Day two: BevQ fails to lift spirits

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Technical glitches continued to hit liquor sales through the Bev Q mobile application for the second straight day on Friday.
After the “connection error” message greeted all those who tried to access the app, excise minister T P Ramakrishnan convened a high-level meeting of senior officials including IT secretary M Sivasankar, excise commissioner S Aananthakrishnan and beverages corporation managing director G Sparjan Kumar.
The meeting even considered doing away with the application, but it was finally decided to give the developer, Faircode Technologies, some more time to rectify the faults considering that it is a startup. The minister sought a detailed report from Bevco and Startup Mission regarding the technical shortcomings. The company assured the minister that glitches have been rectified and the consumers would receive tokens for purchasing liquor on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Bevco MD Kumar said consumers will have a hassle-free experience from Tuesday, as May 31 and June 1 are closed for liquor sales.
Most Bevco outlets and bar hotels shuttered early on Friday as no one could access tokens. Those arriving without tokens were sent back by excise and police officials.
A key grouse was that the app, that is meant to manage crowds, does not allow for consumers to choose outlets. This put off many who could not afford brands available or did not get the brand of their choice at a certain shop. This further impacted sales, excise sources said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the opposition’s charges regarding the application have proved true. The decision by the minister to persist with the application despite issues is meant to cover up the corruption involved in the deal. After the application crashed, sales at Bevco outlets have come to a standstill, while bar hotels continue have a field day, Chennithala said.