Noida: Overcharging Rs 10 for beer lands liquor seller in jail

Noida: Overcharging a customer Rs 10 for a beer bottle in Noida landed a liquor seller in jail on Wednesday and the outlet’s owner slapped with a penalty of Rs 75,000.

According to the excise department officials, the incident was reported to have happened at a liquor outlet in Roza Jalalpur area of Bisrakh.

The department acted on the complaint, sending a decoy customer to the liquor store, a senior official said.

“The outlet sold a Kingfisher Strong beer of 500 ml to the customer for Rs 130, while it costs Rs 120. We had received complaints from many people about the seller overcharging them amounts like Rs 10 or Rs 20, saying he was charging extra for ‘kharcha paani’,” Excise Inspector Abhinav Shahi told PTI.

On the basis of the evidence, action was taken against the liquor seller Ravi Singh and an FIR was lodged at the local police station under Section 64 (overrating) of the Excise Act and IPC 408 (breach of trust by clerk or servant) after which he was arrested and sent to jail, Shahi said.

District Excise Officer Rakesh Bahadur Singh said a penalty of Rs 75,000 has also been issued to the licensee of the liquor store, identified as Surender Singh, over violation of rules. He has also been warned of strict action on repetition of the offence.

“In case of overrating of liquor at licensed outlets, the first time penalty is Rs 75,000, the second time penalty is Rs 1.50 lakh and if it happens for the third time, the excise department can cancel the licence of the liquor outlet,” Singh told PTI.

“We will ensure strict action against sellers or outlets found working in violation of Excise rules and it could lead to cancellation of liquor licence also,” the DEO said.