The Maharashtra government has decided to partially roll back the previous hike in license fees for liquor vendors.
“We have tempered the hike in license fees that was introduced earlier. This was done because the industry said this would affect their financial health just as they were recovering from the impact of the pandemic,” said a senior state excise department official.
Earlier in January, Maharashtra government increased the license fees by an average of 15 percent.
According to information Maharashtra has given out around 32,000 licenses across categories to distilleries; wine and beer vendors; bars; units that manufacture beer, country liquor, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), among others. This includes around 15,000 licenses for permit rooms and beer bars, 4,000 country liquor bars, 5,000 beer and wine shops and 1,680 wine shop licenses.
The latest hike was expected to grow revenues by Rs 200 crore for the department, which earns about Rs 1,000 crore annually from license fees. The state excise has a revenue collection target of Rs 19,500 crore for the 2021-22 financial year.
On the other hand, the hospitality industry in Maharashtra has urged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to provide 50 per cent fees waivers for the fiscal year 2021-22.
