Excise Department to accept applications for grant of liquor shop licence till October 9

The draw of lottery for selecting the applicants to be conducted on October 12; private individuals and institutions can participate in the process by remitting a non-refundable fee of ₹2 lakh per each application

The Excise Department is accepting applications from interested persons for the grant of licence for liquor shop in Andhra Pradesh.

Private individuals and institutions can participate in the licensing process by remitting a non-refundable fee of ₹2 lakh per each application, and they are allowed to file any number of applications.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mukesh Kumar Meena, Principal Secretary (Excise), said, “The applicants can submit their forms up to October 9. The draw of lottery for selecting the applicants will be conducted on October 12.”

He said the applications could be submitted both online and offline. He, however, said that the offices would not accept applications on public holidays, including October 6 (Sunday). “The applications are being accepted for seven working days starting October 1,” he added.

Mr. Meena said the selected applicants should pay the first instalment of the Retail Excise Tax (RET), which was being considered as the licence amount per year, within one working day after the day of completing the lottery procedure and granting provisional licence.

The new excise policy prescribed RET in four slabs — ₹50 lakh, ₹55 lakh, ₹65 lakh and ₹85 lakh, depending on the population census of the areas where the licence was being granted. The licencees were allowed to pay the RET in six instalments.

‘Transparent process’

Mr. Meena explained that the lottery would be drawn by the respective District Collectors in the presence of the applicants.

“As instructed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, we have made the lottery process a highly transparent one,” Mr. Meena said, “As people may suspect the online lottery method, the Chief Minister has directed us to execute it offline.”

He said the system would generate an automatic number for each application and the same would be printed on the receipt being provided to the applicants. A counter copy of the same would be with the Excise Department with the same details.

At the time of the lottery, the applicants’ names would be announced in the presence of the District Collectors and then dropped in the lottery box. After that, the Collectors would pick one slip from the drop box, which would be announced as licensee of the particular shop. The entire exercise would be conducted for each shop in the district on the same day, Mr. Meena said

Once the name of the licence holder was announced by the District Collector, the Excise Department would grant a provisional licence.

Mr. Meena further said that the District Collectors would also draw two more slips from the drop box and announce their names as well. If the first winner failed to follow the licence granting rules and pay the RET, the authorities would give a chance for the second person. If the second person too failed to comply with the rules, it would go to the third selected applicant.

Published - October 03, 2024 05:40 am IST