JAMMU: Ending monopoly over the trade, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has approved Liquor Policy, whose draft was circulated on March 9, under which all liquor vends will be e-auctioned to domiciles of the Union Territory within one month and till then the existing vends will continue to operate.
The final Excise Policy 2021-22 was approved and released by the Finance Department on Wednesday. As per the Policy, all liquor vends in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be e-auctioned in transparent manner with a view to generate maximum revenue from the trade and break monopoly over it. “New Excise Policy is aimed at generating maximum revenue for the Government.” The Government has kept one month for implementation of new Excise Policy during which entire process for e-auctioning of vends will be completed. “All guidelines are in place for new Excise Policy,” sources said. The Government had put draft Excise Policy in public domain on March 9 for amendments and objections. Today, the policy was approved, they added. Through another order issued by the Finance Department, the Government has extended operation of existing trade in liquor beyond March 31 for a period not exceeding one month.
“The Administrative Council vide decision No. 45/6/2021 dated 26.3.2021 has approved the operation/continuation of the trade in liquor beyond March 31, 2021 for a period not exceeding one month as per the Rule 26 of the Jammu and Kashmir Liquor and Sales Rules, 1984,” an order issued by the Finance Department said. It added that all licensees except JKEL-2 vends will pay license fee as per the Excise Policy 2021-22 while JKEL-2 vends will pay license fee on pro-rata basis as per the Excise Policy 2020-21. Rest of the duty/fee structure shall be applicable to all the licensees/JKEL-2 vends as per the Excise Policy 2021-22. As per the draft Excise Policy, vends will be allotted for a period of one year as per the provisions of the J&K Excise Act and Rules and the total number of shops to be allotted will be the same as existing at present and there will be no increase in the number of vends to be auctioned. Further, the vends will be allotted in the same areas where the shops are operational presently.
“An individual can apply for any number of locations but to obviate the possibility of cartelization and monopolistic practices, only one location will be allotted. The timing of bid for vends within Excise Range will be separate and the districts and locations within Excise Range will be put to auction in an alphabetic order”, said the draft Excise Policy. The successful bidder will be required to deposit an amount equal to 50% of total bid amount through e-collect portal within two days from the date of finalization of bid for a vend and 100% of bid value within seven days of finalization of bid.
In case the successful bidder fails to comply with the condition of payment, the earnest money will stand forfeited.
