The Kerala government is working on a virtual queue system to minimise the time spent outside liquor vends, a senior official said on Monday.

The government, which has been lauded widely for the way it has addressed the coronavirus crisis, is facing a huge demand for resuming liquor sales but is aware of the dangers of allowing customers to crowd liquor stores.

“A virtual queue system is one of the key suggestions we had made to the government that sought our opinion on resuming liquor sales through retail outlets,” G. Sparjan Kumar, managing director of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, told The Telegraph. The corporation is the sole liquor distributor in the state.

A customer with a smartphone can download the app, enter a few personal details like name and address and seek a place in the queue. A time slot based on availability at the nearest liquor store will be sent to the app. The customer will need to go to the specified outlet only at the prescribed time, instead of turning up early and waiting for long, to buy and pay for the liquor.

Those using old phones can request a slot in the queue by sending an SMS to a dedicated number that will be announced.

The smart queue application would cover 301 liquor outlets run by the government since they are the ones likely to reopen before the state’s 570-odd private bars do.

“A massive rush for liquor is likely once we open the stores. Such an application can regulate the customers who need to present themselves at the shop only at his allotted time,” Kumar said.

By closing retail liquor business, the Kerala government has forsaken a daily average revenue of Rs 48 crore.

The beverages corporation was asked to come up with workable suggestions before taking a decision on reopening liquor stores.

'We don't have too much of time. So the Kerala Startup Mission has been assigned with the task of selecting a developer who may already have such a smart queue application,' said Kumar.

Saji Gopinath, CEO of the Kerala Startup Mission, a government agency for entrepreneurship development, had no doubt that the application could be launched in time. 'We started the process of identifying the best possible solution on Friday and right now we are going through the technical evaluation of 29 applicants,' Gopinath told this newspaper.

He said the selected startup would provide a smartphone application and an SMS application for those using old handsets.

'Although many customers would have smartphones, there are still those who use feature phones. Customers can book their slots in the queue and go to the shop at the allotted time slot,' he said.

The idea is to use postal codes to identify each locality and thereby allocate liquor stores for every booking. 'We might go for a ready-made product with some basic customisation since speed is a key factor,' he said, citing the government's plan to open liquor stores shortly.

The beverages corporation had introduced social distancing in queues outside liquor shops soon after the Covid-19 lockdown came into force on March 25. All the liquor outlets had a properly laid out queue system that was generally followed. But the corporation had to reassess the situation after instances of blatant violation of social-distancing norms outside a few liquor stores.

The government then tried home delivery of liquor only for people suffering from withdrawal symptoms based on prescriptions from government doctors.

The state didn't try to resume liquor sales after Kerala High Court stayed such prescription-based home delivery.