JAMMU, 31-03-2021: The Jammu and Kashmir government-approved new Liquor Policy, 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.
As per the Policy, all liquor vends in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be e-auctioned in a transparent manner with a view to generate maximum revenue from the trade and break monopoly over it. Official sources said that there will be complete transparency in the e-auction of the liquor licenses as everything will be available online. “New Excise Policy is aimed at generating maximum revenue for the Government,” they said.
The Government has kept one month for implementation of the new Excise Policy during which the 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 the public domain on 9th March for amendments and objections.
Through another order issued by the Finance Department, the Government has extended the 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 a license fee as per the Excise Policy 2021-22 while JKEL-2 vends will pay license fee on a pro-rata basis as per the Excise Policy 2020-21.
The 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 the total bid amount through an 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 the bid. In case the successful bidder fails to comply with the condition of payment, the earnest money will stand forfeited.