SHILLONG: Discrepancies in the State Excise that allowed sale of beer without holograms have led to revenue loss of Rs 17.76 lakh.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Revenue Sector) report for the year ended March 31, 2012, has revealed that the sale of 1,47,99,848 bottles of IMFL, beer without holograms has led to revenue loss of Rs 17.76 lakh.
“In August 2009, the Commissioner of Excise (COE) procured one crore holograms from a firm which, however, could not be distributed to the manufacturers/ bottlers/ bonded warehouses due to a case filed by the Meghalaya Wine Dealers’ Association in the Gauhati High Court challenging the Government of Meghalaya’s decision to introduce the holograms,” the CAG report said.
The Court dismissed the case on March 12, 2010.
“It was observed that the COE instead of selling the holograms immediately from March 13, 2010 sold them in a phased manner i.e., to distilleries from May 2010; bonded warehouses from June 2010 and retail wine shops from July 2010 onwards.
“A check of the records of six offices of the Commissioner of Excise revealed that 1,47,99,848 bottles of IMFL, beer etc., were sold by bonded warehouses in five out of seven districts in the State from March 13, 2010 to July 31, 2010 ) without holograms resulting in revenue loss of Rs 17.76 lakh calculated on the basis of the State government’s share of Rs 0.12 per hologram,” the CAG report said.
When the CAG pointed this out in August 2011, the Excise Department in its reply, in September 2012, stated that affixation of holograms was done in three phases after consultations with the companies, wholesalers and retailers as a result of which there was a delay.
“The reply is not acceptable as there was no provision for affixation of holograms in three phases in the court order of March 12, 2010,” the CAG asserted.