Aadhaar-liquor link to check bottle littering?

Cheers to environment

After repeated complaints about empty liquor bottles polluting the environment, the excise department plans to track buyers by linking their Aadhaar numbers with the bar code on the bottles to penalise those discarding bottles carelessly.

Proposing a series of measures to rid public places of discarded liquor bottles, Mangaluru-based Rashtriya Parisara Samrakshana Okkota had submitted a proposal to the excise department. Accepting the suggestions, the excise department had assured the Okkota that it will adopt the suggestions after discussing them at the department level.

With the excise department secretary directing the excise commissioner to submit a detailed opinion on linking the Aadhaar number of the liquor buyer, the department plans to implement a system wherein the liquor shop that sold the bottle will be traced by scanning the bar code on the discarded or broken bottle. The shop or the buyer, based on the Aadhaar entry, will be identified and slapped a stiff fine.

Sources said each liquor shop will keep an inventory of their sales and each sale will be registered with the customer’s Aadhaar or mobile number. Scanning the bar code will help ascertain the batch number and point of sale.

A senior excise official said: “The proposal is still at the discussion stage and various stakeholders will be consulted before a decision is taken.”

Customers may be mandated to return empty bottles to buy new ones.