HSVP to seal 34 Gurugram liquor vends from August 7 over Rs 50 crore unpaid rent
Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran has not indicated any provision for a further extension beyond August 6
The Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has issued a final notice to 34 liquor vend operators in Gurugram, warning that their outlets will be sealed from August 7 if outstanding rent dues of nearly Rs 50 crore are not cleared by August 6.
The defaulting vends are built on HSVP land across the city, including outlets near the CNG station in Sector 72, close to the Income Tax office in Sector 29, at AIT Chowk, in Sector 54, at Hong Kong Bazaar, on Golf Course Road, and in Sector 50.
HSVP Estate Officer Anupama Malik said the authority’s team had already served notices to the 34 operators, cautioning them that failure to deposit the pending rent by the deadline would result in sealing action beginning the following day. “We have given these vend operators sufficient time. If the dues are not cleared by August 6, sealing will begin from August 7 without further extension,” Malik said.
Gurugram accounts for the highest liquor consumption in the entire Delhi-NCR region, with several outlets operating round the clock. The scale of the trade is reflected in vend auctions, where bids routinely run into crores — last year, a liquor vend on MG Road set a record with a bid touching Rs 100 crore, the highest in the country. Officials say it is this scale of business that makes the non-payment of rent by a section of operators particularly conspicuous, even as HSVP struggles to recover dues that have piled up on land allotted for these vends.
This is the first time HSVP has moved to seal liquor vends in the district, a step until now largely associated with action against illegal residential and commercial construction. Officials indicated that the sealing drive, if it proceeds, would extend the authority’s enforcement drive conducted earlier this year against unauthorised paying-guest accommodations and TCP defaulters in DLF Phases 1-5 to the liquor trade for the first time.
The notices come at a time when HSVP has stepped up recovery efforts across its land bank in Gurugram, with officials citing mounting arrears as a strain on the authority’s revenue. Whether the 34 operators will clear dues before the deadline or contest the notices remains to be seen; HSVP has not indicated any provision for a further extension beyond August 6.
