The liquor policy of the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is taking twists and turns, with boozers finding innovative ways to quench their thirst while the state is losing revenue heavily.
Hitherto, the state government has been imposing restrictions on a person possessing a maximum of three bottles of liquor of any size without permit or license – whether it Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) or local made liquor or beer.
However, the state government has realized that this rule has resulted in large scale smuggling of liquor from the neighbouring states.
It noticed that in a large number of cases, liquor from outside the State is being transported into Andhra Pradesh without payment of duty, fees etc, resulting in loss of revenue to the exchequer but also transport of liquor through non-duty paid means.
Now, the Jagan government on Monday removed the relaxation given for a person to carry a maximum of three bottles.
It has ruled that no intoxicant shall be permitted to be transported into the State of Andhra Pradesh, without payment of applicable duties, taxes fees etc.
However, only those coming from abroad are permitted to carry two litres of duty-free liquor without any permit as per Government of India norms.
Let us see how far this new rule will be enforced in the state.