Now,barcode on liquor bottles to check illegal sale,prevent tragedy

There are around 300 government-owned and 91 private counters in the city that are authorised to sell liquor. “Instead of bar coding each bottle,we will be barcoding an entire pack or carton. As part of the system which has to developed,the government will be able to trace each bottle,back to its carton,” he said.

While the government had initiated a similar project earlier in which each bottle sold at the DSIDC counters was coded,Mehta said that the process failed as it was only implemented for DSIDC counters. “This has to be done in a consolidated manner,” he said.

The Information Technology department will handle the project and officials said the system will be developed through a private software vendor. “The software will be designed in such a manner that the operations will be managed centrally in coordination with the excise department,” said IT Secretary Dharmendra Kumar.

Mehta said the process will help check revenue losses due to the illegal sale of liquor. The excise department usually generates around Rs 1,000 crore as revenue for the government every year through the sale of alcohol.