The liquor shops in Dehradun district are charging Rs20-30 more than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), leaving the customers sulky. They say the liquor shop owners are minting money with the hapless customers left with no other option but to shell out extra for boozing.
The Dehradun excise inspector Sujat Hasan said that they are conducting inspections from time to time and the shopkeepers caught charging more than the actual MRP price are being penalised.
When quizzed by this correspondent, the liquor retailer based on Survey Chowk, Aaraghar refused to provide information related to prices of various brands. After much persuasion, they said they are selling liquor for the same prices that are displayed on the boards kept outside the shops. However, the consumers say otherwise. They say the traders are charging Rs20 or 30 more than MRP in the evening and Rs15-20 at noon for the same brand of liquors. However, during the night hours, the prices go up by 30-40 per bottle.
Customers on Friday were found arguing with the shopkeepers for charging them Rs10-15 more than MRP rates per bottle at various liquor shops across Dehradun. Some customers were witnessed paying extra as demanded by the shopkeepers.
Manish Semwal, a customer, who was found buying liquor at a shop near Aaraghar, said that he had purchased a bottle of Beer for Rs100, Rs15 more than MRP rate of Rs85. “When I asked the shop employees to explain the discrepancy they said either you purchase at that rate or simply clear out. The shopkeepers are changing rates whimsically. They charge one rate in the day and another at night,” he alleged.
Another customer, Anish Anand who was coming out from a liquor shop based on Survey Chowk alleged that the district administration has failed to rein in the shopkeepers for overcharging the buyers. “They take Rs20 or 30 more in the evening and Rs15-20 more at noon for the same brand of liquors,” he said.
The excise office sources revealed that according to the norms, the offender is slapped a fine on being caught charging higher than the MRP. But the amount of the fine is too little to discourage them from fleecing the customers, the sources added.