Another failed auction, no takers for 18 vends in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, October 27

The UT Excise and Taxation Department has again failed to find any takers for its remaining 18 liquor vends out of 95 during the 19th e-auction held today. The auction was held after a gap of nearly three months. The department will now hold another auction on October 31.

The authorities have been reducing the reserve price by nearly 5 per cent since round three, which has now reached up to 60 per cent. The first auction was held on March 15. Today’s was the sixth consecutive auction when the department was unable to find any takers for the remaining liquor vends.

A senior officer said if they again failed to get any bidder in the last auction on October 31, they would increase the liquor quota of the auctioned vends.

The UT has failed to attract bidders due to high tax structure compared to neighbouring Punjab. In 2022-23, the UT Excise and Taxation Department was able to sell 93 of the 96 liquor vends after conducting seven auctions.

Darshan Singh Kler, president of the Wine Contractor Association, said, “The UT’s excise policy is to be blamed for the poor show.” For the financial year 2023-24, the department has set a revenue target of Rs 830 crore from the auction of liquor vend licence fee, but it has so far collected nearly Rs 500 crore.