BevQ directs more buyers to bars, not Bevco outlets
KOCHI: The BevQ mobile application, which was introduced to sell liquor in the state through a virtual queue system, has been drawing flak ever since its March 28 launch, mainly due to its technical glitches.
The latest charge is quite serious: The app has become a fortune winner for bars and is causing huge revenue loss to the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), which holds the monopoly of stocking and distributing liquor in the state.
According to sources, of the 2 lakh tokens the BevQ app issued on Saturday, only 49,000 were directed to Bevco outlets. Senior Congress leader and MLA V D Satheesan alleged that Bevco’s revenue has slumped considerably. While a Bevco outlet used to sell liquor worth Rs 14 lakh daily on average, it has dropped to Rs 2 lakh now.
“Sales in bars have gone up as tokens allotted by BevQ app direct consumers mostly to them and not to Bevco outlets,” said Satheesan. “Bevco has said that it allows only up to 400 bookings for an outlet a day. But since bars are selling liquor without tokens, they take stock as per their wish. There’s no restriction,” he added.
Bevco MD dismisses reports of revenue dip
Bevco Managing Director G Sparjan Kumar dismissed the reports of a considerable dip in the corporation’s revenue. “The booking via BevQ app is based on pincode. Hence, the customer gets booking in outlets in 5km-10km radius.
Moreover, the app is launched in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, to avoid unnecessary travel and gatherings. Currently, if a customer takes a token via the app, he can buy three litres and make another transaction only after four days,” he said. The app was developed by a Kochi-based startup named Faircode Technologies. Its representatives were not available for comment.