MANGALURU: In a bid to re-establish their market, liquor traders from Kerala have allegedly started offering liquor at lesser prices than in Karnataka. The change in prices comes after the Kerala High Court recently stayed a single bench order on the liquor policy and allowed bars to function for a month. During the three-month ban, tipplers from Kerala crossed the border and made a beeline for the liquor stores in the state.
“This is nothing but undercutting and hitting below the belt. We had not increased the prices when the Kerala liquor trade shutdown in August following the court orders. Now, the Kerala traders are not only trying to get their business back, but are also luring our customers away,” said Devendra Gowda, a liquor trader from Talapady.
Traders in the border towns and villages along Sullia and Puttur taluks and parts of Vittla hobli allege that the liquor traders from Kerala were killing the trade in the border areas.
Karnataka and Kerala share the border in Talapady in Mangaluru, Vittal in Bantwal, Adyanadka in Eshwaramangala, Kumbra in Puttur and Sulliapadavu in Sullia taluk.
These entry points to Kerala from Karnataka are dotted with a number of small towns and villages, and each of them have more than one liquor shop in addition to the toddy outlets, it is said.