How Goa state government plans to collect more tax from liquor buyers

The core purpose of Goa Excise Management System is to help shape policies, build revenue and create transparency.

Excise department in Goa with the help of the new digital initiative is able to monitor the process of liquor production in the state and track its movement. It is also helping the debt-burdened state to identify the excise slabs which generates maximum revenue, the Indian Express reported. “It is to the credit of this evolving interface that the department was able to zero in on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category of liquor as the more excise generative vertical than beer,” the report said. This will also help the state government to bring policies that are targeted to one particular excise slab which will bring more revenue. The core purpose of the government’s online repository, named Goa Excise Management System is to help shape policies, build revenue and create transparency and accountability, the report added citing Amit Satija, Commissioner of Excise.

The interface which was initially designed five years back has a live interface with many distilleries, manufacturing units, around 7,000 bars along with registrations of over 2,000 liquor labels. According to the report, the whole exercise of registrations, granting licence and permits occur through this interface on the “virtual world” and record are saved for the next generation. This also helps cut down on any scope for fudging documents. “Initially, documents including licences, permits, no-objection certificates were all punched in physically, with piles of documents required for transport or commercial purchase and sale of liquor at the distributor and retailer’s end,” the report said. 

Digitisation has become the way of working for the state excise department. In 2014, there was a need for such interface as the department was short-staffed and was burdened with growing needs for liquor. The state, which generates its maximum revenue from tourism, had files related to licences and permits were left at pending. As a result, there was a delay in sanctioning permits and some files were even lost. In FY18, the state had completely stopped moving the files across physically. “In short, the exercise accounts for the liquor manufactured at every stage, with a full production of raw material to end product accounted for, thus enabling pilferages to be curbed,” said the report.