Tax dept invites tenders for remaining 77 vends

The UT excise and taxation department has invited fresh tenders for the remaining 77 liquor vends in the city; auction for which will be held on October 30.

The UT excise and taxation department has invited fresh tenders for the remaining 77 liquor vends in the city; auction for which will be held on October 30.

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So far, the excise department has held five auctions, but failed to sell all liquor vends. Hike in excise duty and other taxes are said to be the main reasons for the poor response to the auctions
of liquor vends this year.

The department has now reduced the reserve price of vends by 30%. Earlier, the earnest money for each application was Rs 35 lakh.

There are a total of 217 vends, of which 103 were sold in the first auction held on April 23. The second auction held on April 30 attracted only 21 buyers, while only 12 vends were sold in the third auction held on May 14. The fourth auction for the remaining liquor vends conducted on May 29 again evoked poor responses as only six vends were sold.

For attracting bidders, the department had even reduced the reserve price. The new allotted vends have been functioning by May 1. In the new excise policy, there has been rise in the excise duty from 20% to 300% and assessment fee by 33%.