Chandigarh: The Punjab government today decided to do away with the Excise and Taxation department's practice of charging VAT while granting liquor licenses for functions at marriage places across the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who holds the Excise and Taxation portfolio, also announced that liquor licenses will now be granted online from April onwards.
This move is aimed at doing away with the inconvenience caused to the public in approaching the excise offices for the license, an official spokesman said here today.
The public would now have to pay only licence fee for serving liquor during parties or marriage ceremonies.
"With this decision the people holding functions in marriage palaces would get big relief. There are about 1700 marriage palaces in the state which organize an average of 40,000 to 50,000 marriages in a year," the spokesman said.
Badal took this decision on suggestions received from various quarters to make the process of obtaining licences for serving liquor during marriage ceremonies and parties easier and hassle free.
