gurgaon when it was introduced in 2005 the ahata or anumat kaksh was defined as a small open drinking place adjacent to liquor vends these watering holes often kludged together with basic seating in bamboo sheds werent so much a revenue requirement as a public safety one meant to stop drinking on roads and contain the sozzled and boisterous in an earmarked spacein recent years that afterthought has emerged as a primary revenue churner in the tipple business the changing economics and evolving clientele has instituted a refashioning yesterdays ahata is todays hip and relatable byob with live music trained bartenders fancy interiors and multicuisine menusthe byobs act like bars or restaurants they host gettogethers and birthday parties anniversaries and farewells byob owners claim they now have their own loyal customers who have switched from bars business has picked up because many people from delhi and noida like the casual vibe where one can enjoy an evening without feeling their pocket is getting pinched said an owner of byob on golf course road extensiona bulk of the excise departments revenue in gurgaon the city accounts for around 25 of the overall state revenue comes from liquor vends for the 202223 fiscal the expected excise collection from gurgaon is rs 2600 crore liquor vends which can open a byob by paying an additional fee are expected to contribute in excess of rs 1000 crore of this target the revenue from pubs and bars in contrast is expected to be around rs 6070 crore today there are 44 byobs in the cityunlike bars and restaurants the state excise policy has no provision for a separate licence for ahatas either the person who has a licence for selling liquor or someone authorised by the licencee can operate the ahata after paying an additional 2 of the licence fee of the particular zone deputy excise and taxation commissioner anirudh sharma saidthe ahatas or byobs have to pay gst on food items they sell and must be registered with the food safety and standards authority of india fssaigurgaon has 82 excise zones and the licence fee for a zone ranges between rs 2 crore and rs 40 crore so the ahata licence fee is in the range of rs 4 lakh to rs 80 lakh for pubs and bars the licence fee is a uniform rs 18 lakh understandably the upscaling of byobs under this revenue model has not gone down well with many bar owners especially those in the commercial districts that draw the party crowds because its in those areas where the byobs have proliferated too there is one right next to cyber hub which is the costliest excise zone the excise policy does place some restrictions on byobs they cannot for instance operate beyond midnight the byobs cannot operate in an open space and their interiors according to the police cannot be visible to passersby the objective of allowing ahatas is to prevent drinking in public in full view