Hello before Cheers! Order your drink on the phone

After home delivery of fast food the in-thing is that you pick up the phone and get a bottle of your favourite whisky or beer at home from the nearest liquor vendor. The liquor business in Chandigarh is getting an image makeover, thanks to a shift from the policy of auctioning liquor vends, officials said.

Since a number of traders and businessmen here have entered the trade, they have introduced a number of new facilities, including home delivery and making payment through credit cards. A newly opened liquor vend owner has started home delivery of liquor in case of orders above Rs 200 each or even of one bottle if it is a high-value liquor brand.

Majority of the liquor selling outlets in Chandigarh no longer look like typical "thekas" (vends) of the past when they used to stink, were unclean, dark and dingy and the employees were rude and least concerned about the customer. The new vends, especially of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), are brightly lit, have latest glass-top sales counters replacing the old ones made of tables, have neon sign boards and uniformed staff.

The prices of beer and liquor have also come down due to reduction in value added tax (VAT) to four per cent this year from 22 per cent last year. This has happened due to the emergence of a large number of retailers who have bagged Country Made Liquor (CML) and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) licenses following a change from the policy of auction of liquor vends to allotment through draw of lots.

The vends used to be auctioned at a steep rate and often led to monopolisation of the trade. In 2006-07, in a major change in the excise policy, the Chandigarh Administration announced allotment of liquor vends through grant of licenses instead of holding auction.

"The new system is more transparent, provides opportunity to small new entrepreneurs to enter the trade and protects the interest of consumers," finance-cum-excise and taxation secretary S K Sandhu said here. He said the change in excise policy had been made in order to curb the tendency of capitalisation and to improve the quality of vends and services and to bring about greater accountability and responsive trade practices.

Out of 215 vends, including 65 of country liquor, which were to be allotted, 167 were given as no trader turned up for the remaining vends, Sandhu added.

The administration earned revenue of about Rs 50 crore through grant of 167 licenses as against around Rs 83 crore which it had accrued last year through auction of vends. The remaining vends are proposed to be put for allotment soon, official sources said adding the administration was expecting a positive response following reduction in VAT.

Satyapal, a representative of the liquor traders, said dealers would have to introduce new facilities if they wanted to survive due to the arrival of a number of businessmen.

He, however, said although the administration had broken the monopoly of big cartels by introducing the allotment system and reducing VAT by 18 per cent, the wholesalers have negated the deduction by increasing the rates of most brands of liquor and beer. "It seems the manufacturers have formed a cartel now," he added.

Satyapal said the manufacturers had since April 1 been giving supplies at tentative rates without issuing any invoices saying the rates were yet to be worked out. But the tentative prices being quoted are about 30 per cent more than what the rates were before March 31, he added.

Though the retailers were selling liquor and beer at reduced rates, this may not continue for long as the increased burden would have to be passed on to the consumers, he said. "The intention of the administration to provide cheaper rates will be defeated," Satyapal said.

Excise and tax officials said they would ensure that the maximum carrying limit fixed for individuals - six bottles of liquor and 12 bottles of beer - is not violated by the new entrants in the trade in the name of providing home delivery.