Bev Q, the much-awaited virtual queue management app for liquor sale in Kerala has received Google’s approval leading to reopening of beverage outlets and sale of liquor across the state. Google approved the BevQ app on Tuesday morning.
The app was developed by Faircode, a Kochi-based startup. The company was reportedly chosen as the app’s developer on the instructions of the IT Secretary and CEO of Startup Mission.
Bev Q is owned by the Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) that will soon be listed in Google’s Play Store. Users will be able to make online bookings and get virtual tokens in the app using which liquor could be purchased from the prescribed outlet or bars.
The liquor sales in Kerala will resume this week. The dates will be finalised after the discussion between the Excise minister T P Ramakrishnan and Excise Commissioner and BevCo Managing Director.
Tipplers in Kerala have been making fervent searches for the app on the Google Play Store since BEVCO released its name. This indicates that a high number of searches and downloads for the app are likely once it is up, leading to technical snags and crashes.
Jharkhand liquor shops open, prices up by 25 per cent
The application will go through two tests, a loading test to know if the app can withstand traffic when too many people try to use it at a time and a security test to prevent attempts of hacking.
Customers who place orders through the virtual queue app will receive a token with a QR code on their mobile phones. The bar licensee has to verify this e-token with another app and sell the liquor to the customer.
According to a set of directives issued by the state government, a person can buy liquor only once in four days.
People living in places declared as Red Zones given the COVID-19 pandemic would not be able to place orders for liquor through the application.
Kerala was first in the country to report a Covid-19 case in January after a medical student returned from China’s Wuhan. But it managed well in containing the virus in the first two stages with its effective intervention and surveillance.
Out of the 896 coronavirus cases reported in the state, 359 are active and around one lakh people are under observation.
