LG okays liquor plan extension as shut shops leave city on the rocks

Vends, bars in the city are set to open today, after the excise dept on Monday extended state liquor licences under all categories

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI: Liquor vends and bars in Delhi are set to reopen on Tuesday after being shut through the day on Monday, as lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena extended permits for another month under the excise policy of 2021-22.

Permits to sell liquor in the Capital expired on July 31.

The excise department in an order issued on Monday night extended liquor licences under all categories, including retail and wholesale, under the existing excise policy till August 31.

"The extension of the licences is subject to the advance payment of pro-rata licence fee," an excise department official said.

A trader said that during the extended period not only can the licensees clear existing stocks, but also purchase fresh inventory for sale till August 31.

The excise department in another order said the old excise regime will be implemented in Delhi from September 1.

Although Saxena approved the extension of permits in the afternoon, the excise department could not issue an order immediately, and stores and bars could not reopen in the evening.

"Ending confusion and uncertainty over the fate of the prevalent Excise Policy, marred by severe irregularities and inconsistencies, LG V K Saxena has approved the Kejriwal government's proposal, sent late last night, of extending the same by a month," the lieutenant governor's office said in a statement. "This extension has been approved essentially as a limited transitory measure considering the tenure of existing licenses that expired on 31.7.2022 and to maintain the confidence of people at large in the administration."