Liquor shop owners in Telangana face dilemma

Hyderabad: After the brisk business during Dasara festival, liquor shop owners are now in a dilemma to fill the racks in their shops with liquor and beer stocks since the excise policy for the year 2019-21 will come to an end in November. To cash in on the demand from tipplers, all shopkeepers purchased additional […]

Hyderabad: After the brisk business during Dasara festival, liquor shop owners are now in a dilemma to fill the racks in their shops with liquor and beer stocks since the excise policy for the year 2019-21 will come to an end in November.

To cash in on the demand from tipplers, all shopkeepers purchased additional stocks from Telangana State Beverages Corporation Limited (TSBCL) of Prohibition and Excise department to meet the requirements.

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Beer sales registered 53 per cent rise in October while that of liquor went up by 34 per cent. There is, however, an air of uncertainty among shopkeepers to place indent at the depots to get sufficient liquor stocks. With clarity yet to emerge on the policy, many shop owners are hesitant to purchase additional stock from the depots. Many have stopped stocking premium brands like Johnnie Walker, Black Label whisky and Black Dog Scotch whisky among others.

The reluctance to stock superior brands comes in the wake of fear among shopkeepers that they might not get a license when the new policy is announced. A majority of shopkeepers earlier used to place bulk orders at least twice a week to get stock from TSBCL depots. But these days, they are limiting their purchases to just meet the demand of regular customers, mostly the kind who prefer Royal Stag whisky over Johnnie Walker.

“We are now focusing on daily sales without stocking much for the future because of uncertainty over the licence period,” a shopkeeper said. Even for Diwali festival, most shopkeepers have decided to buy only limited stocks.

Under the Telangana Excise (Grant of license of selling by shop and conditions of licence) Rules-2012, as many as 2,216 shops were notified for lease period from November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2021 with fixed license fee slabs. The shops were disposed through draw of lots.

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