An association of restaurant owners will write to the Bengal excise commissioner to seek clarity regarding serving alcohol.

The Unlock 4 guidelines, issued on Saturday, have dropped bars from the prohibited list. A section of restaurant and bar owners is interpreting the latest guidelines as a nod to serve liquor. But many restaurant owners said there was no clarity on the issue.

Seasoned restaurateurs said the excise commissioner should issue a circular that allows serving liquor inside restaurants and also give a date from when it can start.

“Our interpretation is that we will be allowed to serve liquor. We welcome the decision. But we would seek more clarity from the excise department. We will write a letter to the excise commissioner,” said Sagar Daryani, the head of the National Restaurants Association of India’s Calcutta chapter.

“We would want to serve liquor as soon as possible. But we need the excise department to give us a date,” said Gaurav Karnani, owner of The Grid, a microbrewery in Topsia.

The Unlock 4 guidelines say: “In areas outside the containment zones, all activities will be permitted, except the following….” Bars find no mention, unlike the Unlock 3 guidelines.