Lucknow: As per the new excise policy of the government the process for allotment of liquor shops has begun for the new fiscal year.The U.P Govt. is claiming to generate record revenue in this fiscal year(2019-2020) but the traders say otherwise. Lucknow Liquor Association’s general secretary KL Maurya pointed out that only 50 per cent owners of the existing liquor shops would opt for allotment this fiscal. “There are around 503 desi liquor shops, 300 Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), 200 beer and 51 model liquor shops in Lucknow. The total number of shops in Uttar Pradesh is around 26,000. By increasing quota to sell liquor, the Excise department has fixed a challenging target for the shopowners.
It seems difficult to push sale as the increase in consumers with each passing year is very minimal and not in the ratio the Excise department estimates,” Maurya said. He said an allottee had to shell out 15 per cent more than the previous year for a model liquor shop. “The license fee has also been increased this time,” he pointed out. He said the department had decided to allot shops to those who would sell 6 per cent more desi liquor, 30 per cent more beer and 40 per cent more IMFL in the new fiscal. “There was no target for sale of desi liquor sold more than other brands of liquor and beer. By increasing the target of beer and IMFL sales, the government is giving a difficult task to businessmen and it will demoralise them,” he claimed.
Maurya said the new policy might hit the revenue of the department. However, he welcomed the decision to increase the time to open shops. The renewal of the shops will start from January 21 and conclude on January 28 for the new fiscal. The applicants have been asked to deposit online the cess and GST. They have been also been told that the paid processing fee and GST will not be refundable under any circumstances. Contrary to the apprehensions of liquor traders, Excise department officials said every aspect was analysed and the demands of businessmen were also taken into consideration. District excise officer Janardan Yadav said the policy was being implemented and the department was hopeful of earning more revenue than the previous year.