New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The Delhi Excise department has asked all wholesalers to start testing liquor received from manufacturers and upload reports on a portal along with undertaking that there is no spurious alcohol.
Under the new excise policy of the Delhi government, each wholesale licensee is required to set up an approved laboratory at its warehouses to check the presence of spurious liquor in each batch of liquor received from the manufacturers.
An order issued by the Excise department earlier this month directed L-1 (wholesale) licensees to initiate testing and upload test report for each batch received from manufacturer/distillery along with an undertaking that the liquor is not spurious and is as per approved label specifications and as per prescribed BIS specification in testing module on ESCIMS.
“The wholesale licensees have started setting up testing mechanism but it is work under progress so far,” said a senior Excise department officer.
In December last year, the department had issued a reminder to wholesale licensees to furnish the status of setting up the laboratory at L-1 premises with specific input on purchase of lab equipments, chemicals and hiring of technical staff.
The licensees had earlier sought extension of two months to streamline the supply of Indian manufactured foreign liquor to retailers in time, officials said.
The department had found that no wholesale licensees had submitted the requisite detail and asked them to provide the complete detail by January 5 for the smooth functioning of the supply chain of the licensees concerned, they said.
The new excise policy anticipates the wholesale licensees to systematically check the product being sent to them for spurious liquor and to inform the Excise department in case any spurious liquor is found in their supplies.
It also mandates appointment of a deputy commissioner (wholesale operations) who will be responsible for preventing supply of any spurious and adulterated liquor by manufacturers, wholesale distributors and liquor stores.
The policy further stipulates constitution of special teams for sample collection from warehouses, retail vends, hotels, clubs and restaurants across all brands.
Any L-1 licence holder or retail shop owner found in possession spurious liquor will lose their entire licence and will be subject to criminal proceedings as prescribed under law, it states.
They will be permanently blacklisted and barred from operating in Delhi and in good faith besides informing it to excise departments of other states, the policy lays down.
The Delhi government will set up a state-of-the-art lab which will specialise in detecting spurious and counterfeit liquor. It will also work with the industry to set safety standards and practices, according to the policy. PTI VIT SMN SMN
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