Latest news with #Excise
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Excise licence fee hike, liquor prices, rentals take the fizz out of Pub City
BENGALURU: There is a gradual decline in the number of watering holes in Pub City, especially in the past six months. Sources in the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry told TNIE that a 50 per cent hike in Excise licence fee, cut in corporate spending and insecurity regarding jobs have left telltale signs in falling footfalls and winding up of some liquor outlets. 'In the last six months, around 50-60 pubs and bars in the city have either shut shop or exchanged hands,' said Chethan Hegde, National Restaurants' Association of India (NRAI), Bengaluru chapter head, and owner of '1522', a prominent chain of pubs in the city, 'Hike in licence fee, manpower and rentals, along with escalation in liquor prices in the last couple of years has adversely impacted F&B business in the city,' he added. 'Bengalureans are grounded and smart spenders. An increase in liquor prices is impacting people, who love to dine out. They have cut down on the number of occasions they would go out to dine. It is liquor that spirals up the restaurant bill and people are being careful. Many have home bars. Instead of drilling a hole in their wallet to dine out, they would rather call in food from outside and relax with friends at home, at a much lesser cost and for a longer time, with no added headache of navigating through traffic and parking woes,' said another pub owner.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Recorder
‘I had to skip work again': Karachiites struggle with Ajrak number plates process
KARACHI: Muhammad Jamal bought his Alto in 2022 through a bank loan, expecting the excitement of car ownership to be matched with smooth formalities. But three years later, he still doesn't have an Excise-issued number plate. 'I don't even know if the plate will be delivered to me or to the bank,' said Jamal, frustrated. With his original documents locked with the bank until the loan matures, and the Excise office requiring those same papers to issue the plate, Jamal finds himself at a bureaucratic dead end. He's not alone. Across Karachi, from business owners to delivery riders, ordinary citizens are caught in the confusion and delay caused by the Sindh government's drive to replace old number plates with new, Ajrak-themed ones. While officials argue the move is part of a broader Safe City initiative, people say the process has been anything but safe or smooth. Here's how to apply for new Ajrak design number plates online Umair Alam, an entrepreneur, also took his car out of the showroom in 2022 and registered it soon after. Since then, he's heard little more than what he called 'broken promises'. 'They told me the number plate would come by April 2025. Then in May, I followed up, and now they're saying July,' he told Business Recorder. Alam paid for registration once, but when the government introduced the Ajrak plates mid-process, he was told to pay again. Abid Hussain, a delivery boy who had come to the Excise office to apply for a number plate, said that was his second visit to the office. 'I had to skip work again, but I couldn't apply today either due heavy rush,' he lamented. On the other hand, Muhammad Qaiser, a private employee, told Business Recorder that he had preferred to apply online. 'However, after applying online, I neither received a payment confirmation SMS nor any information about when the number plate will be delivered,' he said. Qaiser said the tracking ID was only showing whether the plate had been printed or delivered. 'It does not specify when it will actually be received.' He added that there was no home delivery option available for online payments. 'At one point, I saw a courier option, but when I clicked it, it turned out to be invalid.' Two office for a population of over 20 million Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, has a population of around 20.3 million as per Census 2023. Yet, currently there are only two Excise offices - one at Hassan Square and the other in Clifton - to offer services related to vehicles registration and new number plates. Number plates with Ajrak design: only Excise-issued plates are valid, says minister When the scribe visited one of the two offices, several people were seen complaining about the shortage of counters and staff. They said establishing only two registration offices for such a large city was 'incomprehensible' and imposing a strict deadline on top of it was 'irrational'. The citizens called for an increase in the number of registration offices and an extension of the August 14 deadline. Agents were also seen taking advantage of people's plight outside the Excise Office. The scribe, not disclosing the identity, asked an agent standing outside the office how much he would charge to get the number plate work done. The agent responded that it would cost Rs10,000 for a car and Rs7,000 for a bike, with a delivery time of one to one and a half months. Meanwhile, not far from Excise offices, local shops continued to make duplicate number plates despite Sindh Excise and Taxation minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla's warning that only Excise offices could issue the new Ajrak design number plates and those issued by outside agents or shops would not be considered valid. A local craftsman who makes duplicate number plates told Business Recorder that most of his customers were students or delivery riders. According to the craftsman, people believe that police enforcement is limited to major roads, while students mostly ride their bikes in neighborhoods, so they prefer duplicate plates. He also mentioned that a duplicate plate for a bike costs around Rs500 to Rs600, whereas the official excise plate costs nearly Rs2,000. 'Due to limited financial resources and time, riders opt for duplicate plates.' Why new Ajrak design number plates? Earlier this month, Excise minister Chawla, explaining why Ajrak number plates were important, said the Safe City Project could not succeed until the security-enhanced number plates issued by the government were fully implemented. Talking to Business Recorder then, the minister ruled out the use of old or the number plate manufactured in open market/shops. Sindh extends deadline for Ajrak number plates until August 14 Emphasising the use of Ajrak number plates, the minister described the features of the number plate adding that the plates included threads in the background, 3D holograms, and barcodes. The Safe City cameras would also be able to read the plate number in night, he added. Chawla stated that the excise department had launched three different colored number plates: white plates for private vehicles and bikes, yellow plates for commercial vehicles, and green plates for government vehicles. He mentioned that the fee for vehicle number plates—whether government or commercial—was set at Rs2,450, and Rs1,850 for two wheelers.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Hans India
33.75. litres' Sara, liquor seized CI Karuna
Wanaparthy dist: Sampat Rao Palli in Veepanagandla mandal of Wanaparthy district Today, in the early hours of the morning, (3) women were arrested for illegally transporting liquor through a RTC bus. Based on reliable information about transportation in an RTC bus, a route watch was conducted on the road leading to Sampat Rao Palli village and illegal possession of liquor was found near them. We caught (03) people on the spot A1: Rathlawat Lakshmi A2: Mudawat Soni A3: Rathlawat Rupli and seized (33.75) liters of Sara and liquor from them and a case has been registered against them, said Excise CI Karuna. She said that RTC bus drivers and conductors should also check what kind of items the passengers are carrying. RTC buses are for the benefit of the people and carrying alcohol illegally is a crime. Excise SI .CH Prithviraj, Constables Thirumalesh ,Janardhan ,and Vishnuvardhan and others participated in the program.
