STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Introducing many new initiatives to upscale revenue and bring in more enforcements, the Jammu and Kashmir Government on Tuesday notified new Excise Policy 2023-24.
According to new excise policy, all services in the Excise Department including liquor permits, duties, fee etc. shall be provided only through online mode from e-Abgari Portal on real time basis.
26 new JKEL-2 vends (22 in Jammu and 4 in Kashmir)- Total 305 JKEL-2 vends have been proposed for retail sale of liquor in underserved and un-served areas of the J&K UT.
In new excise policy there is revision in Registration Fee for JKEL-2 vends from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000, EMD from Rs. 7 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh and Reserved bid price has been increased from Rs 10 Lakh to Rs. 15 Lakh. All the payments are to be made from KYC/PAN linked bank accounts of the bidders.
The new Excise policy has removed all hurdles in timely operationalization of JKEL-2 vends by invoking Rule 30 (8) of Liquor License and Sale Rules, 1984. Also, to ensure timely opening of JKEL-2 vends, for repeated premises, there shall be no requirement of DMs, clearance besides Deemed Clause introduced and renting out Government land for one year for opening vends at places where private premises is not available.
The major new initiatives include introduction of three new categories of Licenses a) JKEL 2A (Retail vend of Beer and RTD in JKTDC/Tourism Establishments/ Tourism Development Authorities /Airports etc.); b) KEL-6A (Bottling License on leased out Premises)and c) W1-Winery.
The major Boost to local industry for increasing local production and export of high quality and low alcohol content brands: All Bars in J&K have been hugely incentivized by reducing their MRP from 25% to 10% or as per menu, whichever is higher. By granting permission to the local Distilleries/Bottling plants for production of RTD with annual fee of Rs. 20,000/. 25 % less Excise Duty on CSD/PMF Brands manufactured in J&K only. To protect local industry, restriction shall be imposed on import of brands having MRP Rs 600 per bottle (750 ml).
For the first time, a new Country Liquor brand of 45 degree proof introduced that is affordable will arrest/discourage sale of illicit liquor and to prevent Hooch tragedy. Promotion in production of quality brands by local liquor industry by blending scotch and malt (not less than 2 %).
The new Excise Policy also accords permission to serve liquor on rooftops to the existing high-end Hotels and Restaurants with additional 50% of the annual license fee has been introduced to boost high-end tourism related activity.
Rationalization of License Fee under various categories to link them with sale in cases. Fee has been revised as per category of hotels. Fee/Duties have been slightly changed for IMFL and JK Special Whisky.
Giving options to bidders to either have the possession of immovable property in UT of J&K worth up to 100 percent of the bid value or not less than 50% of the bid value with remainder of bid value (not more than 50%) as Bank Guarantee (BG). This will raise the bid value thus more revenue to the government.
The Excise Policy 2023 also addresses the demand of tourists for opening of Liquor vends at Tourist Places and places of illicit distillations.
In order to discourage conflict of interest or monopolistic practices in liquor trade, all manufacturing units have been proposed to be declared as ineligible for grant of Type A, B, C licenses.
Also facilitating introduction of more BIO Beer and other Liquor Brands by decreasing the import duty by Rs 5 per BL on beer and reduced the additional assessment duty on BIO brands by 50% over previous Excise Policy, the new excise policy adds.
Realising the fact that no new franchise brand introduced for manufacturing in J&K, the franchise duty has been dispensed with to have more introduction/production of franchise brands in J&K. Liquor vends have been proposed at Tourist Places and places of illicit distillations with NOC from DM and a certificate from FSSAI.
To address the grievance of stakeholders, Quota Transfer fee of Rs 1.00 per bottle has been introduced for transferring of MGQ from one vend to another.
Stock Transfer option has also been introduced with Rs. 0.50 per bottle as charges for transfer of stock (if available) to be paid by the outgoing licensee on determination of license.
Promotion of digital payments. Steps have been introduced for using POS machines and keeping UPI payment options in the vends.
Vend information signboard have been made compulsory for each JKEL-2 vend. To ensure zero leakages, it has been proposed to install Flow Meters in Bottling Plants/Distilleries/Breweries.
Rationalization of production of JK Special Whisky. To encourage informants giving information about the growing/ cultivation of poppy/cannabis also manufacturing of illicit liquor and bootlegging, a new clause of rewarding the informants has been introduced in the policy.
For the first time, research activities for devising eco-friendly chemical/biological methods for destruction of wild cannabis have been promoted under Social Responsibility Corpus Fund.
The Excise Department implements its action/operational plans through annual Excise Policies. Excise Policy is an important policy tool to carefully balance the imperatives of making the liquor available to the people in the manner and at the cost, which is both qualitative and affordable. The policy carries forward the objectives of encouraging transition from high to low alcoholic content beverages, to bring about greater social consciousness and awareness about the harmful effects of drug abuse and to check bootlegging/smuggling of liquor and narcotic drugs in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from neighbouring States/Union Territories.
