The UT excise and taxation division’s ninth try and public sale the unsold liquor vends on Monday proved to be a flop present, with not one of many 22 remaining vends getting auctioned, a repeat from the eighth spherical on April 27.

The public sale for the 22 remaining vends was held after slashing the reserve worth by a major 25%.

Through 9 auctions, held on totally different dates since March 14 after a number of reductions in reserve worth, the division has been capable of public sale 73 of the whole 95 vends within the metropolis, whereas 22 stay unsold.

In distinction, final yr, the division had offered 93 of the whole 96 vends by way of seven rounds of auctions.

A senior official of the division stated one other public sale will likely be held quickly after slashing the reserve worth additional.

For monetary yr 2023-24, the division has fastened a income goal of 830 crore from liquor vends’ license charges. Having earned solely 400 crore up to now, it’s observing a income hole of 430 crores.

Darshan Singh Kler, the proprietor of Kler Wines, who purchased six liquor vends within the first public sale, stated holding extra auctions can be a futile train till the administration amended its excise coverage.

Liquor contractors have maintained that the poor response to the auctions is as a result of Punjab excise coverage providing extra perks than that rolled out by Chandigarh.

Among them is decrease VAT, excise price and license price. Besides, UT has additionally fastened quota at 18 lakh liquor packing containers a yr, which implies unlifted liquor instances will result in a penalty. The penalty is 900 per case for Indian made international liquor and 3,500 per case for international liquor. In distinction, Punjab has an open quota with no compulsion.