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Posted: Sunday, 21 January 2018 11:28

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Guide to Storing Alcohol in Homes in India

Jan 21: The plethora of wine laws is applicable not only for importers, producers and distributors, retailers and restaurateurs all of whom come under the umbrella of licensing but the consumer in every State has to follow laws for the storage of wine and alcohol as Aruna Chawla, our guest writer points out that every state has its own specifications of ‘permissible possession’ and makes an attempt to decode the major ones for our readers

My resolution no. 734 for the year 2018 is to work on my personal wine collection. I dream of the day when I would wake up late in the afternoon in my 1- bedroom apartment, littered with 3 cats, and pop open a new bottle of wine that reminds me of that one specific day in college when I started this collection. I’m kidding, I just need a good collection to be able to drink good wine whenever I feel like it, specifications be damned!

However, the government isn’t that supportive, I mean, not exactly. Excise laws in various states regulate and limit the amount of alcohol you can store at home for personal use. As always, every state has its own specifications of ‘permissible possession’, and I’m decoding the major ones for you.

Delhi NCR

So, the law states that no ‘individual’ can stock more than 18 litres of wine, beer, cider and alcopop and 9 litres of Indian and foreign liquor (whiskey, rum, gin, vodka) at home or for parties. If you’re travelling from any other state to the capital, you cannot carry more than 1 litre of any category of liquor, and those who are coming from abroad can bring only 2 litres of foreign liquor with them.

Analysis for the drunks: If your husband doesn’t drink, the excise department does not have to know! These limits are on ‘individuals’. If you have two people staying at home, your maximum limit doubles (and so on). Depending on the number of people you are travelling with, each of you can carry 2 litres of foreign liquor. Just don’t forget to stock only 2 bottles in each of your bags.

An L-49 license can be availed from the excise department at the cost of Rs. 2000 to stock more than the prescribed amounts.

Punjab

For a state that has been glamorized for its drinking, the government doesn’t allow for much inside your home. You can stock 2 bottles of IMFL, 1 case of beer (650 ml per bottle), 2 bottles of imported liquor of any size (either 1 litre or 5 litres), 2 bottles of country-made liquor and a bottle of brandy. How the caps on the number of bottles instead of quantity of alcohol make sense, I don’t know.

However, if you are a true Punjabi, you can obtain an L-50 permit to stock up on more! There is an annual fee of Rs. 1000 and a lifetime fee of Rs. 10,000. You know which one to pick!

Haryana

Haryana is so much better for massive amounts of private possession of alcohol (yay Gurgaon!). I’m going to straight up ask you to get yourself L-50 lifetime permission for Rs. 2000 and start stocking up. You can also choose to get an annual permission for Rs. 200 a year, but god, why would you? If you want to do neither and not enjoy the benefits that the Haryana government wants you to avail, as an ‘individual’, you can stock up on 6 bottles (of  750 ml each) of country liquor, 18 bottles (750 ml each) of IMFL liquor, out of which maximum 6 bottles can be of Imported Foreign Liquor, 12 bottles (650 ml each) of beer, 6  bottles (750 ml each) of rum , 12 bottles of wine, and 6 bottles (750 ml each) of vodka/gin/cider.

Rajasthan

Residents can hold 12 bottles or 9 litres of IMFL. In case you want to hold parties, licenses can be bought for Rs. 2000 + taxes for domestic parties, and Rs. 10,000 + taxes for commercial parties.

Himachal Pradesh

36 bottles of whiskey and 48 bottles of beer are permitted per person. If there are more people in the family, you can easily live with your whiskey! For more than that (you’re the people we have math problems about!), an L-50 license can be availed, with some special concessions under the L-50A.

Goa

A maximum of 12 bottles of IMFL, 24 bottles of beer, 18 bottles of country liquor and 6 bottles of denatured spirit and rectified spirit is allowed in homes in Goa. However, violators are punished strictly, with punishment including rigorous imprisonment extending to 7 years, minimum being 6 months, and might also include fines in some instances.

Assam

Retail sales are capped at 12 bottles of 750 ml each of ‘reputed’ IMFL, 1 gallon or 4.5 litres of rectified or denatured spirit, and 3 bottles of 750 ml of ‘reputed’ country spirit, per person on a day. There are no additional provisions for more stocks.

Madhya Pradesh

The government permits those with a yearly income of over Rs. 10 lakhs (1 million) to stock up to 100 bottles of ‘costly’ alcohol in their homes, for a costly yearly fee of Rs. 10,000.

Uttar Pradesh

The limit is capped at 1.5 litres of country-made alcohol, 1.5 litres of IMFL and 4 bottles of beer.

