Taking cognisance of the complaint that some shopkeepers are selling liquor at prices higher than the maximum retail price (MRP), the State Excise Minister Prakash Pant sent some excise officers as decoy customers.
They found that the complaints had substances as they were not giving slips against the sale. `5,000 as penalty was slapped each on two shops - Dehradun foreign liquor shop and Mussoorie Kuldi foreign liquor shop.
During the mock purchase, the decoy customers found that the customers purchasing beer were not being given slips against the sale. Notably, from June 1, it has been mandatory for the shopkeepers to give slips to the customers on every purchase to check the trend of the traders, making the customers shell out more than the MRP.
On being refused to get slips, the decoy customers revealed their identity and imposed penalty on these two shops. Pant has asked the excise department officers to cross check the price and slips to detect overpricing.