CP Orders Pubs and Bars to Shut on Excise Time

GURUGRAM: Police Commissioner Sibash Kabiraj has directed all Deputy Commissioners of Police, Assistant Commissioners of Police and Station House Officers to ensure that pubs, bars and restaurants across the city strictly follow the operating timings authorised by the Excise Department.

The directions were issued through a video conference and written orders. Establishments found operating beyond the authorised hours will face prompt action, the Commissioner warned. All pubs, bars and restaurants have been asked to prominently display their authorised operating timings at their entrances and to close within the prescribed time.

DCPs, ACPs and SHOs have been told to conduct random checks at pubs, bars and restaurants in their jurisdictions to verify compliance. Senior officers have been made personally responsible for enforcement in their areas. Any laxity by officers in enforcing the directions would be viewed seriously and could invite legal and departmental action, the Commissioner made clear.

Display, checks and nightlife hubs

Kabiraj said strict compliance with the authorised operating timings prescribed by the Excise Department for pubs, bars and restaurants shall be ensured, and that no establishment shall be allowed to operate beyond the prescribed time. Officers would verify compliance through random visits, and violations would be dealt with promptly.

The police also appealed to pub, bar and restaurant operators to follow the authorised timings and display them clearly at their entrances. The force reiterated its commitment to maintaining law and order in the city's nightlife hubs, where late running beyond licence hours has been a recurring enforcement concern.

For managers, the immediate practical step is to put the Excise-authorised hours on the entrance in a form that can be read without dispute during a night check. For beat officers, the order ties personal responsibility to random visits rather than waiting for a complaint. That combination is meant to cut the gap between what a licence says and what a street actually sees after midnight.

The order does not invent new closing hours. It insists that the hours already set by Excise on each licence are followed, shown at the door, and checked without delay when they are breached. Nightlife operators who treat the display board as optional now risk action against the premises and departmental heat on the officers who look the other way. The Commissioner's framing leaves little room for informal extensions once the prescribed time ends.

Operators in Sector 29, Cyber Hub belts and older market strips should expect more night visits in the coming weeks as DCPs push the written order down to SHOs. The public appeal to display timings is also a paper trail for inspectors: if the board is missing, that itself can trigger a check even before closing hour arrives.