Delhi's liquor policy: Why there is a shortage of booze in the national capital 

On July 31, Delhi liquor shops were selling alcohol under the buy 2 get 1 scheme. It seemed like the city had run into an abundance of booze.

But come August 1, people were sent back empty handed after waiting in lines for hours outside liquor shops. No alcohol was served in clubs, restaurants, or bars.

What changed in a single day that Delhi was left high and dry?

The booze shortage in Delhi was triggered because of the rollback of Delhi's new excise policy.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisiodia announced on July 31 that their “ambitious new liquor policy, ” the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022 would be scrapped from August 1.

“We have decided to end the new policy and given directions for government shops to open. I have ordered the Chief Secretary to ensure that there should be no corruption in government shops and no illegal alcohol sold in Delhi,” Sisodia said at a press conference.

He further added, “Our government brought a new excise policy last year before which alcohol was sold in government outlets that were prone to corruption – from brand pushing to many other such things. Some shops were private but that was given to their friends, and a very minimal licence fee was charged from them. We finished this system and started a new policy,” he said.

What was this “new liquor policy” and if it was so good, why did they have to roll it back?

The New Liquor Policy

The Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was proposed by the Kejriwal-led AAP govt in November 2021.

Under this policy, the government withdrew from the alcohol business and allowed only private operators to run liquor shops.

Delhi was divided into 32 zones inviting firms to bid for a license. 849 retail vendors were issued licenses through an open bidding exercise by the Excise department, which is headed by Sisodia.

On paper, the policy seemed beneficial for customers. These were the policy perks for customers:

1. Discounts for retail customers

2. Number of dry days were brought down to three

3. Drinking age was lowered from 25 to 21 

4. Shops could stay open till 3 am

5. Provision was made for home delivery of liquor

However, none of these proposals were implemented. What went wrong?

‘Procedural lapses and irregularities’

When Naresh Kumar, the Chief Secretary of Delhi, examined the policy, he found 'procedural lapses and irregularities'.

On July 8, Kumar sent a report to Sisodia asking for a reply on these gaps in the policy. The report was also sent to Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena. 

In the report, Manish Sisodia, who heads the excise department, was accused of making changes to the excise policy without the approval of the LG.

These changes included a waiver of a whopping Rs 144.36 crore on tendered license fee because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It also stated that undue benefits were given to liquor licenses by revising the rates of foreign liquor and removing the import pass fee of Rs 50 per case of beer. The report highlighted that this led to massive loss of revenue for the state.

CBI investigation underway?

After reviewing the report, LG Vinai Kumar Saxena called for a CBI probe into the matter. Saxena said, “There have been “deliberate and gross procedural lapses”.

While CM Arvind Kejriwal claimed these allegations were an attempt to malign the Delhi government. He said, “It is a completely fake case. There is not even an iota of truth in this case.” 

He further added, “This case will not hold in court. Manish is a hardcore honest man and he will walk free.” In response to the Chief Secretary’s concerns of ‘procedural lapses and irregularities’, Sisodiya said that the policy had been approved by the former LG.

“Before clearing the policy, (former) LG read it carefully,” he said. He further said that he has also written to the CBI to investigate the matter. Sisodia stressed, “ I have written to the CBI, urging them to probe how and why this happened.”

Rollback

Amid raging controversy, the deputy Chief Minister rolled back the new excise policy on July 31, effectively shutting down 468 private liquor shops and bringing the number of operational shops to just 381.

The Delhi government has decided to extend the license of these private liquor shops till August 31, and a Cabinet-approved file has been sent to the LG. The extension is subject to LG’s nod.

Happy hours in neighbouring cities

But this sobering fortnight in Delhi chimed happy hours in Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad as people flocked to neighbouring cities to get their booze.

As per a report, shops at the Delhi-Noida borders reported a 90-100 per cent rise in sales during the last week.

“The sale of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and imported foreign liquor (IFL) has gone up by nearly 33% in Gurugram” excise department noted.

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