Premium liquor, beer to be sold in UP’s shopping malls from September

LUCKNOW: By September, premium liquor, beer and wines could finally be available in Uttar Pradesh’s shopping malls. Following a cabinet decision in May this year to allow sale of premium quality liquor and beer from shopping malls, the excise department has set the licence fee and the licensing process will begin from Monday.
The annual licence fee for such shops has been fixed at Rs 12 lakh and it can be obtained by any individual, company, firm or society. An official said that the shops will have the facility to allow customers to purchase from within the shop but they will not be allowed to serve liquor on their premises.
“The process for issuing licences will begin from July 27, which is Monday and will take about a month. For those who apply on Monday itself, licences would be issued by August 27 or thereabouts after clearing all formalities,” an official said.
An official said that the trend of shopping from malls has increased rapidly over the past few years. Therefore, the government decided to allow liquor to be sold from shops in malls as well.
“We are allowing imported foreign liquor, Indian scotch, all brands of brandy, gin and wine, vodka and rum worth more than Rs 700 and cans of beer worth Rs 160 or more to be sold from these shops. These shops will have the facility to allow customers to choose their desired brand of liquor directly. The shops will be fully air conditioned but will not be allowed to serve liquor on their premises,” he said.
Under conditions laid down in the Uttar Pradesh Excise (Settlement of Licence for Premium Retail Vends of Foreign Liquor) Rules, 2020, the application will have to be made on FL-4-C forms for sale of sealed bottles. The licence applicant will have to declare the area of the shop and the section where liquor is sold will have to be placed in such a way that it can be sealed or locked up in the event of dry days, etc. The mall where the shop will be located should have a minimum plinth should have a minimum area of 10,000 sq feet while the shop should have a minimum area of 500 sq feet.