Chandigarh, Dec 3: Liquor contractors in Chandigarh are urging major changes to the upcoming Excise Policy 2026–27, claiming they are slipping into losses despite the UT’s rising excise revenue. Officials say more than a dozen vends have been sealed this year for failing to pay licence fees, and closures have become a monthly pattern.
The excise and taxation department has opened public consultations, seeking suggestions until December 30. Among the areas under review are digitised quota conversions, improvements to the Trace and Track system and revised norms for advance fees and bank guarantees. Industry stakeholders have also sought rationalised duties with Punjab and longer operating hours for select categories. The new policy will be implemented from April 1, 2026.
Contractors say that the current quotas are unsellable in a slowing market. Country liquor has a limit of 20 lakh proof litres, foreign liquor 8 lakh proof litres and IMFL more than 1.17 crore proof litres. They say customers are migrating to nearby Mohali and Panchkula, where prices are now at par or cheaper in border zones.
Licence fees range between ₹2 crore and ₹13 crore. Contractors pay 10% upfront during auction and the remaining 90% in nine instalments, all due by December 31.
Wine Contractors’ Association president Darshan Singh Kler said the business environment has deteriorated sharply. “We are running into losses because the rates are the same as Mohali and Panchkula, and in several border areas, the prices there are even lower,” he said. He also said one bidder quoting exceptionally high amounts in auctions had “distorted the market,” adding that most sealed vends belong to that group.
He said traders hope the UT’s new framework will “bring rational quotas and competitive pricing so vends don’t keep shutting down.”
A senior excise official said the UT had collected ₹693 crore in the current excise year up to November 30, compared with ₹579 crore last year—a 19.69% rise. “Sixteen vends are sealed for non-payment,” the official said.
Auction turnout has remained uneven. Ninety-two of 97 vends were sold in March, but five remained unsold. The UT had already scaled down its revenue target for 2025–26 from ₹1,000 crore to ₹800 crore after collecting ₹743 crore last year. Although the policy mandated that CITCO operate any unsold vends, the corporation declined to run them.
