Nagpur.
The Liquor manufacturers of the state sell their produce through wholesale and retail registered shops to the consumers. The State Excise Department seems to laud itself by brazenly violating the excise laws. As a result of which nips (180 ml) of alcoholic drinks sold in bars and retail country liquor shops, while the rule says that the bars and retail country liquor shops can serve the consumers any quantity which they want after opening a Bumper (of 750 ml or 1000 ml) only.
The above violation of the rule is said to be going on brazenly under the safety provided by the State Excise Department. According to the sources in the Excise department of Nagpur District, the officials do not adhere to the rules and regulations of the Excise department nor do they enforce the rules in their jurisdiction. There are more than a dozen such rules known only to the Excise department officials. Some of these rules are known to the liquor manufacturers, wholesale traders and retail traders.
This makes it clear that since the consumers do not know the rules and regulations, falls prey to the rules. For example the rule dictates that the liquor should be sold to the consumers by opening a full bottle of 750 or 1000 ml bottle and filling the liquor into a nip or a half bottle. They cannot sell sealed nips to the consumers. This also means that the sale of sealed nips is going on brazenly only because of the support of excise officials.
The concerned officials of Excise department are said to be making dual profit. First, the rise in excise tax because of rise in the sale of liquor, and secondly the under-table financial profits made from the wholesale and retail traders.
On the other hand, in order to help the liquor manufacturers get more profit, the excise department is allegedly pressuring the retail liquor shops to sell nips (180 ml) at an exorbitant rate higher than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) blatantly violating the excise laws. Those who refuse to sell at inflated rates get victimized by the Excise department and various cases of excise are filed against him.
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