VISAKHAPATNAM: The demonetisation scheme that was announced by the Central government on November 8 has affected the sale of liquor across Visakhapatnam district and also in almost all districts in the State.
In Visakhapatnam city alone, the sale has plummeted by about 35 to 40 per cent and in the rural areas it is down by about 30 to 35 per cent.
The average sale in Visakhapatnam district is about Rs. 120 crore to Rs.130 crore per month and in the month of November it drops to around Rs.110 to Rs.120 crore, as the liquor consumption slows down due to ‘Karthika masam.’ But this year, the sales in the month of November dropped to about Rs. 99 crore compared to Rs. 123 crore last year, according to a senior officer from the Prohibition and Excise Department.
“The last week of November was the worst hit, as from November 24 the retailers completely stopped accepting the bigger denomination notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, which ceased to be legal tenders, as per the government order,” he said.
Withdrawal of bigger denomination notes from circulation, lack of money in banks, withdrawal from banks being curtailed and lack of small change with retailers are cited as the reasons for the downtrend.
A senior officer from East Godavari aired a similar view and according to him there is an overall drop of about 40 per cent in revenue across all the districts in the State.
Despite drop in sales, the purchases by the retailers from the state-owned depots have gone up. It is estimated that the average monthly purchase for the month of November has gone up by about 10 to 20 per cent.
In East Godavari district the purchase of beer in the month of November in 2015 stood at about 93,000 cases, and in the corresponding period this year, it was 1.20 lakh cases.
Senior officers indicate that retailers used the opportunity to dispose of the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes to purchase the stock, despite the sales being less.
To support the traders, the government has removed the ‘minimum monthly sales’ clause from November, till normalcy is restored, says a liquor shop owner.
Moreover, the government has asked the retailers to pay the quarterly licence fee in advance and many had used this opportunity to exchange the old notes by paying the fee in advance.
But the excise officials feel that the dip in the sales is a temporary phenomenon and it will bounce back this month.
