Liquor License in Noida

Obtaining a liquor license is a tedious task as it involves many intricacies, procedures and requirements. The purpose of State Governments issuing liquor license is to keep track of the sale and consumption of alcohol within the State. In this article, we look at the procedure for obtaining liquor license in Noida.

Types of Licenses

There are liquor licenses in Noida for the following necessities.

Setting up a liquor business
Payment of duties
Establishing new outlets
Consuming large quantities of alcohol at a private party.

Grant of Licenses

Licenses for wholesale and retail liquor outlets are issued for excise year is valid from April 1 to March 31.
In certain cases, the licenses are granted after sanctioning by the Excise Commissioner.
A duplicate certificate can be obtained for a fee of Re. 1, in the event of losing an original license.

Eligibility

Liquor licenses in Noida are issued to the following people.

An individual approved as a suitable vendor.
Any individual eligible to obtain a license for selling country liquor or foreign liquor or both.

Liquor licenses are not issued to the following people.

An individual who is accused as a criminal by a criminal court of a non-bailable offence.
Those licensees who are in arrears to the government, those licensees whose conduct is not satisfactory, or those licensees who have been found guilty of any crime.
Underage individuals who are below eighteen years of age.
The regulation concerning drug licenses empowers the concerned authority to cancel the license of any shop.
Alcohol found on the premises of a vendor that is unfit for human consumption will be ceased according to the order of the collector.

The Uttar Pradesh Excise License Rules, 1991

The Uttar Pradesh Excise License Rules, 1991 is used to regulate the grant of licenses to sell country liquor and foreign liquor in the state. The grant to sell these licenses are given by the tender-cum-auction system by making the required payment under Section 30. A licensee has to fill in form F.L. 5-A to obtain a license for retail sale of foreign liquor. The number of shops and groups of shops will be maintained by the Licensing authority. Shops have to be settled on the date approved by the date published issued by the Excise Commissioner in Form G-35-D.

Excise Manual 374(4)

Excise Manual 374(4) conveys that the auction proceedings can be commenced by reading out the general conditions and explaining the same to the members present. This is done to enable the competitors to understand the rules and regulations of the bidding.

Requirements

The following requirements have to be met to obtain the license.

The license has to furnish Solvency certificate.
The names have to be included in the consolidated list of the solvency certificate holders.
The individual should not be a defaulter of excise revenue.
The individual should be debarred from bidding in an auction.
An affidavit stating the details of immovable and movable properties along with the copies of the documents has to be submitted to establish the ownership of the property.

Participation from other States

Prospective bidders from other states may participate in the auction by producing a certificate from the respective district Collector. The document certifies that he/ she is not convicted by a criminal court for any non-bailable offences and does not have any governmental dues.

Auction of Shops

The licensing of retail sale of Bhang, country liquor and foreign liquor is made in separate sections of an auction. Auctioning of licenses is made shop-wise. The shops may be auctioned in the form of groups and it is decided by the licensing authority.

Submission of Tender

The tender (1) contains the following details and should be submitted in a closed cover addressed to the auctioning authority.

Name of the tenderer or tenderers with father's name and address.
Location of the shop or group of shops and the kind of shops for which the applicant has offered the tender.
The basic license fee for the shop or group of shops in figures and in words.

The tender should be supported by a demand draft, the value of which shall not be less than 10% of the entire sum offered.

Auction Procedure

Here are the steps that are required to conduct an auction. Step 1: Presiding of the auction The auction will be presided by the Licensing authority. This will be overseen by the Excise Inspectors on Preventive Duty and by the Tehsildar. Step 2: Withdrawing the licenses As per the instructions of the Excise Commissioner, the officer conducts an auction to withdraw any licenses from the auction before starting the auction. Bids with a small amount from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000 will not be accepted and bids with a huge amount above Rs. 10,000 is accepted. Step 3: Recording the bid maker Name of the person making the bid along with the amount will be recorded by the officer whose is conducting the auction. The signatures of the highest bidders and the lowest bidders will be obtained by the noise sheet. Step 4: Submission of the tenders Upon submission of the tender, the licensing authority considers the bids and takes decisions. After bids are finalized, no negotiations or auctions will be reopened by the authority. The final acceptance will be sanctioned by the Excise Commissioner which will be decided by the State Government if there are any revision. Every bid will be valid till the Excise Commissioner declares the final decision. Step 5: Declaration of Minimum Guaranteed Quality In the auction proclamation, the Excise Commissioner declares the minimum guaranteed quality. The licensee has to pay the price that is fixed by the Excise Commissioner. Step 6: Ensuring the Sale The licensee has to ensure that the sale is organised within the minimum guaranteed quantity for that excise year before the expiration of the term of the license. The remaining quantity has to be declared by the licensee to the Licensing Authority on the next day. However, a licensee cannot claim for damages or refund of bid-money if there is a delay in the supplement of alcohol. Step 7: Proposal of Action Using form G-33A, the Excise Commissioner sends a proposal of action to all the sanctioned shops. Step 8: The Final Decision A statement has to be sent to the Excise Commissioner in Form D-12 within 30 days of auction. Once this is made, the final decision will be taken by him within a month.

Hours of Retail Sale of Foreign Liquor

According to the Retail Sale of Foreign Liquor Rules 1973, the timings for a licensed shop has to be from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Consumption of alcohol after half an hour of the closing hour will not be allowed under any circumstances.

Conditions to Maintain a License

The Uttar Pradesh Act under Section 41 lays down the general conditions after issuing the license.

There should not be any addition of extra substances in the liquor to increase the intoxication effect.
There should not be mixing of any drugs to the alcohol.
No permit is given to the vendors to reduce the strength of the spirit.
Wholesale or retail licensed vendors should not reduce the strength of the liquor.
The licensed vendors should not sell denatured alcohol below the strength of 50 degrees.
Shops that are close by march line has to be closed on request by the marching troops. Such arrangements have to be made by the Tahasildar.

Denatured alcohol which is also called methylated spirits or denatured rectified spirit, is ethanol that contains additives and makes it toxic, giving it a bad taste leading to nausea, to discourage recreational consumption. The closing of the Shops It is to be noted that liquor shops should not be opened on dry days. These days include

Republic day (January 26)
Independence day (August 15)
Gandhi Jayanti (October 2)
The first day of every month
Any three days in a year declared by the collector in a district

The shops within the boundaries of a place or within a span of 8 kilometres have to be remained closed during

The day of the poll
Two days before the day of the poll

Maintaining Accounts

All wholesale and retail vendors have to maintain a daily account of the ordinary limit of the retail. In the event of demise of a licensee, the collector hands over the license of the deceased to the representative if all the due from the deceased licensee are recovered before the licence is so transferred. Wholesale and retail vendors under the contract system maintain accounts in the prescribed form and submit it to the Collector on the first of every month. The licensee should also maintain a copy of the form. Know more about Delhi Liquor License