Liquor at doorstep may be reality soon
UNDER THE NEW POLICY, THE GOVT TO ALLOW ONLINE SALE OF LIQUOR ON EXPERIMENTAL BASIS IN MOHALI CITY
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab government on Friday decided to keep a scope for sale of liquor on e-commerce sites.
In the excise policy for financial year 2020-21, for the first time it was decided to start an experimental for online sale and delivery of liquor.
To begin with, the excise and taxation department will allow online sale of liquor in Mohali city. “Keeping in view the changing market dynamics, we decided to keep a scope in our policy. We will consult with the market players and work out the modalities to make online sale a reality,” said excise and taxation commissioner Vivek Partap Singh, adding that it would also be decided at a later stage as to who would be given license for online delivery.
The futuristic step according to Singh comes with a rider that incase there is an objection by any licensee, it would not be implemented.
The policy for the forthcoming fiscal year is seen as trader friendly, as the existing traders in the field who attain 12% excess revenue over the minimum guaranteed revenue (MGR) in the current financial year will get preference in the coming financial year. The renewable fee in the case of these traders will vary from 1 to 4% of the total business. The new players have to come into the trade through draw lots, expected to take place in February.
As per the policy, the price of each bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and Punjab Made Liquor (PML) is expected to go up by ₹2 to 5, due to increase in excise duty. However, the increase of 12% in the MGR will also lead to additional increase in the liquor price.
At wholesale stage, there is no increase in excise duty rates at PML. In the case of IMFL, the increase is approx 5% while the duty has been enhanced from ₹62 per bottle to ₹68 for strong beer.
A target of ₹6,250 crore has been fixed against anticipated collection of ₹5,676 crore for 2019-20. The number of retail vends have been retained at last year’s figure of 5,835 and the number of groups in the liquor trade in Punjab would also remain (756) as they are in the current year.
The MGR from retail vends during 2020-21 is to be realised at ₹4,850 crores as against ₹4,529.40 crore during 2019-20.
WASHINGTON: Five Indian asylum seekers have been on a hunger strike for 90 days at a detention centre in the US state of Louisiana, a media report said.
Each of the men -- four Hindus and a Sikh -- have formal sponsors in the US who have committed to housing and supporting them while they fight their asylum case, the American Bazaar report said on Wednesday.
The men coming from different parts of India have varied reasons for seeking asylum in the US, and their legal situations are also varied, according to the report.
It added that all the five men were undergoing forced-hydration and force-feeding at the La Salle detention centre in Jena.
Volunteer Michelle Graffeo from the San Francisco-based NGO, Freedom for Immigrants, has been regularly visiting the men in the facility.
After a recent meeting with two of them, she said: “It was reported to me that three of the five men are now being held in isolation as punishment for not drinking Boost.
“This means that they are alone for 24 hours a day and all five men are wheelchair-bound and unable to get out of bed without assistance.” IANS