Talking to newspersons here today, Additional Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kapoor said that a ``near foolproof'' formula has been worked out by the PMC, in association with the State excise department, for collecting octroi on liquor.

According to the formula, the PMC employees will accompany the State excise department officials who visit the liquor godowns on a regular basis and take stock of the consignments there. The excise department issues a transport permit (TP) for transportation of these liquor boxes from the gowdowns to outside destinations.

The PMC employees, accompanying the State excise department officials, will collect octroi on the basis of the TPs at source itself, Kapoor said.

Hitherto, the PMC was required to collect octroi on liquor at its octroi check posts. On several occasions it was detected that the wine shop owners evaded octroi on liquor by under billing the consignments, Kapoor said.

Currently, the monthly revenue earned through octroi on liquor is around Rs 54 lakh. According to Kapoor it should be at least Rs 65 lakh per month. However, as all the liquor godowns are located outside the PMC limits - majority at Phursungi - the PMC was finding it increasingly difficult to keep a check on growing octroi evasion.

Hence, Kapoor had called on State excise commissioner A K Jain who accepted his request to allow civic employees to accompany the excise department officials and collect octroi at source.

Meanwhile, Kapoor will be holding a meeting with the officials of the private tourist bus owners association on July 26 in the wake of the growing instances of octroi evasion on goods transported in city limits by couriers through tourist buses.