According to officials, the action was taken to control overcrowding at liquor stores while the Covid threat is still on and ensure fairness in sale. (File photo) After several complaints of crowding and queues outside liquor shops, the Delhi government has decided to discontinue discounts, rebates and concessions on the MRP of liquor at stores. The Excise department issued an order to all L-72 licensees in this regard on Monday.
The department also directed all liquor shops to stop social media promotion of discounts and sales on liquor.
According to officials, the decision was taken to control crowding and maintain law and order at liquor stores in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and fairness in sale. βIt has been brought to the notice of the department that as a result of discounts being offered by the licencees through their retails vends, there are instances reported of large crowds gatherings outside liquor shops leading to a law and order problem and causing inconvenience to local population of the area. It is also be kept in mind that the Covid situation is not over yet and danger of Covid still persists and, therefore, a huge crowd is likely to aggravate the rise of Covid cases in the city,β read the order undersigned by Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna.
The order further read that the discounts are also leading to unhealthy market practices deployed purely for short-term business gains by some licencees and is leading to distortions of the market. The intent of the government with regard to discounting was to promote consumer choice and healthy competition and determination of price by market forces. The discounting of this nature was not the objective of the government while permitting discounts in the new excise regime, said the commissioner in the order.
The new excise policy 2021-2022 came into effect last year on November 17 and business was commenced by all L-72 licence holders. Under the new policy, as per clause 3.5.1 of the tender document, all L-72 licencees were permitted to give discounts, rebates, and concessions on the MRP of liquor fixed by the excise commissioner.
The department has also in its absolute discretion made changes in the tender documents under which licencees were allowed to give discounts. Now as per the order issued by the excise commissioner, all L-72 licencees will strictly abide by rule 53(4) of the Delhi Excise Rule 2010 and will discontinue the sales and offers.
The department will take strict action and penalties will be imposed against the licencee, if they are found violating the order.
The opposition parties, BJP and Congress, also held protests against the new excise policy and opposed the offers being given on liquor.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
