Hyderabad, June 18: The State government has hiked the annual licence fee for bars selling Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in major cities and towns by 15 per cent and in smaller municipalities by 20 per cent from July 1.
In effect, the 15 per cent hike in fee will apply to cities and towns with a population of over seven lakh. The government has prescribed three slabs for payment of fee in towns with less than seven lakh population. The fee is Rs. 15.09 lakh for bars located in towns with population up to 50,000, Rs. 22.23 lakh in towns with population above 50,000 and less than 3 lakh and Rs. 25.40 lakh in towns with population between 3 lakh and 7 lakh. All bars in Municipal Corporation and municipality areas with population over 7 lakh will pay Rs. 27.39 lakh.
A senior excise official told The Hindu that an estimated Rs. 270 crore was expected to be mopped up after the hike. The government earned Rs. 230 crore as licence fee from 1,363 bars in the State last year. There was no increase in fee in bars attached to clubs.
He said a differential increase in the fee structure was proposed for different towns to maintain parity based on volume of business. Therefore, a higher fee was prescribed for towns with less than seven lakh population. It was noticed over the years that these towns had the potential for more business since they had a larger strength of bars. The increase was a flat 15 per cent across all categories of towns last year, he added. The government has adopted open licensing of bars in the name of “2 B” licences. while the licences for retail liquor outlets which number 6,594 in the State are given as “A 4”. Barring one or two years in the recent past, the fee of 2 B licences was increased every year, the official said.
–Agencies