VIJAYAWADA: The Prohibition and Excise Department is set to issue licences for liquor shops through an online lottery system on Monday. In all, 89,882 applications have been received for 3,396 notified liquor shops in 26 districts of the State.
The Rs 2 lakh non-refundable application fee has generated an income of Rs 1,797.64 crore to the government.
“The applications are being verified and applicants will be informed after the successful verification. Taking the licensing process to its final step, the District Collectors and Excise officials will conduct the online lottery system. The winners of the notified liquor shops will be issued licences soon after the end of the process, and they can start their business operations from October 15,” said Excise Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Meena.
On an average, 26 applications have been received for each notified liquor shop. NTR district has received the highest number of 5,825 applications, while Alluri Sitarama Raju district has got the lowest number of 1,205 applications. Applications have also been received from foreign countries.
On the other hand, the Excise Department has made an amendment to Section 4-A(1) of the Andhra Pradesh (Regulation of Trade in Indian Made Foreign Liquor, Foreign Liquor) Act, 1993 (Andhra Pradesh Act No.15 of 1993) that the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for each bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor/Foreign Liquor shall be rounded off to the next Rs 10 under the head ‘Additional Privilege Fee’. If the MRP of a liquor bottle is Rs 150.50, it shall be rounded off to Rs 160. If the MRP is Rs 90.50, it shall be rounded off to Rs 100 minus Rs 1 that is Rs 99,” the gazette stated.