Delhi rolls back to old liquor policy, 300 private liquor shops to remain closed

New Delhi, Sept 1: Private liquor shops will be a thing of the past in the capital as they will be replaced by over 300 Delhi government vends from Thursday owing to the switch over from the Excise Policy 2021-22 to the old regime, officials said on Wednesday.

 

 

 

Nearly 250 private liquor vends, licensed under now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, are running currently in the city.

 

 

 

Some of the private vends having stocks saw a crowd outside as they offered schemes like buy one to get one free.

The Excise department had already notified the private licensees that they would not be allowed in retail liquor sales beyond August 31. People thronged a vend near Welcome Metro station to avail of the buy one get one free scheme.

According to officials, the rebates and schemes offered earlier under Excise Policy 2021-22 will not be available as liquor stores will be opened by government undertakings from Thursday. The six shops at the domestic terminal of IGI airport run by private operators will be shut on Thursday, hampering availability. Liquor will be available at duty-free shops at the airport, they said. The number of private liquor vends under the Excise Policy 2021-22 had gone up to around 650. Still, later, the license holders surrendered their licenses due to different reasons, including restrictions on opening stores in non-conforming areas in the city. The Excise Policy 2021-22 was withdrawn by the Delhi government last month after LG VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation. The Excise officials said the liquor supply will improve from the first week of September due to the opening of more shops. "Currently, there are nearly 250 private shops that over 300 government vends will replace. So there will be more shops and the number will grow further in the coming days as 500 shops are planned to be opened by four Delhi government undertakings," said a senior Excise department officer. Several government vends will be located in malls and near Metro stations. The Delhi government undertakings - Delhi Tourism And Transportation Development Corporation Limited (DTTDC), Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Department of Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (DSCSC), and Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS) - have been given a target to open 700 liquor shops in the city by end of this year, according to the officials.

 

Also Read: "Like liquor, power too intoxicates. You are intoxicated by power" Anna Hazare to Kejriwal 

 

A mobile app mAbkaridelhi developed by the Excuse department will become operational in September providing consumers information about the location of liquor stores in their neighborhood and shop timings. The government agencies have also managed to open shops in New Delhi Municipal Council areas after the civic body had earlier rejected a proposal for opening shops there.