Delhi liquor policy among key schemes that await new LG’s nod

New Delhi: Delhi will have to wait a little longer for home delivery of liquor and discounts on alcohol because the Delhi Excise Policy 2022-23 needs approval of the lieutenant governor before it is implemented

New Delhi: Delhi will have to wait a little longer for home delivery of liquor and discounts on alcohol because the Delhi Excise Policy 2022-23 needs approval of the lieutenant governor before it is implemented. The existing policy has been extended till July.

HT Image

The state cabinet recently approved the recommendations of a new policy and sent it to the lieutenant governor, a Delhi government official said, seeking anonymity.

Vinai Kumar Saxena was appointed as lieutenant governor of Delhi on Monday, replacing Anil Baijal, and is scheduled to take charge on Thursday.

Approval and implementation of the revised policy is delayed due to the gubernatorial transition, the official said.

The excise department has accordingly extended the licenses of liquor wholesalers and other establishments like bars and restaurants for two months till end of July through an order issued by Anand Kumar Tiwari, deputy commissioner of excise, on Monday. The licensees under different categories will have to pay a pro rata for the extended period.

“Necessary orders may be issued regarding extension of Excise Policy 2021-22 by the concerned branches dealing with the licenses and permits granted and renewed under the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010,” the order stated.

Recently the Delhi cabinet approved the recommendations of a group of ministers, constituted in February last year, to initiate state excise reforms under the chairmanship of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, which included home delivery of liquor in Delhi through empanelled intermediaries, who will be collecting the bottles from retail vends and delivering them to homes in various localities, to ensure people do not drink spurious alcohol that lead to hooch tragedies and also check bootlegging and interstate smuggling of liquor.

Home delivery of liquor has been rolled out in West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra to create an alternative route to maintain supplies amid shop shutdowns during the Covid pandemic.

The other recommendation lifts restrictions from discounts, making liquor cheaper. Though the existing excise policy also permits discounts on liquor, on February 28 the Delhi government discontinued discounts being offered by liquor stores due to overcrowding and violations of Covid-related guidelines. On April 2, the Delhi government permitted liquor stores to offer up to a maximum of 25% discount on the maximum retail price.

The new policy has also proposed opening of special bars that will serve only wine and beer; and discontinuation of the need to open at least two liquor stores in each ward; renewal of zonal retail licenses at same annual fee as the previous year; re-tendering zones at a base reserve fee of ₹280 crore (as against ₹225 crore in 2021-22) in case an existing vendor pulls out; rationalisation of the brand registration fee for spirits other than whisky at just ₹5,000 instead of ₹1 lakh, among others.

Home delivery of liquor is a good idea for ensuring equitable distribution of liquor and checking smuggling and the government should allow it, Vinod Giri, director general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, a lobby group.

“For home delivery of liquor to become sustainable, the government must not make consumers pay more or eat in to profit margins of current supply chain participants. It must be a new parallel channel with its own (profit) margin structure and ensuring same MRP (maximum retail price) as in shops, if not less,” said Giri.

“People should be allowed to buy liquor from the comfort of their homes,” said Subhash Khandelwal, president of Chamber of Trade and Industry, another lobby group. He added that it will generate additional jobs and will increase the government’s revenue.