Licence fee not paid, Chandigarh Admn seals eight liquor vends
The UT Excise and Taxation Department today sealed eight liquor vends over non-payment of licence fee.
Earlier, the department had sealed 48 of the 96 liquor vends that were allotted for the 2025-26 financial year as the successful bidders had failed to deposit mandatory bank guarantees of nearly Rs 40 crore.
The Chandigarh Wine Contractors Association had alleged cartelisation in vend allotments as many licences were secured by just two or three individuals operating through multiple firms, relatives or associates.
According to officials, two sealed vends were located in Sector 9 and one each in Sector 32D, Sector 45, Manimajra, Daria and Mauli Jagran.
The total annual licence fee of the eights vends was Rs 67.64 crore.
The total amount due in April was Rs 5.41 crore, but only Rs 2.71 crore was paid and Rs 2.70 crore remained unpaid.
According to officials, after the sealing the licensee shall have to pay the dues, along with applicable interest at the rate of 1.5% per month calculated on a daily basis, to get the licence operational.
Meanwhile, the department was able to sell only one liquor vend located in Sector 22 out of the 11 during the eighth round of auction held today, earning a revenue of Rs 3.51 crore. The remaining 10 liquor vends will be put up for auction soon.
Earlier, only two of the 12 liquor vends were sold on May 22. The department had managed to allot one liquor vend in Sector 22 and another in Mauli Jagran Colony after the seventh round of e-auction on May 22 and earned a revenue of Rs 7.76 crore.
It had managed to sell only one liquor vend during the auction held on May 9 and earned a revenue of Rs 4.50 crore against the reserve price of Rs 4.38 crore.
In the fifth round of auction on May 14, the department was able to allot only six vends out of the 17 units and earned a revenue of Rs 39.60 crore against the reserve price of Rs 24.32 crore.
