VIJAYAWADA: Commissioner (Prohibition & Excise) Nishant Kumar has announced the New Bar Policy 2025-28, bringing in wide-ranging reforms to make bar operations more transparent, financially sustainable, and socially inclusive. The business hours will be from 10 am to 12 midnight.
Explaining the details of the policy during a press conference held at the Commissioner’s Office at Mangalagiri on Monday, Nishant Kumar said that the new policy, issued through G.O. Ms. No. 275 dated 13.08.2025, permits a total of 840 bars across the State. In addition, 10 percent more bars have been reserved for toddy tappers, with the objective of promoting social equity and empowerment. These reserved bars will receive a fifty percent concession in license fees, offering opportunities for wider community participation.
“To ensure fairness and integrity in the process, all bar licences will be allotted through a public draw of lots. A minimum of four valid applications is required for each bar to be considered for draw, thereby encouraging healthy competition and preventing speculative or single-party applications,” the Commissioner said and highlighted that in Andhra Pradesh’s recent retail shop allotments, an average of 26 applications were received per shop, while in Telangana’s recent bar allotments, as many as 131 applications were received per bar.
The licence tenure has been fixed for three years, from September 1, 2025, to August 31, 2028. The licence fee structure has been rationalised to make bar operations viable across different population slabs. In towns with up to 50,000 population, the fee is Rs 35 lakh; in areas with a population between 50,001 and 5 lakh, the fee is Rs 55 lakh; and in cities with a population above 5 lakh, the fee is Rs 75 lakh. A ten percent annual increase will apply across all categories.
To provide flexibility, licencees can pay their fees in six installments, backed by a bank guarantee for one instalment. Bars will be permitted in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), notified tourism centres excluding religious destinations, and in future, in industrial corridors, metropolitan development areas, and SEZs, based on requirements. Special restrictions have been imposed in Tirupati, where no bars will be allowed along certain routes leading to Alipiri and Tirumala.
The new bar policy rationalises fees in a way that keeps them below retail shop licence slabs, thereby creating a predictable and balanced framework for the next three years. This move is expected to reduce the risk of unallotted licences, such as the 44 that remained vacant even after re-auction attempts in 2022-23.
Nishant Kumar emphasised that the New Bar Policy 2025-28 is a decisive step towards sustainability, inclusivity, and transparency.