Kannur: The first day of implementing an additional ₹20 charge for liquor sold in plastic bottles at BEVCO outlets in Kerala saw confusion, customer complaints, and unusual incidents.

One such incident occurred at the Parakkandy BEVCO outlet in Kannur. A customer named Dasan (not his real name), after buying a quarter bottle (180ml), looked at the queue behind him and the staff, then pulled out an empty bottle tucked into his waist, took a few sips, and emptied the entire bottle without spilling a single drop.

He then sarcastically asked the staff 'Madam...if I could now get the ₹20 I'll leave'. The staff, unsure how to respond, gave him a ₹20 coin after inspecting the empty bottle.

With a look that said ‘You can’t beat me, kids,’ Dasan hurled a few curses at the government and walked away.

Under the new system, a flat ₹20 deposit is charged for all liquor sold in plastic bottles, regardless of the quantity. A special label, prepared by C-DIT, is affixed to each bottle, and customers receive a slip along with the bill. If the empty bottle, intact and with the label, is returned to the same shop, the ₹20 is refunded.

The pilot project has been launched at 20 selected outlets in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur districts. However, the implementation got off to a rocky start, with confusion prevailing among staff who reported to work in the morning with little clarity on how the scheme would operate.

Although the authorities had announced that Kudumbashree workers would be deployed to collect the returned bottles, no such personnel arrived on day one. In stark contrast, customers were quick to understand the scheme, and empty bottles began making their way back within minutes of store openings.

At the Parakkandy outlet, a half-litre brandy bottle was returned almost immediately. By 5:30 pm, two large sacks, each containing around 100 empty bottles, had already been filled. Similar scenes were reported from Kuthuparamba and Payyanur. By 5 pm, 45 bottles had been returned in Kuthuparamba, and by noon, 30 bottles in Payyanur. Still, the overall number of returned bottles remained low, with expectations that the volume will increase in the coming days.

Consumer concerns: Uniform price hike, public drinking, long queue

Consumers have raised concerns over the flat ₹20 deposit being applied uniformly, regardless of the bottle size. The new policy adds the same fee to all bottle sizes, from quarter bottles to full litres, leading many to call it unfair.

A major point of contention is the inconvenience of returning bottles. Most of those who returned bottles were people who consumed the liquor nearby and brought them back immediately. This has sparked concern among locals that the policy could inadvertently encourage public drinking.

Moreover, staff and customers alike complained that the new billing process, now involving affixing a sticker and issuing a deposit slip, was time-consuming. By evening, long queues resembling those seen during festival seasons formed outside shops, with several outlets struggling to handle the rush well past 7 pm.