The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) announced via press release this week that they just launched their very own smartphone app, one that promises to give residents the “power to uphold public safety.” Since 1935, the Commission has regulated the “manufacturing, importation, exportation, transportation, sale, storage, distribution, and possession of alcoholic beverages” throughout the state of Texas. If it involves alcohol within state lines, it involves the TABC.
So, if you’re looking for booze in Texas, the new smartphone app — available for both iOS and Android — lets users know where you can find it, from bars and restaurants to gas stations and liquor stores, by tracking your location. When you tap on one of these options, the app not only displays business’ information, name, address, and phone number, but the status of their TABC license, and even the number of recent violations they’d incurred, right there on their profile.
While it’s a quick and easy way to find a nearby watering hole, the app also lets users register complaints against businesses and individuals to the TABC directly. This includes notifying them of an outdated license or permit, reporting drunk patrons (or employees), or alerting them of prostitution and human trafficking. You can even file complaints against TABC agents themselves, which are handled internally by their Office of Professional Responsibility.
While it’s a well-intentioned idea to empower individuals, let’s remember that alcohol doesn’t always lead to the best phone-based decisions. The idea that anyone who’s downloaded the app will have a direct line to the TABC every time they get kicked out of a bar doesn’t really seem wise. Not to mention, as someone who worked at a bar in Texas for the better part of eight years, trying to politely enforce the state’s existing laws often led to a flurry of angry customers and negative Yelp! reviews. So, unless everyone who intends on using this app starts getting very familiar with all the wildly inconsistent laws regarding alcohol that Texas has on the books right now, it’s almost inevitable that it’ll lead to an increased amount of work for the TABC’s unnecessary complaints department.
COMPLAINT #1,745,093: U guys shd make beer for FREE! Also, du U know where’s the pisser?
Via TABC
