HYDERABAD: The State’s new excise policy for liquor shops will come into effect from Friday. This year, the department had hiked the application fee for the licence, in addition to laying down new excise tax brackets for liquor shops.
Several measures to ensure thorough verification, in order to prevent the same person from submitting more than one application, were also taken. “We had a transparent system in place. Licences were issued by drawing lots,” said C Vivekananda Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise in Hyderabad.
“At least 50 per cent of applicants sought licences for 173 A4 wine shops in Hyderabad,” he added. Each of the 1,499 applicants paid `2 lakh non-refundable fee for 173 licensed shops in the city. “At least 230 persons applied for more than one liquor shop licence,” an Excise official said.