AP: Reforms in excise policy not till July

HYDERABAD: Any reforms in the excise policy of the state will have to wait till the end of June next year as the new excise year begins on July 1. Any attempt to bring in changes in the policy before that may lead to liquor syndicates going to courts and obtaining stays.Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is yet to hold a formal meeting with officials of the excise department to discuss if a change in the present system is warranted and if so what are the options before it.“Usually before the end of the excise year, the chief minister calls a meeting with the officials on review of the policy. In the wake of ACB raids on liquor syndicates and excise officials and the ACB digging into the activities of politicians, the chief minister may hold a meeting soon but whatever reforms that are contemplated can come in only from July 1, 2012,” an official said.According to the official, the department is looking at three options - reverting to the lottery system, state takeover of retail liquor business and continuing the present auction system with in-built in safeguards. “The lottery system is the best option. It will reduce the extent of nexus between traders and officials,” the official said.Before the auction system was introduced, the licence for each liquor shop used to be sold at a predetermined price. If there were more than one buyer, the name used to be picked through a draw of lots.In the system, there is no scope for bidders to quote exorbitant price for a licence. Generally, it drives him to resort to malpractices like selling liquor at more than the maximum retail price, running belt shops and buying protection from the excise officials and politicos. In the last auction, the highest licence fee paid for a shop at Nadikudi in Guntur district is  `5.1 crore.