Rekha Gupta delhi government took a big decision!
The delhi government on wednesday (March 26) extended the existing excise policy for three months, although no decision was taken on the new version. A circular issued by the Excise Department said that the authority has approved the extension of the validity of existing L-1/L-1F/L-2 licensees for the sale of registered liquor brands at their current value till june 30, 2025 as per the terms and conditions approved for 2024-25.
L-1, L-1F and L-2 are wholesale licenses for the sale of indian liquor, foreign liquor and beer respectively. The circular said that licensees wishing to avail this extended period of three months from april 1 to june 30 will have to deposit three months' fees on a proportionate basis for that period.
The extended policy, also known as the old excise policy, came into effect in september 2022 after the then AAP government scrapped its corrective policy (2021-22), which had run into trouble amid allegations of alleged irregularities in its formulation.
The old policy has been extended for varying periods as the delhi government is yet to come up with a new policy. It was last extended in september 2024 for a period of six months till march 31, 2025. The draft of the new policy for 2023-24, prepared by the excise department, is with the government, officials said.
The old policy was intended as a temporary measure to prevent the regulatory vacuum caused by the abrupt scrapping of the new excise policy for 2021-22 by the previous AAP government after Lt governor V K Saxena recommended a cbi probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation.
The new policy (2021-22) aimed at reforming the liquor trade in delhi was implemented on november 17, 2021, and ended on august 31, 2022. Under the policy, the delhi government discontinued retail liquor sales, allowing private parties to run liquor shops across the city under a liberalised excise regime.
