Liquor bottles in Goa to be barcoded to shun pilferage

Goa government is contemplating the possibility of barcoding liquor bottles packed in the state and sold here to counter the possibility of pilferage, a senior official said today.
The state government is exploring the possibility of introducing barcodes on labels of liquor bottles packed in the state or even sold in Goa, State Commissioner for Excise Menino D'Souza told PTI.
The state government in the past had decided to install hologram on the bottles. The proposal, however, was dropped as the central government is encouraging barcoding of the bottles, D'Souza said.
The excise department is wary of duplicate liquor being sold in the state, especially in the tourist belt. However, barcoding will solve the entire issue, the commissioner said.

"The barcode would be encrypted on the label of the bottle. It would be unique," he said, adding that the department is designing a software to streamline its functioning, where the provision to decode the barcode is also being included.
The central government has agreed to provide technological help for the concept, which is already introduced in some parts of the country including Delhi, D'Souza said.
The barcoding will help the officials to identify the manufacturer of the product, date of production, its exact price and other details, he said.
Compared to the rest of the country, liquor in Goa is cheap because of lower taxation. The data available from the department reveals that till March 31 this year, 9,336 liquor selling licences were given by the state government.