Delhi govt gets a year to file report on CAG audit of liquor policy

The Delhi Assembly has given a year’s time to the government for an action report on the previous CAG audit of liquor regulations in the national capital for the year 2021-22, Speaker Vijender Gupta said .

According to officials, the Assembly Secretariat has written to the Minister of Excise, a portfolio under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and the Principal Secretary, Finance, conveying these directions.

The direction came on the adoption of the second report of the Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) on the report ‘Comptroller & Auditor General of India on Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi’.

“The PAC has submitted its report to the House, concluding that there existed serious systemic deficiencies in the regulation, licensing, pricing, quality control, enforcement, and overall policy implementation of the Excise Department, leading to substantial revenue losses amounting to Rs 2,026.91 crore and posing significant risks to public health and governance,” Gupta said.

The speaker alleged widespread lapses in licensing processes, including non-production of records and issuance of multiple licences to related entities, which led to discretionary pricing, undue benefits to licensees, and inflated profit margins during the previous government.

The Excise Supply Chain Information Management System failed to effectively track liquor sales due to excessive reliance on the ‘stock take sold’ method and the presence of a large number of unaccounted barcodes, resulting in potential revenue leakages, the secretariat added.