Amaravati:: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday issued an order prohibiting transport of liquor from other states into its territory without payment of excise duty in a bid to check loss of revenue. This annuls a Government Order issued in October last year permitting individuals to have possession of three bottles of liquor each without a permit or license.
Now, even for personal use, one cannot bring in liquor from outside the state. It has come to the notice of the government that in a large number of cases, liquor from outside the state is being transported into Andhra Pradesh without payment of duty, fees, etc.
This is not only resulting in loss of revenue to the exchequer but also in transport of liquor through non-duty paid means, Revenue Special Chief Secretary Rajat Bhargava said in the order. To curb this, transport of liquor from other states was being banned, he said.
The state governments decision comes in the wake of a recent order of the High Court, wherein the actions of the Special Enforcement Bureau in arresting persons carrying even permitted quantities of liquor, were castigated, official sources said. In recent months, smuggling of liquor from other states like Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha had become rampant as the AP government increased the rates by a whopping 75 per cent.
Besides, the number of liquor outlets was also sharply reduced to discourage people from consumption. The SEB had arrested a large number of people and seized liquor worth over Rs 25 crore that was allegedly being smuggled into the state.
As a fallout of the high court order, the government decided to annul last years G.O and hence the fresh order, official sources said.
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