Excise Dept spoils party, tells liquor vends not to lower prices

This follows the recent complaints by the neighbouring Haryana and Punjab governments to the UT Administration alleging that the heavy discounts on most of the liquor brands offered by the vends in the city had hit the business of the periphery vends which come under Punjab and Haryana.

Consequently, the Excise Commissioner's office on Tuesday issued a directive to the vends that strict action would be taken against the vends found selling liquor below the prescribed rates for each brand.

UT Excise Commissioner Mohammad Shayin told Chandigarh Newsline, "We have issued directions to all the liquor vends that no sale of liquor will be permitted below the prices prescribed as per the excise policy of the current fiscal year. We are also going to form teams to keep tabs on such sales across the city, and those found guilty will be taken to task," he added.

In fact, this has become an annual feature wherein weeks before the next year's excise policy is issued, the liquor vends in the city slash the prices drastically in order to finish their quota of liquor and avoid major loses.

Thus, huge hoardings dot most of the vends located on the boundaries of the city during the month of February-March, attracting customers passing through the city to the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana

Sources say that already most of the liquor vends in the city have failed to sell 30-40 per cent of their annual quota of liquor attracting huge amounts as penalty.

A visit to the peripheral vends in the city revealed how a large number of liquor vends have put up banners, offering up to 30-40 per cent discount on the counter price of different brands.

The Excise Department has even asked the erring liquor vend licensees to deposit 100 per cent of the licence fee by February-end. The licensees have been delaying the payment of the fee.

As a warning to the licensees, the Excise Department had even closed 13 vends for an interim period only to be allowed to open later on a condition that the licence fee would be deposited with the department.

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