Kerala's BevQ app approved: Malayalis thank Sundar Pichai, Google profusely

BevQ, the alcohol distribution app’s launch was delayed last week leading many people to express their desperation on the Google CEO’s Facebook page

Doesn’t quite matter how things are in the rest of the country, Malayalis are, however, elated and flooding Google and Sundar Pichai’s social media pages with ‘thank you’ messages after the Google Play Store approved the BevQ app.

BevQ is an app that Kerala’s Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) will be using to distribute alcohol in Kerala.

Pichai’s Facebook page is not verified and the last post he made was in 2015, but that did not stop the Malayalis from filling the page with comments for the last three days.

BevQ’s launch was delayed after Google asked BEVCO to clarify certain security concerns it had about the app. According to a report in Manorama, the app had been sent for listing on the Google Play Store on May 18 and people had expected it to be approved immediately.

Many Indian states have allowed liquor shops to open and food-delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato have also started home delivering alcohol in certain cities, but that’s not been the case with Kerala. To buy alcohol in Kerala, people have to first place orders and get tickets on BevQ before they can go to assigned shops to pick up anything.

The delay in the app getting listed sent Malayalis into a tizzy with users “asking, pleading, sending memes and demanding” Pichai approve BevQ immediately.

When the Kerala government confirmed on Tuesday morning that the app had been approved and would be available on the app store by Wednesday or Thursday, the people were more than elated. Alcohol sales in the state are expected to begin on Tuesday.

It’s very unlikely that Pichai had anything to do with BevQ’s approval but it seems that the people do not care. Pichai’s FB page is not filled with messages and memes expressing gratitude to ‘Sundar ettan’. Thank you messages have also been shared on Google’s official page and the comment section on its latest post if full of celebratory messages.

The BevQ app has been developed by the Kochi-based startup Faircode, which had been chosen from a list of 26 others by a committee chaired by Kerala’s IT secretary.