Liquor vends’ allotment cancelled again

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 30

The Excise Department today again failed to get any application for liquor vends allotment.

The department is now planning to lower the reserve price by 5 per cent and call tenders for the vends after issuing a public notice.

The department had invited applications for the liquor vends allotment till 4 pm today and was to hold draw at 5 pm at Dawat Banquet Hall but no contractor showed any interest.

Earlier, the department had set March 27 as the last date to submit applications but at that time too no one showed any interest.

It is learnt that contractor groups have pooled and to put pressure on the department to lower the rates, they have not applied for the liquor vends so far.

Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner VP Singh said no one had applied for the liquor vends due to which they cancelled the allotment event today.

“So now, we will call for tenders by lowering the rate by 5 per cent and a public notice regarding this will be issued in two-three days,” he said.

VP Singh said the existing contractors would close their liquor vends tomorrow and till the time the new ones are not allotted, nobody could sell liquor from April 1.

It is learnt that it will still take one week to allot the liquor vends by following proper procedure.

With the new policy of the Excise Department coming into effect from April 1 for 2017-18, the department is set to lose Rs 36 crore revenue in the district as 51 liquor vends will be closed from the beginning of the next month.

The number of liquor vends in the district will come down to 462 from 513.

Even the quota of beer and liquor has also been reduced for 2017-18 to 78,74,729 proof litre against the 93,08,728 proof litre in 2016-17.

The Excise Department has divided 462 liquor vends in seven zones.