No Permit For Liquor Supply Without CCTV

Shimla,March 12- Liquor factory operators hav been given time till April 15  to install CCTV in their factories by The Tax and Excise Department. Permits will not be issued for supply of liquor if cameras are not installed. From May 1, track and trace system is going to start in Himachal Pradesh to monitor the supply of liquor. Instructions have been issued to all liquor companies to complete the arrangements by April 30.

Under the Excise Policy issued for the financial year 2023-24, the use of GPS equipped vehicles has been made mandatory for the supply of liquor in Himachal Pradesh. Modern equipments have been procured from Europe and Korea for track and trace system. The software and mobile application of the Tax and Excise Department is ready. Under this system, CCTV cameras are to be installed from liquor factories to stores and contracts in the state.

Anyone can check the quality of liquor by scanning the barcode on the bottle. As soon as this system is implemented, it has been claimed that the business of spurious liquor will stop. The trial is going on for the last three years on this scheme funded by the World Bank. Companies have been selected through the Electronics Corporation for the purchase of modern equipment. Equipment for track and tracing is being installed in all distilleries, bottling plants, wholesale and godowns of the state.

Departmental officials believe that it will be easy to break the network of liquor smuggling if the system of online monitoring of liquor coming out of all the bottling plants and distilleries located in the state is developed. Scanning the bar code will reveal the year the wine was made, the batch number and where it was made. The Tax and Excise Department is also installing cameras in the premises of all liquor companies, bottling plants, wholesalers.

Computer systems are also being installed. After the implementation of this system, liquor traders will not be able to supply liquor without batch number. Every bottle will be registered on the computer system. When the track and trace system of liquor bottles is started, the tax received by the government will also be calculated correctly. This process will also increase the revenue of the government.