JOIN USScrapping of notes hits booze-lovers
Demonetisation of high value currency by the centre has hit the booze-lovers hard in Uttar Pradesh with liquor sales registering 40% dip in the state.
The owners of the liquor shops in the state have asked the authorities to allow them to accept the demonetised currency till December 30 against sale of country made and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).
The owners were also contemplating to install card swipe facilities at the liquor shops to enable the booze-lovers to buy liquor with credit/debit cards.
“Liquor business has taken a hit following demonetisation...buyers have vanished....the licensees are incurring huge losses,” said Kanahiya Lal Maurya, general secretary of Lucknow Liquor Association here on Tuesday.
“Liquor sales have declined by around forty per cent in the state in the past six days since demonetisation,” Maurya added. He said that the situation was “worse” in the rural areas, where the sale of country made liquor has been badly hit.
Maurya said that the office bearers of the Association planned to meet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials and request them to allow sale of liquor against the demonetised currency.
“Sharp decline in the sales of liquor will also result in lower excise revenue for the government,” he added.
The Association office bearers said that it could take three to four months for the sales to return to its usual level. “The new currency is not much in supply now....the people will first use the currency they have in buying essential items rather than spending it on liquor,” said an office bearer.
He said that usually the liquor sales registered significant increase in the wedding seasons. “The situation this season, however, is different....wedding organisers are finding it difficult to pay for other important items required in the marriage,” he went on to add.