Excise Dept to increase staff strength to curb bootlegging

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 8

In its bid to rein in cross-border bootlegging in Bathinda and surrounding districts, the Excise and Taxation Department has decided to intensify enforcement activities in the region. Apart from the plan to increase the existing strength of employees in the Excise Department, the department has forwarded a request to the Punjab Police to depute 250 personnel to put curbs on rampant cross-border bootlegging.

Talking to The Tribune, MP Singh, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Taxation, Punjab, said, “Intensive enforcement is the way to curb liquor smuggling in the region. So we have decided to enhance the existing staff strength of the Excise Department in the region. We have also written to the Punjab Police to depute 250 more personnel at more prone areas.”

The Financial Commissioner (Taxation) and Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, VP Singh, was in the city today to conduct a meeting with prospective liquor contractors to seek their suggestions ahead of the liquor policy formulation for the year 2018-2019.

He said, “Our emphasis will be to improve upon revenue collections. While revenue collections from the GST are expected to remain static, apart from rendering quality services to the consumers, resolving issues of contractors, increasing revenue collections from liquor trade will remain central to the liquor policy for the next fiscal.”