The liquor trade is in a tizzy over the silence of government on its new liquor policy amidst rumours that the permit rooms attached to shops will be removed, licence fee and application money will be hiked and that the number of shops will be increased.
The two-year licence period of the existing 2,216 shops in the State will end on September 30 and the new licence holders can set up their outlets from the next day itself. But, the traders aver that they have had to wait for auction of shops to be completed till the last week of September in the past which led to uncertainty in the trade during the transition period. It is no exception this time.
Special Chief Secretary and Excise Commissioner Somesh Kumar agreed that nothing was discussed about the new liquor policy so far. Matters will take shape in September.
The traders have voiced a demand that they should be given one month notice to quit business if they were not allotted shops in the auction. It will also facilitate new licence holders to furnish bank guarantees and search accommodation, specially since it was not easy to rent premises in Hyderabad and other towns. There was every likelihood of protests by local residents and public if the shops were relocated at new locations due to change in ownership. Moreover, the old licence holders will not vacate their shops immediately to let the new licensees take over or the building owners themselves may be unwilling to continue the trade.
This had become a breeding ground for illegal transactions in the trade between the old and new licence holders. The old ones paid a goodwill to the new to continue the trade in the latter’s licence or the new paid to the old to get rid of the former. Also, the new licensees included the old as partners paying the statutory one % of the licence fee to the government. The shops will, therefore, continue in the same name as a firm which will invite income-tax payment in that category of business, said president of Telangana Wine Dealers Association D. Venkateswara Rao. The liquor trade had registered a steep growth in business over the years, giving the government a good reason to increase the number of shops and extend them to suit demographic profile of towns. With no elections around post-September, it can well take a call on it, Mr. Rao added.
