SHILLONG, Nov 14 - The State Cabinet today decided to amend the Meghalaya Excise Rules and also make technological interventions to stop revenue leakage on the one hand and increase collection on the other.
The Excise Department is one of the highest revenue collectors for the State exchequer. The revenue collection of the department stood at Rs 227 crore in the last fiscal.
Under the amended rules, liquor bonds will now have to adhere to a prepaid system under which they need to pay the excise fee upfront after a purchase from liquor companies.
�It would not be at the point of exit, but at the point of entry that the fees will be charged,� Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said after the Cabinet meeting.
Sangma believes that through this minor tweak in the rules, the State Government can see a revenue hike of almost 15-20 per cent. In the earlier process of payment of excise fees, there was scope of revenue leakage.
�Right now, we have a revenue collection of Rs 227 crore and the target for this year is about Rs 250 crore,� he said.
A retail lifting fee has also been introduced, which will be Rs 2 per case of liquor. Sangma said through this, a record of challans would be maintained, which would also add Rs 60-70 lakh to the exchequer.
Moreover, the State Cabinet has decided to impose a 40 percent ad volarem on import of liquor by military and paramilitary forces. This import fees will contribute to another Rs 1-1.5 crore of revenue.
The Chief Minister said the State Government is trying to plug revenue leakage in all other departments through different measures and appropriate technological interventions. �The QR codes in the challans will be almost impossible to duplicate. Once the transportation from the mining areas begins, the new challans will get the QR codes,� Sangma said.
