Bad News For Liquor Consumers In Delhi As Outlet Discounts Are Going Away From September 1
Some 500 government-run outlets will be opening across the national capital on September 1. But there is a catch - liquor wont be as cheap as the people of Delhi had gotten used to. Under the old excise policy which the government has now reverted to the liquor has to be sold at the maximum retail price fixed by the excise department. This means that the discounts and other offers that were announced by private liquor outlets will soon become a t...Read More
Amid the continuing confusion over liquor sales in Delhi, there is some good news and bad news.
The good news is that some 500 government-run outlets will be opening across the national capital on September 1. But there is a catch - liquor won't be as cheap as the people of Delhi had gotten used to.
BCCL
No more discounts on liquor
Under the old excise policy which the government has now reverted to the liquor has to be sold at the maximum retail price fixed by the excise department.
This means that the discounts and other offers that were announced by private liquor outlets will soon become a thing of the past.
Since the government had announced an end to the Excise policy 2021-22 some outlets had offered higher discounts and 'buy one get one free' offers to finish their stock before the deadline.
BCCL
According to an excise department document, holders of L-6 (government-run shops) licence will be bound to sell liquor only at prices fixed by the excise commissioner which will be mentioned on labels of the bottles.
"Any undercharging or overcharging will be considered as a violation of terms and conditions and licence will be liable to be cancelled," the document read.
21 dry days in Delhi
Another major change is the number of dry days which will now go up to 21 instead of the 3 under the Excise Policy 2021-22.
BCCL
"In the old excise policy, there were 21 days when shops remained closed on important religious festivals and anniversaries of great personalities of the country. Since, the government has decided to go back to the old excise policy that was there before November 17, 2021, it is likely to retain the 21 dry days," officials said.
700 liquor outlets by end of 2022
The excise policy under which the private liquor vends are currently being run in the city comes to an end on August 31. The Delhi government corporations will run retail liquor vends from September 1 and there will be no private players in the segment.
BCCL
The four corporations of the Delhi government ¨C DTTDC, DSIIDC, DCCWS and DSSC will run the outlets across the national capital, including premium ones.
The government-run liquor vends will have a carpet area of 300 square feet and above, and would be in local shopping centres or commercial premises. In the Excise Policy 2021, the minimum carpet area of the vends was fixed at 500 square feet.
The liquor stores will be at least 100 metres away from major educational institutions, religious places and hospitals with 50 beds.
The Delhi Government has said that the number of liquor outlets in the capital will be increased to 700 by the end of this year.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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