New DelhiDelhi government on Sunday extended the retail licenses of liquor shops for a month. However, the national capital went informally dry on Monday and hotels, clubs and bars were not served liquor as their excise licenses expired on July 31.
As reported by TOI, these are the following places in Delhi where liquor shops were closed recently: Greater Kailash, CR Park, Chirag Delhi, Subhash Nagar, Daryaganj, Punjabi Bagh, Sarita Vihar, Malka Nagar, GTB Nagar, Chandni Chowk , Shalimar Bagh (South), Shakarpur, Anand Vihar.
On the other hand, these are the locations in the capital where liquor shops had shut down in May: Hauz Khas, Safdarjung Enclave, Kotla Mubarakpur, Shahdara, Dilshad Garden, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Srinivaspuri, Laxmi Nagar, Preet Vihar, Andrews Ganj, Shakurpur, Dwarka, Model Town, Vikaspuri, Tagore Garden, Lado Sarai, Kamla Nagar, Moti Nagar, Rajendra Nagar.
Under the New Excise Policy 2021-22, the Delhi government had issued 849 retail licenses divided into 32 zones across the city. The policy was implemented on November 17, 2021.
A restaurant owner alleged that there appeared to be “administrative incompetence” of the “highest level” on the part of the government, which has led to the situation.
“If they wanted to extend the license, they should have done it first. First, they withdrew the new excise policy and decided to run the contracts through their agencies and now a one-month extension is being given, loss We will do no harm by not thinking of anything to do business,” he said.
Around 468 liquor shops were operating in the city as the government decided to bring back the old excise policy.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has extended the licenses of country liquor shops by two months till September 30, as fresh tenders are yet to be finalized, officials said on Monday.
The Excise Department of the Delhi government, in an order issued on Saturday, increased the licenses of more than 250 country liquor shops in the city.
(with PTI inputs)