Original title: "Bar" or "Catering Business"? (Theme).
Bistro" encounters a blind spot in supervision (subtopic).
Singer Zhao Lei's folk song "Chengdu" became popular in the "tavern". Walking through the streets and alleys of various cities, "taverns" can be found everywhere.
A "bistros" that provides accompaniment**, where you can dance and DJ, is it a "bar" or a "catering business"? Can such establishments operate in the vicinity of schools and kindergartens? The reporter's investigation found that in order to circumvent supervision, most of the new formats in between the two have applied for catering business licenses, but their business projects are similar to bars, which can easily lead to disputes and potential safety hazards.
A "tavern" is ready with wine and dice, ready to welcome guests. Photo by reporter Shen Rufa.
Noisy "tavern".
Neon flashes, powerful ** and dim lights fill the atmosphere with ......In an old commercial complex in an eastern city, seven "taverns" have emerged in recent years. These "taverns" are cheaper and have become popular entertainment and consumption places for young people. Every late at night, especially on holidays, it is full of people and lively.
Next door to this commercial complex is an elementary school, and there is a high school about 100 meters away. According to the relevant regulations, it is not suitable to open bars and other entertainment venues in such areas, but these "taverns" have not only existed for a long time, but have not yet hung signs prohibiting or restricting minors from entering in accordance with the regulations, and openly allowed minors to enter.
The reporter learned from the interview that because many young people have limited incomes and have the need to gather and relax, many people choose to go to the "tavern" to consume. The gathering of young people, coupled with the effects of alcohol, has led to a high number of law and order cases.
According to statistics, in the past year, the commercial complex has reported as many as 84 alarms and 48 cases have been filed. Among them, there were more than 10 cases of theft, 65 cases of fights and brawls, and nearly 10 cases of consumer disputes and rescue. In the fight and brawl police intelligence, 90% are "post-00" young people.
At the same time, these "taverns" also have certain safety risks. "In accordance with the relevant regulations, there are strict approval standards for the business area of the bar and the number of people who are admitted, and the corresponding security personnel and security equipment should be allocated. However, under the pretext that they are not bars, these "taverns" do not comply with the relevant regulations, and some do not even have fire permits, said a person in charge of the relevant department.
The reporter interviewed and saw that every weekend and holiday, the narrow and dim "tavern" is crowded with people, full of seats, sometimes everyone has a light stick, entertaining themselves and holding concerts, or standing on the table, crowded in the aisle and dancing collectively, which is more prone to safety accidents such as ***.
Is it a dining venue or an entertainment venue?
As a new format, in recent years, "taverns" have sprung up like mushrooms. The reporter learned from the investigation that due to the relatively strict regulations on the management of entertainment venues and the high cost of upfront investment and operation and maintenance, many "taverns" do not apply for a "bar" business license, but apply for a catering business license.
Such "side-kicking" evasion of regulation has become a common phenomenon. The reporter inquired about "bars", "pubs" and "dining bars" in the "Tianyancha" APP and found that a large number of bar-like "industrial and commercial information" industry columns are displayed as "catering industry", and even one is a listed chain enterprise, with branches in Yunnan, Guizhou and many other places, and most of the business licenses applied for are catering business licenses.
The reporter learned from the relevant departments that these "taverns" took advantage of the new business license application regulations to play "edge ball". As a general practice, bars should apply for a bar business license and then operate in accordance with the relevant regulations on the management of entertainment venues. However, these "taverns" have all applied for catering business licenses, some of which have previously applied for bar business licenses, and later cancelled and re-applied for catering business licenses, and some have also changed the word "bar" in the original name to "restaurant bar" and "pub".
The nature of the business license recognition has changed, and the management regulations referred to are also different, resulting in the current regulatory difficulties. The Measures for the Administration of Entertainment Venues clearly state that entertainment venues refer to places of singing, dancing, amusement and other activities that are open to the public for the purpose of making profits and for consumers to entertain themselves. This "Measures" also further clarifies that singing and dancing entertainment venues refer to business establishments that provide accompaniment and song on-demand services or dance venue services.
You say it's a catering, and its main business format is all kinds of alcohol, which is not much different from a bar; You say it's a bar, it says it's catering, and although it doesn't have a kitchen, it also offers some snacks or pre-made dishes, and most importantly, it provides accompaniment** but doesn't provide on-demand song service, and you can dance and DJ but don't have a dance floor. A person in charge of a relevant department said that these "taverns" do not have dance floors and do not provide on-demand song services, which is an attempt to circumvent the regulations of singing and dancing entertainment venues.
Bistros "apply for catering business licenses to circumvent the management of entertainment venues, which brings problems to supervision. The reporter wanted to contact the local cultural tourism and market supervision departments for interviews on this topic, one clearly said that this kind of "tavern" does not belong to the scope of its management functions, and the other said that it is difficult to respond to this topic at present.
It is urgent to plug the "regulatory blind spot".
Lan Tianbin, a senior partner at Jiangsu Fade Dongheng Law Firm, said that the crux of the problem lies in the fact that the relevant provisions of the "Measures for the Administration of Entertainment Venues" are relatively general, and some new economies and new forms of business deliberately circumvent these provisions, which makes it difficult for grassroots law enforcement to grasp and face a dilemma. Shen Yuyu, director of Jiangsu Langying Law Firm, believes that it is more convenient to apply for a business license, but regulatory enforcement has not formed a joint force.
As an emerging industry that superimposes the dual elements of bars and restaurants, it has considerable market demand, but it is not possible to change the name of bars to bars or pubs, and use catering business licenses to 'play side balls' with regulatory authorities. Fan Peipei, an associate researcher at the Institute of Social Policy of the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, believes that there is a possibility of infringing on the rights and interests of minors in substantive entertainment venues dressed in restaurants and bars.
Fan Peipei suggested that from the perspective of protecting minors, it is necessary to define the "fuzzy industry" around the campus in the form of legislation, further clarify the business restrictions around the school, and prevent different law enforcement standards due to different understandings of the "fuzzy industry", resulting in blind spots in the protection of minors.
The interviewed sociologists and legal workers believe that in view of this practical problem, on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen joint law enforcement by departments, carefully study and judge whether the actual business format of such "taverns" is consistent with the business scope of the business license applied, and promote management from the perspective of protecting minors, and severely punish the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors. Functional departments should adapt to the new regulatory format, strengthen joint regulation, and use "self-management" to promote "all-management" to form a joint regulatory force, promoting the resolution of universal, systemic, and source problems in the protection of minors, and escorting their growth.
On the other hand, the relevant people suggested that the "Measures for the Administration of Entertainment Venues" should be adjusted to further clarify the industry attributes and regulatory subjects of such "taverns", so as to adapt to the development of new business formats with new supervision. (Reporter Zhu Guoliang, Shen Rufa).
*: Economic Information Daily.