difficult on weekends. “We do random screenings when we’re suspicious of a customer but we can’t check everybody. So sometimes, one or two people with fake ID cards may slip in,” he says.

‘Prefer visual screening’

Kiran Reddy, owner of Wanderer’s Pub in Kalyan Nagar, says that his staff focuses on screening pub-goers based on their appearance rather than checking their ID cards.

“We’ve figured out this works best for us. However, we haven’t faced problems concerning underage drinking and fake IDs. It is more prominent in high-density areas like Koramangala and Indiranagar,” he says.

1522, a chain of pubs in the city, also prefers to do “visual screening”. “If we find customers looking suspiciously younger than their age, no matter what the ID card say, we turn them away. We don’t want to take any risks,” says Chetan Hegde, owner.

In the age of digital IDs, he says the government must formulate stringent guidelines to spot the fake ones. “If there is a technology that can spot digitally modified Aadhaar cards, we’ll instal it,” he adds.

Cop: Booked 2 pubs in southeast Bengaluru

Six establishments that serve alcohol have been booked for flouting the Karnataka Excise Act this year, of which, two were booked for serving alcohol to underage
individuals, says C K Baba, deputy commissioner of police, southeast division.

“Two bars in Electronic City were booked for abetting underage drinking,”he says.

He insists on pubs on checking the ID cards of every customer instead of relying on random screenings based on suspicion.

What the law says

According to the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, selling alcohol to people below the age of 21 is a punishable offence. The punishment can be imprisonment for up to three months, a fine up to Rs 500, or both, says KM Sai Apabharana, an advocate. In extreme cases, the liquor licence can also be revoked.

The onus falls on the customers too. Under Section 35 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, changing the demographic data of a person, including the date of birth, is
punishable with a jail term of up to three years and a fine that may extend to Rs 10,000, she adds.