Private liquor stores in Delhi will remain shut from October 1 as the new Liquor Licence Policy is all set to be rolled out in the national Capital. As per the new policy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government, only Government-run liquor shops are going to remain open while private liquor shops will be closed till November 16.

The areas where liquor sale will be affected include RK Puram, Andrews Ganj, Lajpat Nagar, Patparganj, Rajouri Garden, Tughlaqabad, Kotla Mubarakpur, Inderpuri, Rani Bagh, Rohtash Nagar, Jilmil and Pandav Nagar.

According to the new excise policy, only Government-run liquor shops are going to remain open while private liquor shops will be closed till November 16. This implies that in 106 of municipal wards of Delhi no liquor shop will remain open till November 16.

Delhi has 80 wards without any liquor vendor. In 26 wards, there are only privately-owned liquor vendors. Due to the new policy, these vendors will be closed for 45 days starting October 1.

The retail liquor sale licence has been allocated to the highest bidders in 32 zones. Each zone has around 10 wards and 27 liquor vendors. Currently, there are 849 liquor stores in Delhi, of which 276 are privately-run. The rest are operational under the State Government’s department.

This comes as the Delhi Government asked the wholesalers and Government stores to maintain adequate supply of the liquor in the national Capital. The instruction was passed for vendors and traders, keeping in mind the festival season which is around the corner in which demand for liquor is bound to go up.

The State Government had floated tenders inviting bids for setting up of retail vends under the new policy, to prevent the formation of syndicates leading to overcharging and brand influencing. The new policy leaves it on the licensee to decide matters of discount and rebate on the MRP, in contrast to the old policy.