Hans India
17-07-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Educated forming a majority cause of concern
Eluru: Eluru Range IG GVG Ashok Kumar, Eagle Team IG Ravi Krishna, and Eluru district SP K Pratap Shiva Kishore organised an awareness seminar at the Asram Medical College in coordination with the medical students about the ill-effects of drug use on Wednesday. Earlier in the programme, Asram Hospital Principal Dr Srinivas Chebrolu, Asram Hospital CEO Hanumantha Rao, Excise Deputy Commissioner Srilatha and Assistant Excise Commissioner Prabhu Kumar spoke about the ill effects of drug use. Eluru Additional SP Admin N Suryachandra Rao said that organising the programme 'No Drugs, Bro' at the Asram Hospital and creating awareness among students is very useful. Eagle SP Nagesh Babu said that in the use of drugs, most of the students pursuing higher education are getting addicted to drugs, and those who feel a lot of stress are getting addicted to drugs to escape from that stress, which is darkening their golden future. Students should provide information to 1972 about anyone around them who has sold or consumed marijuana, and everyone should help in building a drug-free Andhra Pradesh. Speaking at the event, SP Pratap Shiva Kishore said that doctors use medicine to save lives, but there are two types of drugs, one that saves lives and the other that takes lives. Eluru Range IG GVG Ashok Kumar said that the education in Asram Hospital in Eluru is disciplined and there are no remarks about this college till now. Studying in this college means that the students will have a good reputation in society in the future. The state government has specially set up an Eagle Department for a drug-free Andhra Pradesh with many slogans like 'No drugs bro.' State Eagle Team IG Ravi Krishna, who was the chief guest at the event spoke to the students and explained to them clearly what to do and what not to do through a short story about the tortoise and the hare. On the occasion, the medical students took a pledge to build a new society with the slogan 'Students, no drugs'. Asram Hospital MD Rathi Devi, Eagle Special SP Nagesh Babu, Asram Hospital Principal Dr Chebrolu Srinivasa Rao, CEO Dr Hanumantha Rao, Deputy Commissioner of Excise Srilatha, Assistant Commissioner Excise Prabhu Kumar, Eluru DSP D Shravan Kumar, Excise Inspector Dhanaraju, Eluru Special Branch Inspector Malleswara Rao, Eluru One Town Inspector Satyanarayana, Eluru Rural SI Durga Prasad, Excise staff, police staff, medical students and students participated in this programme.
Hans India
17-07-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Educated lot forming a majority, cause of concern
Eluru: Eluru Range IG GVG Ashok Kumar, Eagle Team IG Ravi Krishna, and Eluru district SP K Pratap Shiva Kishore organised an awareness seminar at the Asram Medical College in coordination with the medical students about the ill-effects of drug use on Wednesday. Earlier in the programme, Asram Hospital Principal Dr Srinivas Chebrolu, Asram Hospital CEO Hanumantha Rao, Excise Deputy Commissioner Srilatha and Assistant Excise Commissioner Prabhu Kumar spoke about the ill effects of drug use. Eluru Additional SP Admin N Suryachandra Rao said that organising the programme 'No Drugs, Bro' at the Asram Hospital and creating awareness among students is very useful. Eagle SP Nagesh Babu said that in the use of drugs, most of the students pursuing higher education are getting addicted to drugs, and those who feel a lot of stress are getting addicted to drugs to escape from that stress, which is darkening their golden future. Students should provide information to 1972 about anyone around them who has sold or consumed marijuana, and everyone should help in building a drug-free Andhra Pradesh. Speaking at the event, SP Pratap Shiva Kishore said that doctors use medicine to save lives, but there are two types of drugs, one that saves lives and the other that takes lives. Eluru Range IG GVG Ashok Kumar said that the education in Asram Hospital in Eluru is disciplined and there are no remarks about this college till now. Studying in this college means that the students will have a good reputation in society in the future. The state government has specially set up an Eagle Department for a drug-free Andhra Pradesh with many slogans like 'No drugs bro.' State Eagle Team IG Ravi Krishna, who was the chief guest at the event spoke to the students and explained to them clearly what to do and what not to do through a short story about the tortoise and the hare. On the occasion, the medical students took a pledge to build a new society with the slogan 'Students, no drugs'. Asram Hospital MD Rathi Devi, Eagle Special SP Nagesh Babu, Asram Hospital Principal Dr Chebrolu Srinivasa Rao, CEO Dr Hanumantha Rao, Deputy Commissioner of Excise Srilatha, Assistant Commissioner Excise Prabhu Kumar, Eluru DSP D Shravan Kumar, Excise Inspector Dhanaraju, Eluru Special Branch Inspector Malleswara Rao, Eluru One Town Inspector Satyanarayana, Eluru Rural SI Durga Prasad, Excise staff, police staff, medical students and students participated in this programme.
