By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 23 Jul: The operating hours for bars and liquor shops in Uttarakhand will remain unchanged till 2028 under the State’s three-year Excise Policy, which came into effect in 2025-26 and will remain operational up to 2027-28 as the period of the policy has been extended recently. The Excise Department has clarified under the Right to Information (RTI) Act that the timings prescribed in the policy will continue to remain applicable throughout the policy period.
Under the policy in force at present, the bars are permitted to operate from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday to Friday, while on Saturdays and Sundays they may remain open from 11 a.m. till 12 midnight.
At the same time, the operating hours for country liquor, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and model shop/retail liquor outlets have been fixed from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. However, liquor shops located within a 10-km radius of the inter-state border are allowed to remain open till 12 midnight.
According to the information furnished by the Excise Department under the RTI Act, these timings form an integral part of the three-year Excise Policy implemented in 2025 and will remain in force until the end of the 2027-28 policy period. Any sale of liquor or operation of bars and liquor shops beyond the prescribed timings will be treated as a violation of the provisions of the policy.