Karnataka

Permissible limits are 18.2 litres of country beer, 9.1 litres of imported foreign liquor, 4.5 litres of fortified wine, 9 litres of fruit wine, 2.3 litres of liquor manufactured in Karnataka (excluding imported Foreign liquor), and 2.5 litres of toddy (in the areas where public sale of toddy is allowed, i.e., D. Kannada and Udapi Districts).

Maharashtra

If your age allows you to drink liquor in Maharashtra, you need a license for it. The permit is required for purchase, possession transport, and consumption of liquor, and is applicable to both foreign and country liquor.. You’re committing an offense if you consume liquor without such a permit. If you want to get a permit, check out this link which outlines the procedure clearly.

Gujarat

The Bombay Prohibition (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2009 disallows the sale, production, and consumption of liquor inside state boundaries.

Bihar

The Nitish Kumar government has restricted alcohol in the state under Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Lakshadweep

There is a total ban on consumption and sale of liquor in the territory, barring the island of Bangaram.

For all these licenses, you must be a tax eligible assessee to be eligible which means that you must have paid income tax, or be eligible to pay it. Also, you need to be able to account for the alcohol you have - so don’t forget to take and record the receipts of your purchases the next time. And oh, please dispose the bottles that you’ve emptied.

The punishments for exceeding these limits can be two-fold: criminally, you can be tried for breaking the excise laws and made to pay a fine and/or be jailed, depending on which state you are in. However, this will also attract tax officials to check your records and see if you can account for these bottles or not, and this might lead to much bigger inspections of the assets you hold!

How much alcohol are you stocking in your home? Don’t tell me! Just check if you’re within the legal limits from the above list. Write to us in comments if your state isn’t mentioned, and we’ll add it to the list!

Aruna Chawla

Despite the research done by the writer, this article is only meant to be informative. It does not create a lawyer-client relationship between the reader and the website or the writer. It does not substitute for actual legal counsel-editor

Aruna is a 5th year Law Student, who is bitten by the wine bug and plans to pursue wine as a vocation after finishing her degree in a few months . She works with the F&B industry by providing consultancy on wines with a special focus on the millennial generation. Shes also coming up with her own blog on wines, millennials, marketing ( focusing on the Indian audience) and any combination thereof.

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Subhash Arora Says:

 

You need to call your local excise office.

Posted @ April 24, 2021 20:21

 

Samrat Deb Says:

 

Please provide information about alcohol storage limit in Tripura.

Posted @ April 23, 2021 20:21

 

DILIP VAS NAIK Says:

 

Thank you Ms. Chawla ! Wishing you the best in life.

Posted @ January 31, 2021 22:12

 

Subhash Arora Says:

 

When you bring wines from abroad, please keep the receipts of these purchases- you may bring 3 bottles (2.25 liters) though 2 liter of Alcohol is allowed. Don't worry about storage rules, I am told. But if you are a real stickler for Rules, please contact local Excise department or the one in Vijayawada. Arora

Posted @ August 31, 2020 21:25

 

Murali Says:

 

Sir This is very usefull information. I want about the rules of Andhra Pradesh. How many bottles can i store for my personal use and is there any licence to store more like Delhi & Punjab. How many bottles can i bring by road landed in Hyderabad from abroad. Thanks & Regards

Posted @ August 31, 2020 18:00

 

Subhash Arora Says:

 

You dont need import license anyway. But there is no defined quantity according to the best of our knowledge. I know of people who have gotten together and imported pallets of wine (about 600 bottles) without any excise license. One has to pay the customs duty. excise duty and VAT to clear the shipment.

Posted @ January 25, 2020 12:12

 

Dinesh Kumar Says:

 

i want to know how much maximum qty of imported wine one can import in to India from abroad without any excise license. Some one told me that an Indian can import 7 cases having 12 bottle each without any license. Please clarify ?

Posted @ January 25, 2020 10:07

 

Ajay Tripathi Says:

 

You hv nt clarified fr MP , what is base limit if one does not have a licence. Your said licenced limit is recent amendment but their was older limit of 2 bottles per individual. I am not sure what happened to it after amendments. Can you plz research & msg me. And also, I invite you fr a session of dine & wine together. Contact at twitter @drajaytripathi Tc

Posted @ January 05, 2019 11:20

 

Nithiya Sagayam Says:

 

Dear Aruna, I am deeply impressed by your enthusiasm and initiatives. I wish you everything best Lets be in touch Yours Nithiya

Posted @ January 29, 2018 16:20

 
       
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