All liquor vends in Punjab will have point of sale (PoS) machines to record sale patterns and market trends, and prevent manipulation of selling prices. The state excise department believes the machines will play a key role in further increasing the excise revenues, which jumped by 41% in the 2022-23 financial year. The machines will cost vend owners INR2,500 ($34), and the pilot project will start with vends in Patiala, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib from Q2 of the financial year.
Soon, all 6,327 liquor vends in Punjab will have point of sale (PoS) machines. The state excise department has mooted the proposal and said that installation of these machines would help it record sale patterns, market trends and control the possibility of manipulation of selling price by the vends owners.
The department said the machines will play a key role in further increasing the excise revenues. The excise revenues witnessed a jump of 41% in the 2022-23 financial against the earnings of ₹6,254.74 crore in 2021-22. The state pocketed ₹8,841.4 crore, a jump of ₹2,587 crore.
“In the current fiscal, the department has set a target of ₹9,700 crore of revenue from the sale of liquor (excise). Next year, we are predicting that the revenue growth will plateau. So, to further increase the revenue, the department is looking to monitor the sale of each and every bottle,” said an officer in the state department on the condition of anonymity.
“It is a mandate of the government to shift to digital transaction mode, so why not in the liquor trade,” said a senior official of the department. The machine will cost the vend owners ₹2,500, and the department is looking to start the pilot project with vends in the districts of Patiala, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib from the second quarter of the financial year.
