Liquor stores in several areas of Delhi witnessed long queues of tipplers on Saturday as some outlets offered discounts on different brands of alcohol.
Liquor stores in some parts of the city, including Jahangirpuri, Shahdara and Mayur Vihar, offered up to 35 per cent discount on certain IMFL brands.
Liquor stores have to exhaust their stock by the end of March as licences will be renewed in the new financial year, said a liquor vend employee in East Delhi.
“There are also certain brands that have not picked up sale and retailers want to dispose them off through discounts and special offers like ‘buy one, get one free’,” he said.
A senior excise department officer said that several other factors such as social distancing norms being followed in liquor stores, wedding season and the weekend were also behind the long queues.
A liquor business expert said people bought in large quantities due to the rate cut.
“The rush was more in stores located closer to border towns in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh due to competition among retailers there to attract more customers,” he said.
The new excise policy of the Delhi government came into effect in November last year.
Delhi’s new excise policy
Retailers are not only offering 30-40% discount, but they are also coming up with a few offers, which were not allowed earlier. The Excise Department has fixed the maximum retail price under the new policy.
As per Delhi’s new excise policy, the city has been divided into 32 zones and licenses have been allotted on a zonal basis through auction. A total of 849 new liquor shops were about to open, less than 600 have started functioning so far. According to sources, 50 more shops are expected to open soon.
