The Uttar Pradesh government has suffered a loss of around Rs 5,000 crore in the 2016-17 fiscal year due to the Supreme Court's 2016 order banning all liquor shops along national and state highways.
State Excise Minister Jai Pratap Singh told PTI that around 2,000 out of the 8,591 highway liquor shops are yet to be relocated. Another 3,000 liquor shops have surrendered their licenses, he added.
"We have incurred a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore in 2016-17 fiscal ending March 31. Out of the target of realising Rs 19,000 crore, the excise department could generate Rs 14,000 crore following the apex court order order," Singh told PTI.
The apex court had on March 31 reiterated its December 2016 order to shut down all liquor shops within 500 metres of all national and state highways by April 1. The court had, however, cut short the distance to 220 m for cities, towns and municipal areas with a population of 20,000 people or less. It had also banned all hoardings and signages that could indicate the presence of liquor shops along highways.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), accidents due to drunk driving have the highest fatality rate with 42 percent of victims ending up dead in 2015.
Singh said his department has taken up initiatives for cashless transactions in liquor shops. He told PTI: "We are introducing a cashless system in liquor shops and asking them to install point-of-sale (POS) machines. Though it will difficult in rural areas, we are asking shops to switch over to cashless payments."
The minister also responded to media reports suggesting the cashless system was being introduced to deter teenagers from buying liquor. Singh said there is already a law that bans the sale of liquor to minors.
When asked about the sale of liquor near religious places and schools, Singh said, "An SC order in 2008 says no to liquor vending with a radius of 75 metre of a school or religious place. But, with increase in population density, the number of schools and hospitals have increased leading to conflicts."
"We have decided that no liquor shop will be relocated within 500 metre of religious places or hospitals. In case of objection, even residential colonies will come under the ambit. At the moment it is not in a very formal shape. But we are working on it," he added.
When asked about the excise revenue expectations for 2017-18, the minister told PTI that a target of Rs 20,000 crore has been fixed and that the Yogi Adityanath-led government would introduce its new excise policy from April 2018. Singh added the state government is planning to break the syndicate system in liquor trade.
The new excise policy may introduce a bar code system on each liquor bottle to check black marketing and pilferage in liquor sale, mostly found in country-made alcohol products. An excise official told the news agency that the bar code would be connected to computer data to make sure each batch is sold by the correct dealer.
The new policy would also help bust liquor rackets.
