Punjab Govt : Small stores can now sell foreign liquor too

To increase the availability of imported liquor the Punjab government has allowed liquor traders to tie up with small general stores to sell foreign liquor. The license knows as L2B which was earlier given only to departmental stores is now granted to these small general stores too.

The provision for granting L2B license which includes retail sale of imported foreign liquor – has been relaxed in the new excise policy which will come into effect from April 1, 2020. Under the new norms, an L2 license, the wholesale and retail vendor of foreign liquor – has been allowed to get a license to sell foreign liquor at any general store after entering into an agreement with such a store.

The minimum area covered by the store should be 400 square feet and it should be dealing in any four items, including grocery items, frozen goods, sugar and bakery items, toiletries, cosmetics, household goods, toys, sports goods, electronics, apparels, office stationery, gift items and any other household goods.

The condition of minimum guaranteed quota for this license has also been done away with. In the present policy, 2,700 proof litres (PL) is the minimum quota of imported foreign liquor which the license holders are required to lift compulsorily. In case the quota is not lifted, licensees are required to pay Rs 330 per PL as assessed fee.

The annual license fee has also been brought down from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. For operating this license, the license will have to utilize up to 25% of covered area of the store for display of liquor which will be supplied from L2 license with approval of collector. The annual good and services tax (GST) turnover/supply of the last year should be minimum of Rs 1 crore, which is same as in current policy.