With the Lieutenant Governor proposing a CBI investigation into the execution of the new excise policy, the Delhi administration has decided to revert to the city's previous retail liquor sale system, officials said on Friday, news agency PTI reported.
The Excise Policy 2021-22, which was extended twice after March 31 for two-month periods each, will expire on July 31.
The excise department is still working on the Excise Policy 2022-23, which calls for home delivery of liquor in Delhi, among other things. According to authorities, the draught policy has yet to be delivered to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval.
According to reports, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the excise portfolio, asked the department on Thursday to "revert" to the old regime of tax policy for six months till a new policy is in place.
As per the official document, the finance department has instructed the excise commissioner to cooperate with the heads of four Delhi government corporations for information on liquor vends managed by them before the new excise policy takes effect on November 17, 2021.
Before the Excise Policy 2021-22, the four corporations — Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS), and Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC) — ran the majority of the city's liquor stores.
Under the new strategy, 849 liquor vending licences were awarded to private enterprises through open bidding.
The city was divided into 32 zones, each with a maximum of 27 vending machines. Instead of individual licences, bidding was done on a zone-by-zone basis, with each bidder limited to bidding for a maximum of two zones.
Previously, four government organisations handled 475 of Delhi's 864 liquor establishments. Individual licences for private stores numbered 389.
The finance department has requested that the excise department produce facts on old vends, including their location, number of workers deployed, rented or government premises, by Friday as a "topmost priority."
Earlier this month, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi urged a CBI investigation into suspected rule violations and procedural flaws in the execution of the tax policy.
He also asked the Delhi chief secretary to conduct an investigation into the participation of excise department personnel in the alleged anomalies, as well as an allegation of cartelisation in the bidding for retail liquor licences.
(With PTI Inputs)