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| ‘New Excise Policy’ has paved way for Mafia’s entry into J&K, monopolized wine trade, alleges JWTA | | ‘5-6 outside groups hacked entire bidding process, got maximum vends’ | | 
Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 22: Jammu Wine Traders Association (JWTA) on Thursday said that the New Excise Policy 2021-22 has monopolized the entire wine trade of Jammu and Kashmir, with liquor mafia from outside states having got maximum liquor vends allegedly by hacking the entire bidding process.
Addressing media persons here, JWTA members said that while announcing the New Excise Policy, Union Territory administration had claimed that the new policy would remove the monopoly and cartelization in the wine trade.
“The government claims have proved to be a hoax and per the list of successful bidders, some groups from outside J&K and few families have got multiple licenses by using the proxy of local persons in their contact in the bidding. Some names believed to be outsiders are M/s Oberois Fincon Pvt. Ltd, M/s Oberois Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd, Anuradha Wine Traders, M/s Teen Murti Associates Pvt. Ltd, M/s Aggarwal Property Mart Pvt. Ltd and Poonam Wine Traders”, the JWTA members said.
They further said that few families of Jammu have also succeeded in getting 10 to 20 licenses each on the names of their family members and relatives through proxy biddings.
“About 200 license holders, who were in this trade for past many decades haven’t got a single license in this e-auction system,” they said.
The JWTA members also claimed that the new outside groups, who have got maximum vends in JK, had hired professional software experts for bidding and at one time 5 to 8 persons were bidding for the same location using more than one computer with the same ID.
“The basic safeguards like CAPTCHA and OTP verification to prevent automated and pre-programmed bidding were unavailable in the software used for the e-auction system,” they alleged.
The JWTA members said, “What baffles the minds and escapes all logics and reasons are the fact that a liquor shop, whose daily sale was only of Rs 2 lakh ends up paying Rs 1 crore or 2 crore as fixed license fee. The sale of 2 lakh per day translates into a gross profit of Rs 10000 per day or 3 lakh per month or 30 lakh per year can be justified for a bid of Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore.”
Pointing a finger over the credentials of the successful bidders, the JWTA members said it is a matter of investigation by the Income Tax department that such a huge amount is paid by some bidders, who have not even filed income tax returns for the last 5 years. “We urge the government agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) Income Tax department to please inquire what is the source of their incomes as they have given bids of such a huge amount for acquiring the license”, they said.
The most disturbing information is that there were too many follow users in the systems, who paid Rs. 5.25 lakhs but did not participate in the bidding process. “Why someone spent Rs. 5.25 lakh even when the bid was closed at the base price? It shows that some professionals were hired by some groups to defeat the cause of locals who were in the trade for many years earning their livelihood through this business”, they said.
The high bid and low profit will definitely lead to a huge loss to the bidders and the loss would be completed by selling spurious liquor from neighbouring states and smuggling and selling JK Special Whisky, which is a local brand of Jammu & Kashmir, into neighbouring states to lift the fixed quota of it. “We fear that cheap quality brands of other states may be sold in Jammu and Kashmir to minimize the loss. As a matter of fact, since 1952 the day this trade was allowed to be run in Jammu & Kashmir, no death has been reported or spotted by drinking of spurious liquor as we come to hear from neighbouring states”, they added.
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