NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has fetched additional revenue — about Rs 65 crore — from liquor sale in last 10 days as it levied a 70 per cent 'special corona fee'. According to the officials, the excise department has earned almost the same amount as excise duty after the opening of liquor shops.
Total sale of liquor has been estimated at Rs 100 crore since May 4 when a handful of shops were opened after 40 days during the ongoing lockdown. The revenue of the government had witnessed a drastic fall due to the extended lockdown.
However, with high sale volume and revised tax structure, department’s average revenue collection per day is only marginally less than what it would earn a previous financial year. In 2019, it had managed to fetch average revenue of Rs 15 crore every day as excise duty from a network of 860-odd vends and about 800 bars, pubs and clubs, where liquor worth Rs 20-22 crore were sold.
During the lockdown, no clubs or bars are allowed to open and only 20 per cent of total shops are permitted to carry out business activities, where average sale is Rs 10 crore per day. With the daily sale of about Rs 10 crore, the department is receiving Rs 6-6.5 core as excise duty and also collecting additional revenue of Rs 7 crore as special corona fee.
On May 4, the government had opened around 150 liquor stores but next day allowed only 80 stores to operate as it found crowds unmanageable. It also decided to levy 70 per cent additional tax on the maximum retail price of the bottle as special corona fee.
Levying special corona fee and inflated prices had not deterred consumers as record sale of almost Rs 100 crore has taken place since May 4.