Govt loses nearly Rs 700 cr after new policy
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Apr 7: Tightening noose around liquor mafia that has been allegedly taking undue advantage of some loopholes in the existing Excise Policy, the Department of Excise has sought bank transaction details of the highest bidders for the licenses of retail vends of liquor in Jammu Kashmir Union Territory.
A direction in this regard has been issued to all the H1 (highest) bidders to furnish the bank transaction details to the Excise Department for the issuance JKEL-2 (license for the Retail Vends) for the year 2021-22.
Official sources told the Excelsior that failure of the H1 bidders to furnish the required bank transaction details and other documents has caused delay in opening of maximum retail liquor vends across Jammu and Kashmir till date.
As more than 90 percent of the liquor vends at various locations across the Union Territory are lying closed since March 31, Office of the Excise Commissioner J&K has extended the last date for submission of requisite documents by the H1 bidders, who have deposited the bid amount within the prescribed timeline.
Pertinent to mention here that the revenue collection by J&K Excise Department for the year 2020-21 was less than Rs 700 crores in comparison to the revenue collected during the year 2019-20, contrary to tall claims of the Government that the new Excise Policy would multiply the revenue and end monopoly of liquor mafia. The Excise Department collected revenue of Rs 2045.34 crores in the year 2019-20 whereas in the year 2021-22, after the implementation of new Excise Policy, revenue of Rs 1353.81 crores only was collected.
According to the sources, the urgent direction to H1 bidders for furnishing the bank transaction details was issued in the wake of confirmed reports that liquor mafia was taking undue advantage of some loopholes in the existing Excise Policy and managing to secure a number of retail vend licenses (Type-C) through proxies.
While elaborating, sources said that liquor mafia was using the proxy bidders to satisfy the eligibility criteria and thus not only monopolizing the liquor trade in Jammu Kashmir but also causing huge revenue loss to J&K Excise Department.
Sources said a single bank account has been used for making payments for multiple vends. This has been done to maintain monopoly over accounts and needs to be inquired by the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO), they said.
On the one hand, Government suffered revenue loss under the new Excise Policy while on the other hand, liquor mafia allegedly flourished by managing the retail vends through proxy bidders, who were used to satisfy the eligibility criteria specified in the Liquor License and Sale rules 1984.
As per the new Excise Policy, only one location can be allotted to a bidder, who must be a domicile of UT of Jammu Kashmir and should not have been convicted/charge sheeted for any offence under the J&KI Excise Act or has criminal antecedents.
Taking cognizance of the reports that the liquor mafia used proxy bidders to manage maximum liquor vends in J&K, the Excise Department has directed the H1 bidders to furnish bank transaction details to trace the trails of money deposited as Earnest Money (EMD) and the bid amount.
When contacted, Excise Commissioner Kishore Singh Chib said that bank details and other documents, such as property certificate, Vend Clearance certificate by the concerned Deputy Commissioner and Character Certificate etc are required to be furnished by H1 bidders for issuance of JKEL-2 license.
“As some of the successful bidders have furnished the documents, others sough more time for the same and as per advise received from Finance Department, the timeline for submission of these documents has been extended up to April 20, 2022,” he said, adding that the department was working on war footing to ensure that all the retail vends start functioning as early as possible.
The Excise Commissioner informed that out of 279 H1 bidders, 28 turned defaulter and 20 have been issued JKEL02 license while remaining 231 are furnishing the required documents.
As per the Excise Policy 2022-23, 279 locations for grants of Type-C (JKEL-2) license were put on e-auction in February 2022 and last date for submission of bid amount by the H1 bidders was March 31 to make these vends functional by April 1, 2022.
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