It’s almost the end for dance bars

Only 6 applications for licence from owners, none given
It’s almost the end for dance bars
Deccan Herald

It seems like the dance bars have virtually closed their business following the restrictions clamped by the Bangalore City Police.

After the revised notification of the Licensing and Controlling of Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005, in December, the Bangalore City Police have received only six applications from dance bar owners, but none have been issued a licence so far, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration), Soumendhu Mukherjee.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on Monday, Mr Mukherjee said, the six applications received at the Bangalore Police Commissioner’s Office are being scrutinised. The applications should contain No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Fire Department and the Excise Department among other requisite documents including the excise licence, he said.

None of the dance bars in the City have so far adhered to the rules in the order, he said.

The order, issued in 2005, restricts the dance, cabaret and discotheque bar owners to run their business from 10 am to 11.30 pm. Any live band performance in a dance bar shall be conducted on a stage with proper demarcation from the seating area and there shall be no inter-mingling of performers with customers, guests on or off the stage.

The owner shall also not allow obscenity or indecency in dress, movement or gesture or that the performers indecently expose their person.

Meanwhile, several dance bar owners have alleged that the government was not fair in clamping the order only on dance bars in Bangalore City, while they continue to operate in Bangalore Rural District and other cities of Karnataka.

Mr Chandra, owner of a dance bar in Majestic area, alleged that the dance bars in Bangalore Rural District run beyond 11.30 pm with dance by women artists.

He said, all the dance bar owners in Bangalore have been out of business for more than 10 months now.