Details of New Excise Policy

JK News Today

Jammu, February 22:

Excise Policy 2022-23 was launched by Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Finance Department, J&K in the presence of Excise Commissioner, J&K and other senior officers of Excise Department at Excise and Taxation Complex. Railhead, Jammu.

Objective of the Excise Policy 2022-23

1. To bring about greater social consciousness and awareness about the harmful effects of consumption of liquor, alcoholic beverages and drug abuse;
2. To encourage transition from high to low alcoholic content beverages;
3. To rationalize the number of taxes/duties and other levies to optimize revenues for common good
4. To check bootlegging/smuggling of liquor and narcotic drugs  in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from neighbouring states/union territories
5. To provide choice of liquor brands and places for consumption to the consumers and a level playing field to all the stake holders;

For the Policy year 2022-23, the vends shall be allotted through e-auction mode on the pattern of previous policy year. TheEarnest Money Deposit amount (EMD) has been increased from Rs. 5.00 Lacs to Rs. 7.00 Lacs, Minimum Guaranteed Revenue (MGR) has been increased by 10% over the previous policy year and Minimum Reserve Bid has been increased from Rs. 5.00 Lacs to Rs. 10 Lacs for the Policy Year 2022-23. The e-auction is being conducted by the  thrd party (J&K Bank) though secure and tested portal.The eligibility criteria for participation in the bidding process  is as under:-

1. The Bidder should not be below the age of 21 years
2. The bidder should be a domicile of UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
3. The bidder should have immovable property in the UT of J&K equal to 100 percent of the bid value and shall produce a property certificate   to this effect from the competent revenue authority.
4. The bidder should not be convicted of any non-bailable offence by a criminal court.
5. The bidder should not be convicted, or reasonably  suspected of committing  or conniving at the commission of any non-bailable offence under the  J&K Excise Act, Svt. 1958 or the Opium Act or the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930 and shall produce a character certificate issued by the concerned District Superintendent of Police
6. The bidder should not be a defaulter of State Taxes Department under the J&K General Sales Tax Act 1962, Central Sales Tax Act and J&K Excise Act Svt. 1958.

An individual can apply for any number of locations. The application fee/EMD shall have to be paid separately for each such bid. However, to obviate the possibility of cartelization and monopolistic practices, only one location shall be allotted to a bidder.

In the Excise Policy 2022-23, the timeline for submission of required documents and issuance of clearance certificate by concerned District Magistrate has been increased.The successful bidder will be required to deposit an amount equal to 50% of total bid amount under major head 0039 through GRAS/e-collect portal within five working days from the date of finalization of bid for a vend and 100% of bid value within ten working days of finalization of bid. The bidder shall apply for clearance of the premises from the District Magistrate within 05 working days from being declared as H1. However, the License shall only be issued after the issuance of clearance of the identified/selected premises/shop from the District Magistrate concerned. The District Magistrate shall convey the clearance or otherwise of the premises within a period of 15 days from the receipt of application from the H1 bidder.

In case the highest bidder (H1) fails to deposit the bid amount within stipulated time, vend shall be allotted to second highest bidder (H2) provided that he/she matches the bid value quoted by highest bidder (H1).

To encourage local production, export duty on all kind of liquor has been exempted for the policy 2022-23.

To control illegal distillation and provide a regulated/ legitimate drink to the consumer in the un-served/under-served areas, some new vends have also been proposed in these areas.