Liquor shops to be open till 11 pm from Oct 1

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has ratified the new Excise Policy -2017. The new policy would be in force for two years from October 1.

According to the new policy, the liquor sale timings in the GHMC limits has been increased by one hour. The liquor outlets will be permitted to sell liquor till 11 pm as against the existing 10 pm deadline.

In view of the law and order problems reported at liquor outlets, the government has made it mandatory in the new excise policy that all the retail shops should install at least two CCTV cameras on the licensed premises and they should be linked directly to state Excise Control Room of Prohibition and Excise Department.

Principal Secretary (Excise) Somesh Kumar said that the total number of licensed liquor outlets and bars would remain the same under the new excise policy.

The total number of liquor outlets in the state are 2016. The non-refundable registration fee for the establishment of wine shops has been doubled from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to meet the revenue targets set by the government in 2017-18 financial year. The liquor shops would be allotted to the prospective dealers through draw of lots.

In view of the complications that had cropped up under the 6-slab system in collecting licence fee, the government reduced it to 4-slab system and fixed the licence fee for a period of two years. The un-disposed 72 shops in the last auction would be reallocated to other places as per the local requirement.