Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
CM, Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain brief the media on the Cabinet's decision

Only the deputy commissioner of the excise department to issue P10 permits.

NEW DELHI: Delhi government is tightening the laws governing the sale and serving of liquor at restaurants that only have temporary licenses procured from liquor shops. The Delhi government, on Tuesday, said such restaurants will now have to take permits directly from the deputy commissioner.

The rule is part of Delhi government’s excise policy for 2019-20 which was approved by the cabinet chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Under this new policy, it will now be difficult for a section of hotels and restaurants to get temporary liquor permits. Additionally, the policy has also relaxed the exemption list of places serving liquor on dry days to include outlets that serve only wine and beer.

“At present, many restaurants, pubs and hotels organise parties where they serve and sell liquor using a P-10 license. Being a temporary permit, it is cheap. This results in loss of revenue to the government as these restaurants don’t go for permanent licenses which require an annual fee. Recently, we busted several such parties, some of them high-profile gatherings, where liquor was sold using a P-10 permit. But, P-10 does not allow anyone to sell liquor,” an official from the excise department said.

Currently obtaining a P-10 license is easy as they are available at at registered liquor vends. But with the introduction of the new policy, only the Deputy Commissioner will be able to issue the license. Even those who have a P-10 permit will now have to register with the excise department. Therefore, from now on, inspections will be carried out before granting P-10 license. If a restaurant is found to be big enough to to necessitate a permanent license, the P-10 won’t be granted.

In case of any excise violation on the premises, the establishment may be barred for at least three months from applying for P-10 permits for a first offence. Additionally, in case of repetition of a violation, the premises would be barred for a period of one year.

 

 

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